WHAT IS A GREAT COMMERCIAL MULCHING MOWER?

[lawn mower fanatic]

I am looking to get bigger equipment and I was wondering what a good mulching mower is. I had a mower that had "mulching capability", but it stunk. Are there ANY mowers that are proven to be awesome mulchers? Maybe a larger walk-behind or a small ZTR? I know nothing may be as good as my Honda, but I want something that I won't have to mow over twice...a GREAT mulching mower.

 

[Rivets]

Said it before and I'll say it again, no one makes a better mulcher than Toro. You won't go wrong with a TimeMaster or a TimeCutter with a mulch kit will do a better job at mulching than you Honda.

 

[djdicetn]

I am looking to get bigger equipment and I was wondering what a good mulching mower is. I had a mower that had "mulching capability", but it stunk. Are there ANY mowers that are proven to be awesome mulchers? Maybe a larger walk-behind or a small ZTR? I know nothing may be as good as my Honda, but I want something that I won't have to mow over twice...a GREAT mulching mower.

lawn mower fanatic,
I had a 2006 54" Craftsman YS4500(made by Huqvarna) and after putting the Sears mulch kit it did a GREAT job........unless......the grass was really tall and/or the least bit wet!! Any lawn tractor(and they even recommend on my new Gravely ZTR) that if you are cutting more than 1" of grass(or a 1/3 of the total height of the grass) you will find that it collects a tremendous amout of clippings inside the deck and the mower will bog down and/or die constantly. I looked at a Husqvarna 54" ZTR as my very first mower when I began shopping because the deck was "identical" to the Craftsman lawn tractor and I could use the mulch kit on it. The Husqvarna dealer told me "there is a WORLD of difference between that lawn tractor and a ZTR mower". He went on to explain that most ZTR's have a blade tip speed of around 18,000 feet per minute and a lawn tractor is lucky to approach half of that. He told me point blank.....cut with the Husqvarna ZTR "before" you put the mulch kit on it and most likely I would find that it was NOT needed and the ZTR(unlike most lawn tractors) would not leave any "piles of grass clippings"...even without having a mulch kit. That's not to say that there is not a benefit from using a mulch kit on a ZTR, but if piles of grass clippings is your main concern that's not the main benefit. Others can elude to the need for and benefits from having a mulch kit for a ZTR because after mowing my yard 3 times with my new Gravely 52" Pro Turn ZTR I have yet to see any grass clippings and don't think I'll ever spend my money on a mulch kit I don't really "need".

 

[lawn mower fanatic]

Said it before and I'll say it again, no one makes a better mulcher than Toro. You won't go wrong with a TimeMaster or a TimeCutter with a mulch kit will do a better job at mulching than you Honda.

How about the Grandstand?

 

[Rivets]

I have to be honest and say I don't know very much about the Grandstand. I have worked on very few, as we don't have many out there in this area. The last one we sold was in 2008 and that was an order for one customer who said he want that model.

 

[Ric]

How about the Grandstand?

What is that you want to know about the Grandstand?

 

[djdicetn]

What is that you want to know about the Grandstand?

Ric,
I would think that based upon tthe OP's original inquiry he wants to know if it(the Toro Grandstand) is a good "mulching" mower. I'm perplexed(if you read my previous post) as to exactly why you would put a mulch kit on a "commercial mower" or whether professional landscapers use mulching kits(and why). In my mind, it was always to get rid of piles of grass clippings by "double cutting" the grass(shape of mulching blades cut grass clippings upwards, draw them back down cutting them finer, then because deck outlet is covered forces the grass clippings down into the remaining grass....therefore you don't see any clippings). Maybe there's a "fertilizing" side benefit, but now I wonder whether mulch cutting may neccessitate more dethatching and/or aerating to "feed the lawn" properly. Hope I haven't gotten this thread too much off topic:0)

 

[Ric]

Ric,
I would think that based upon tthe OP's original inquiry he wants to know if it(the Toro Grandstand) is a good "mulching" mower. I'm perplexed(if you read my previous post) as to exactly why you would put a mulch kit on a "commercial mower" or whether professional landscapers use mulching kits(and why). In my mind, it was always to get rid of piles of grass clippings by "double cutting" the grass(shape of mulching blades cut grass clippings upwards, draw them back down cutting them finer, then because deck outlet is covered forces the grass clippings down into the remaining grass....therefore you don't see any clippings). Maybe there's a "fertilizing" side benefit, but now I wonder whether mulch cutting may neccessitate more dethatching and/or aerating to "feed the lawn" properly. Hope I haven't gotten this thread too much off topic:0)

I don't believe you will ever find a ZTR or any other commercial mower that will mulch as good as a smaller self propelled mower but if there is a commercial In my opinion the grandstand would probably be it.

The Turbo Force deck has a far better cut than most anything I've seen, it acts like a vacuum to hold grass and what makes it unique is you can adjust it for the type of cutting you want. If you want to mulch grass, buy a set of Gator Blades. After you install them adjust the baffle closed to yield micro-sized particles and maximize discharge velocity or if you're cutting in wet conditions open the baffle and you will still get the mulching effect but not to the extreme and you still get maximum discharge. You can play with the baffle to achieve the cut you desire.

You wondered whether mulch cutting may necessitate more dethatching and/or aerating to "feed the lawn" properly. The finer you can cut the grass the sooner it breaks down and goes back into the soil and the side benefit is it gives you approximately 25% of your fertilization needs for your lawn.

 

[djdicetn]

I don't believe you will ever find a ZTR or any other commercial mower that will mulch as good as a smaller self propelled mower but if there is a commercial In my opinion the grandstand would probably be it.

The Turbo Force deck has a far better cut than most anything I've seen, it acts like a vacuum to hold grass and what makes it unique is you can adjust it for the type of cutting you want. If you want to mulch grass, buy a set of Gator Blades. After you install them adjust the baffle closed to yield micro-sized particles and maximize discharge velocity or if you're cutting in wet conditions open the baffle and you will still get the mulching effect but not to the extreme and you still get maximum discharge. You can play with the baffle to achieve the cut you desire.

You wondered whether mulch cutting may necessitate more dethatching and/or aerating to "feed the lawn" properly. The finer you can cut the grass the sooner it breaks down and goes back into the soil and the side benefit is it gives you approximately 25% of your fertilization needs for your lawn.

Ric,
Yeah, the Toro Z Master 2000 52" ZTR was on my "short list" before I settled on the Gravely Pro-Turn. It had the Turbo Force deck(although it was 7/10 gauge and 3000 series up had the full 7 gauge), had the cast iron spindles, Kawasaki FX engine and the ZT3400 trannies. VERY nice entry-level commercial mower and probably would have served me well if I had chose it. Thanks for the clarification on the benefits of mulching!!!

 

[Ric]

Ric,
Yeah, the Toro Z Master 2000 52" ZTR was on my "short list" before I settled on the Gravely Pro-Turn. It had the Turbo Force deck(although it was 7/10 gauge and 3000 series up had the full 7 gauge), had the cast iron spindles, Kawasaki FX engine and the ZT3400 trannies. VERY nice entry-level commercial mower and probably would have served me well if I had chose it. Thanks for the clarification on the benefits of mulching!!!

The Grandstand has a full 7gauge deck. The other thing is the GS is you can operate the mower on a slope of 20 degrees safely. If you're into the Gravely mowers they have there Pro Stance which is there stander.