lawn mowing - bag or mulch?

[Mixolydian]

I never bag. I do fertilize, lawn looks fine. My dad used to always bag, it was a huge pain in the ass. i don't bother and I win every time. It seems a huge extra hassle.

I suppose it ultimately depends on how big your lawn is and how often/high you mow it. I have a fairly big yard, I usually have to empty the bag 2x for the front and 2x for the back.

 

[Staples]

We have a tiny lot and a yard waste bin so I bag but yesterday when mowing, I thought about mulching since all the seeds are out and we have bare spots. Still bagged but I doubt mulching would have hurt any.

 

[SearchMaster]

I suppose it ultimately depends on how big your lawn is and how often/high you mow it. I have a fairly big yard, I usually have to empty the bag 2x for the front and 2x for the back.

That's big?

My yard isn't huge but probably 3/4 acre of mowable grass (add another 4 acres of wooded land that I don't mow). My push mower only has bag/mulch option (no side discharge), and I always bag with it. I'd have to empty it probably 10 times for the front yard and 10 times for the rest of the yard. It would take me 2.5+ hours...

I replaced it with a lawn tractor that had a bagger. Its bag was obviously much bigger than the push mower but I would still have to empty it 4 or 5 times for the whole yard. In addition its tube would clog constantly. My current tractor has side discharge, does a fantastic job, and I can my yard plus two of my neighbors' yards in about an hour.

 

[Mixolydian]

That's big?

For around here (suburbs) it is, between 1/3-1/2 acre.

 

[HeXen]

I cut mine 3 inches. Far healthier shade of green than my neighbors who cut it as low as it goes. I don't waste time doing anything outside of running over it with the mower, looks fine

 

[W.C. Nimoy]

Mulch, until grass height/leaves result in it no longer looking as good as bagging, at which point I'll blend in whatever percentage bag I need to keep it as clean.

 

[Apathetic]

Definitely mulching. It's better for the lawn and, after you've bagged it, where do you put it?

Dave

 

[Red Squirrel]

Definitely mulching. It's better for the lawn and, after you've bagged it, where do you put it?

Dave

That's the big thing too. When I lived at my parents my dad would go to work and get a truck but it's still a waste to bag something completely natural into something that takes 100's of years to disintegrate. We'd pretty much fill the whole box of the truck too. At home I just mulch, sooooo much easier and don't have to worry about where to put it. People will say "build a compost" yeah if you have a farm and are growing stuff, otherwise it will just pile up faster than it can decompose.

 

[HeXen]

My old lawnboy is acting up this year, new blade,oil,plug. Cleaned the carb and magnets..etc and suddenly it won't idle the same, it'll randomly go up full throttle and back again, the lever that touches the idle adjustment screw is attached to another level at the back of the mower going inside the cast, dunno why but it will just pull back completely and open the engine to the max which it's not supposed to run that high anyway as the adjustment screw won't go close to that when screwed in all the way. There is no actual throttle control, just that idle screw....any idea's what may cause this? I did use last years gas but I always do that and never in my life had trouble.