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First of all, if my question below is not for this forum someone please let me know and I'll remove it. Thanks.

I have lot of trees in my yard, big ones. Oaks, sweet gums, poplar, hickory. In the past in the autumn I just let the leaves stay to give the yard a nice autumn/winter look. But someone told me that was not good for the grass so the last 5 years I've been mulching them. I do not have mulching blades for this and I do not have the grass catcher attachment. Too much trouble for that on a 2 acre yard. I have been using the regular stock blades. I made a homemade blocker that I bolt on to the grass chute for this purpose and it works pretty well. The leaves are so deep though that they pile up in front of the deck as I mow. I have to sometimes back up and let them fall off and then go back over. I've been using the 2.5 - 3 deck setting. I think my highest deck setting on this Toro is 4 (or maybe 5). My question is: Should I be setting the deck at its highest setting for leaf mulching? Will it still chop up the leaves at the highest setting?

** I have a zero turn Toro 50" Timecutter, 23 hp Kawasaki .

Just try different heights and see what works best for your particular mower. I do the same as you with leaves only I use Gator G6 blades... Helps a great deal for my Woods (Grasshopper).

If the leaves are piled that high I would start using the highest setting first and then drop down to #3. If you can’t afford a full mulching kit, I wouldn’t least switch your blades to mulching blades for a better cutting. This is the mulching kit, which has the blade number. https://www.toro.com/getpub/169962

4getgto said:

Just try different heights and see what works best for your particular mower. I do the same as you with leaves only I use Gator G6 blades... Helps a great deal for my Woods (Grasshopper).

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4getgto, thanks. After reading some of the reviews on Home Depot I think I'll just stick with my homemade grass chute blocker. Several people replied that you had to make 2 passes in grass to get a good cut, but leaves did ok. Some said it didn't fit their mower. At $258 I think I'll pass. I might try those Gator blades.

Rivets said:

If the leaves are piled that high I would start using the highest setting first and then drop down to #3. If you can’t afford a full mulching kit, I wouldn’t least switch your blades to mulching blades for a better cutting. This is the mulching kit, which has the blade number. https://www.toro.com/getpub/169962

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Rivets thanks. I think you're probably right - I'll try that highest setting when the leaves start falling. I can afford the kit, but I think I remember (possibly wrongly so) that the kit is some type of plastic. And, i've got a lot of small sticks in the yard too. Even if they're not plastic, at $258 I think I'll pass. Quite a few of the reviews I read said if mowing grass it took 2 passes to get a good cut. Leaves did ok. I suppose I'll just do it like I've been doing and try that highest setting.

jcworks said:

4getgto, thanks. After reading some of the reviews on Home Depot I think I'll just stick with my homemade grass chute blocker. Several people replied that you had to make 2 passes in grass to get a good cut, but leaves did ok. Some said it didn't fit their mower. At $258 I think I'll pass. I might try those Gator blades.

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Even with leaves I go over them multiple times to get chopped up good. Regardless of type of blades you use..

Driving over and over the lawn seems like a lot of work. I had a bagger but it broke. It was a lot of work, too. I think I will look into blowing all the leaves and clippings (once they are dry) into the four corners of the yard. Once there I will add compost starter and spray the piles with water to encourage decay. That seems the best use of the energy I have.

Multiple passes, sometimes on different days, highest setting at first then lower settings. Homemade chute blocker is fine. The idea is to grind them up and disperse them across the turf. Mine tend to fall gradually rather than all at once so it takes a couple of weeks to get them all. Late afternoon on a sunny day so they tend to be drier.

Backpack blower into a pile. Feed your newly built worm composting box. Table scraps, greens and brown material and such. Then go fishing.

I fill up 8 recycle cans of leaves every week for about 5 or 6 weeks for county weekly pickups in the fall. I have a bagger on my Toro. I have cutting blades that came with the zero turn. When I empty out the two bags of leaves I fill one and a half recycle cans and I'm thinking if I had mulching blades I would have less recycle cans to fill up.

Lawn Ranger Don said:

I fill up 8 recycle cans of leaves every week for about 5 or 6 weeks for county weekly pickups in the fall. I have a bagger on my Toro. I have cutting blades that came with the zero turn. When I empty out the two bags of leaves I fill one and a half recycle cans and I'm thinking if I had mulching blades I would have less recycle cans to fill up.

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If mulching blades only worked that way. Leaves would have to be recut dozens of times to shrink a pile. Some electric blowers grind up leaves.