I've had a Toro 20057 since Spring and it is truly an incredible mower - Far better than my former Honda Harmony and Deere in terms of mulching either grass or leaves.

Not sure any mower out there will mulch leaves into a powder.

Try a Gator Blade. Works incredible with my Lawnboy M series mower.

Doesn't exactly powderize the leaves, but it makes them about pea sized. Even on the bigger piles, as long as you go slow enough.

The Gator blade will likely not improve the SR mulching performance. It is already one of the best. Try raising the rear of the deck one notch resulting in a nose down attitude.This allows more air under the unit and often helps mulching.

Leaf mulching is one of those things that is greatly affected by environmental factors. At times, SRs will turn the leaves practically to powder. Also, things such as deck cleanliness, proper engine speed and blade sharpness will also factor in. Canguy's tip has a lot of merit. I have actually pitched the deck the other way to improve the finish of the cut a bit. I'll have to try it his way for my next mow. Looks as tho it maybe a wet mow. . .

Interesting, Tom. I have experienced 'swirls' in the lawn by having it nose high.

Funny you should mention mulching---a man called me last evening, said come over this a.m., he'd give me his old mower! So-i went and got it.
He allowed it was hard to start--take it for parts!
Got it home and-yep-he was correct-hard to start. So, off came the air filter and the pre-filter (which was clogged solid)--back on went the main filter-4 pulls of the rope-and away it went-merrily mulching leaves! So me, not being equipped for a lot of walk behind mowing (Artificial foot) I think I'll rig up an off-set hitch and tow it behind my lawn tractor or riding mower.

Mine works great, are you putting the "plug" into the shoot when you use it?

Rutgers, I just bought a new Toro 20062. I've been mulching leaves also. While my mower isn't mulching the leaves into powder, I'm getting very small pieces. My manual said to raise the front of the deck a few notches higher than the rear.
The mower has exceded my expectations of mulching grass also.

I definitely have to check out raising/lowering the deck a bit.

Once again, I think my expectations were too high, particularly when it came down to the amount I was mulching. I admit that the bigger pieces were noticed following taking a whack at a pretty heavy covering of leaves.

Generally speaking, is the mulching increased the HIGHER you take the deck or the lower?

Isn't QOC science class great!

leaves that show any green don't mulch very well, if they mulch in a squeezed hand than they are ready for the mower. gator blade works better than what toro puts on

I have a new Toro 20056 SR4 and it mopped up 100% of our (maple) leaves (and quite a few we pulled in from ditches and roadways) in about 4 passes. Eagleman is right. If you get the leaves when fully dry and without moisture, they shatter into small shards. You might get bigger pieces if you go over thick piles but just go over a second time. That was the least energy our home has ever expended on leave disposal....I paid $575 for the mower but with mulching have saved about 10 hours on lawn cutting (mulching cuts total time about 1/2 hour) and another 4-6 on leaf bagging this season, compared to rear-bagging and raking. It also has rear-drive which makes it slightly less work to use the push mower. We'll see how the lawn does but most articles on mulching indicate its a winner too. Should have done this years ago. So keep it up Rutgers!

I just did my final leaf mulching job today. The leaves were wet, and I had to make two passes in different directions. I thought the mower did ok. I'll never rake again!

'but with mulching have saved about 10 hours on lawn cutting (mulching cuts total time about 1/2 hour) and another 4-6 on leaf bagging this season, compared to rear-bagging and raking.'

That is the bottom line. Particularly since it was pointed out to me that it is not true that leaf debris acidifies the lawn. Actually, the fine debris turns into humus rather quickly and provides needed organic matter to the lawn. We only use a rake now for where the mower can't go. On the front lawn, I will go back and bag after mulching, but the volume of material bagged is reduced by at least three times (two bagfuls instead of six) and that chopped material can be placed in raised beds as mulch.