Gators are designed for mulching with an open discharge chute. I don't think they would work well with a bagger. Years ago, I bagged my grass (at my wife's insistence). Over time, I noticed a steady decline in the overall quality of my lawn, no doubt due to the steady and constant removal of nutrients by bagging (I don't fertilize or use any other chemicals on the lawn. Bad for the bluebirds). After my wife died, I got a set of Gators and quit bagging. While I can't say that my lawn has improved a great deal, at least I don't have to mess with the bagger any more. An added bonus is that when the leaves drop in the fall, I just mulch them up, too, thereby saving myself a great deal of time with the blower and rake. I would highly recommend Gators IF you want to get away from the bagger. If Gators are available for your tractor, Agri-Supply or Jack's Small Engines should have them. I have had favorable dealings with both.

Thanks Fisher, I'm going to try that right after the suggestion you made about the disengage switch. It sounds to me like a slipping belt is the most likely problem. So if someone could give me some specifics on what I'm looking for here, that'd be awsome. How much play should be in the belt? Obviously, I can tell if its damaged cracked or contaminated, but I need someone to help me figure out how much tension should be there and how to adjust it if its not the right tension. V-belts on cars typically call for 1" to 1.5" of play in the center of the belt. Is this true of a mower drive belt also? This thing has got to be a big belt, running from the center of the motor back to the center of the transaxle, I'm guessing its nearly 6 feet in diameter...so 1" of play would be incredibly tight over such a large diameter...I don't want to try tightening it to that point if its not supposed to be that snug and I'll destroy something with too much tension. I'm mechanically inclined & all, and if this were an old Chevy or a VW I could have it running like a champ overnight, but I have ZERO experience with these things, which is why I need y'alls help getting my feet wet. I need some specs if I'm ever to diagnose this thing properly. Just gotta learn what I'm supposed to be looking at...

X-ray vision would solve a lot of folks complaints about mulching. Seeing what is going on under the deck would make it obvious what to do for a solution. Since Superman is unavailable, I'll offer an opinion from my turf experience: The Main problem is how much "work" can a mulching system do in a given unit of time. I assume that the deck is clean, the blades are sharp, and that the engine is running well at full throttle. The amount of grass a given deck is capable of mulching does vary somewhat by the very nature of differently designed systems. So the amount of grass removed, forward speed of the tractor, and relative "succulence" or lushness of different grasses (especially at different times of the year) can ALL come into play. With all of the rain we are getting currently in Central PA, my lawn is at its thickest and densest currently. May is NOT a good time to mulch for Me. If you plop down on the lawn and look very closely...you will see a LOT of leaves. Go look at your lawn in a few weeks, then again in July or August and you will see less and less "work". Mulching under these current conditions requires even more frequent mowing than the (NO MORE) than 1/3 of the grass length rule implies. There is quite simply too much work there for the deck to "process" at one time. You are overwhelming the systems capabilities. The solution lies mostly in Mowing frequency, but reducing the forward speed of the tractor or raising the deck will also help. Get behind? Raise the deck all the way up and Mulch (if possible) or side discharge (if necessary). Then go back the next day and lower the deck--you should be able to mulch up the new cuttings AND the clippings left from the previous day. I my never-to-be-humble opinion, most people do NOT do everything right (a few do nothing right) when it comes to mulching. Their lawn's appearance is only important when they are mowing it. So human nature is to put it off and then be dissatisfied with how their mower works when they get around to mowing. This is not a knock on anybody, just an observation of human nature.

Just an adjunct - I read down thru to page 27! I now see that Husqvarna is sold at Sears and Lowes, IMO this is no different than Home Depot. However, I went to a Husqvarna dealer and I'm sure the lawn tractors they sell are not the same ones as Sears and Lowes sells. YES OR NO? I also gather than Husqvarna is not a great mower but just a better than Yard Machine, Toro whatever. EVERYONE seems to be in LOVE with John Deere. OK, so I just spent some time at their website. A bit more expensive but I do want quality, reliability and a product that will last a long time. IF I bought the $800 Home Depot YM then I know that is a bottom end machine not in the same class as JD. IS Husqvarna from a Huskie dealer in the same class as the JD? For instance, compare the Huskie YTH20K46 for $1600 with the Premium Koler 20 hp, 46" deck to the John Deere LA110 (per website $1650 basically the same as the Huskie but has a 42" deck where the Huskie has a 46" deck) or LA120 (per website $1850 $250 more than the Huskie again a 42" deck vs the Huskie 46") an apples to apples machine as the JD? I see the Huskie has a Koler vs the JD has B&S but similar hp but the LA 120 has a V twin. Not sure how to compare this other than 1 cylinder vs 2 cylinder tho I'd think the V twin is a stronger longer lasting engine than the 1 cylinder. Besides the engines, is the JD worth the extra money as far as construction for longevity and reliability? BUT the LA 130 has the wash port at $2000, is that worth an extra $150? I store the mower in the garage and wet grass stinks and will rust the deck. I presently push the mower up on car ramps and scrape it with a paint scrapper and I don't like to do this!!!!!! See I'd spend the couple hundred more today for value over say 12-15 years, a small outlay if worth it. Tom