Poll: When you mow do you mulch, bag or shoot it out the side?

[optoman]

Just trying to find out what people do in general and does anyone have any tips on which is best?

 

[waylman]

dumbest poll ever?

 

[optoman]

Originally posted by: waylman
dumbest poll ever?

So what?

 

[fastz28]

Shoot it out the side

 

[WhiteKnight]

Out the side

 

[Electric Amish]

Bag.... I only manage to mow like once a month.

amish

 

[FeathersMcGraw]

Mulch once a month, bag otherwise.

 

[ClueLis]

Bag, my alergies are too heavy for anything else.

 

[thirtythree]

I usually mulch. sometimes I bag when it's really long .. not sure why. damn you for reminding me that I need to mow the lawn :frown:

 

[AU Tiger]

I'm baggin' it. I tried mulching, but noticed that it looks bad unless I keep the blades really sharp. My neighbor mulchs and it looks like crap most of the time because he either does it when it is wet or the grass is too tall.

 

[Staples]

I mulch unless it is really long and moist and in that case, I take the piece of plastic off which closes off the side discharge shoot.

 

[ATLien247]

I only mulch because my yard is too damn big and I'm too lazy to deal with bagging all that fvckin' grass.

I'd get a riding lawn mower, if mowing the lawn wasn't my sole source of outdoor exercise...

 

[Staples]

Originally posted by: AU Tiger
I'm baggin' it. I tried mulching, but noticed that it looks bad unless I keep the blades really sharp.

Mulching looks great for me unless I do it when the grass is wet and it gives me so much trouble that I just cut it enough to get cut but it still looks like crap. Anyway, how does an average person sharpen their blades? I doubt anyone has one of those concrete wheels used to sharpen blades so what do you do? My MTD mower blade is and has been as sharp as the back side of a butter knive (at the very sharpest) for many years and maybe I could actually cut tall grass without having to go very very slow over tall grass.

 

[ATLien247]

Originally posted by: Staples

Anyway, how does an average person sharpen their blades?

Take a file to it...

 

[AU Tiger]

While its not the best blade sharpening solution, Lowe's has a drill attachment that is designed for sharpening lawn mower blades in the lawn mower accessories section. You're supposed to remove the blade to sharpen it, but I just tilt the mower up on its handles and work on it laying down.

 

[dman]

Wow, variations on this topic have come up a lot lately. Not sure that this poll is a repost, but, the question has come up a few times.

I mulch, but mower has options to bag or shoot as well. Never used the last two... bag taking up valuable space in my garage, but, if I toss it I'll surely need it to gather up leaves or something one day.

 

[optoman]

I did a quick search and didn't see any polls but similar topics. Everyone likes a poll.

I just bought a house on July 1st and haven't mowed the lawn yet and today will be the day. We finally got some rain and it actually grew. The previous owners use to mulch but it seems like there is a lot of dead grass in the lawn and it needs to be thatched. Looks like bagging until I can do some serious work on the lawn.

 

[isaacmacdonald]

I hate bagging. As long as mowing is done once a week, mulching is fine.

 

[WinkOsmosis]

I don't think many people here know the difference between mulching and shooting it out the side.. unless I'm missing something.

 

[FeathersMcGraw]

Originally posted by: WinkOsmosis
I don't think many people here know the difference between mulching and shooting it out the side.. unless I'm missing something.

Shooting out the side is not bagging with a non-mulching mower.

 

[Cerebus451]

Originally posted by: ATLien247

Originally posted by: Staples

Anyway, how does an average person sharpen their blades?

Take a file to it...

I have a bench grinder in the garage. They are pretty inexpensive and useful to have around.

As for bag vs. mulch, in the spring and fall I bag, during the summer I mulch. I cut it once a week, unless it is a dry summer and the grass isn't growing much.

 

[SagaLore]

It's best to let the mower mulch it back into the ground, because it helps create humus and gives minerals/nitrogen back to the lawn.

If you shoot it out the side, you end up matting the live grass and makes it harder to grow and get sunlight. Also takes longer for the cut grass to break down to be reabsorbed by the lawn.

If you bag it, you're taking away a lot of needed nutrients from the ground and wasting it.

 

[SagaLore]

Originally posted by: waylman
dumbest poll ever?

Actually this will be a good thread for quite a few people, especially those that don't understand the effects of bagging away the cut grass.

 

[SagaLore]

Originally posted by: AU Tiger
I'm baggin' it. I tried mulching, but noticed that it looks bad unless I keep the blades really sharp. My neighbor mulchs and it looks like crap most of the time because he either does it when it is wet or the grass is too tall.

If you bag it, at least put it into a compost big so you can reuse the fertile humus for gardening/landscaping once it's decomposted. Your neighbor needs to cut it when it's dry out, cut it a little more often, and set his mower height to a higher setting.

A little tip I found out not too long ago: Although you have to cut more often, if you keep your grass cut at a higher setting, the grass will drown out the weeds.

 

[SagaLore]

Originally posted by: Staples

Originally posted by: AU Tiger
I'm baggin' it. I tried mulching, but noticed that it looks bad unless I keep the blades really sharp.

Mulching looks great for me unless I do it when the grass is wet and it gives me so much trouble that I just cut it enough to get cut but it still looks like crap. Anyway, how does an average person sharpen their blades? I doubt anyone has one of those concrete wheels used to sharpen blades so what do you do? My MTD mower blade is and has been as sharp as the back side of a butter knive (at the very sharpest) for many years and maybe I could actually cut tall grass without having to go very very slow over tall grass.

I have a maintenance warranty on my mower that I bought at Sears, so every year they sharpen (or replace) the blade, change the oil and air filter, and fix any parts that may be bad (this year our gasket broke because my wife ran over a tree root).