Have you tried mulching your leaves? Studies have shown that 450 lbs per 1,000 sq ft (about 18" of leaves) can be mulched into turf. Here's a link:

Mulching Leaves

I have mulched my leaves for years. It's easy, inexpensive and good for my lawn.

-Deerslayer

was a steel drivin' man, lawd, lawd! johnshenry, if you need any encouragement, follow the links. Just skip the part about the "extra engine".

Here is a link that might be useful: link to a link to a link to a....well, you get the idea

As an addendum, I opine that if you use the "chicken wire" or some 1/2" "hardware mesh", locate so that it forms the "top" of your trailer box enclosure and that it is toward the REAR of the box (or make the entire top out of it). If the wire is the top most part, gravity will help the airborne clippings/leaves settle out of the stream. Aim the discharge outlet down into the box (or add a downward aiming deflector/baffle to the discharge outlet) so that the clippings/leaves will not mat over the wire or tend to escape either, and good luck.

Deerslayer and others on this forum indirectly converted me. I mulch and in my case, use gator blades. My yard never looked better and now I don't have to worry about yard waste disposal.

BTW, so called "experts" say not to cut the grass back for the winter. They suggest keeping the lawn at 2 1/2 to 3 inches.

"BTW, so called "experts" say not to cut the grass back for the winter. They suggest keeping the lawn at 2 1/2 to 3 inches."

I agree 100%. One of the benefits of not cutting grass back during the fall is that you can mulch more leaves into longer grass.

-Deerslayer

Thanks for the tips. A couple additional points:

Leaves aren't so much of an issue as the few times when for whatever reason I have to "deep mow", been away on vacation, etc.

I cut my grass at 3.5" most of the summer, if it gets too dry in August, I go up to nearly 4". I cut if back recently to 2.5"+ just to make leaf blowing easier. I actually have the luxury of being surrounded almost completly by woods, so I can blow leaves into the woods.

I do have a lot of pines along the woods edge, and early fall get lost of pine eneedles that don't blow well. And adverse effects of mulching those?

On the topic of mulching, I just found a mulching kit for my tractor and will give it a try next year. But one question, if I do need to slap on the power vac and bags for some reason, the mulching bladed will still work, right?

I am surrounded by woods, also. I blew my leaves into the woods until I learned about the benefits of mulching.

Standard mulching blades should work with your power vac. High-lift Gator mulching blades are available for many mower decks. They may perform better than standard mulching blades with your power vac.

-Deerslayer

I've been mulching my leaves since last year. My wife was skeptical- 34 years of living has told her that you rake up the leaves in the fall, and dispose of them. I talked her into the leaf mulching scheme, and this year she's 100% onboard now.

What happens is that the leaves get shredded up real fine (sometimes an extra pass is necessary) and by mid May, they've completely decomposed into the lawn. I've been evangelizing this scheme to everyone I know.

I have noticed that by adding the leaf mulching plate to my Deere LX176, less passes are required because the leaves stay under the deck longer to be chopped. The Gator blades are also very helpful.

As for pine needles, this doesn't work to well for them. They don't mulch well, and take a while to decompose. For pine needles, I'll actually bag 'em and put 'em curbside, though I'm actually tempted to cart them into the woods.

Most rose hobbyists dearly love to mulch their roses with pine "straw". I'll go out on a limb and bet if you contact clubs in your area they will have someone happy to pick the bags up.

Ted

I have a scotts 2046 with a tranny problem. Its posted on garden tractor recomendations. Please Help!!!

Not that I doubt anyoneÂs testimony here on this thread - but I am VERY curious to know where you guys live.
I live in N. NJ and am surrounded by huge oak trees. For my sons school project we collected numerous leave for a school project showing that some of these leave are 14 inches long...

My yard is completely covered with them, and i work for several weeks keeping the yard semi clean (on order to keep my lawn from getting swamped). In addition - it is particularly difficult if it is a rainy fall season.

While IÂm a believer in mulching, I am having a lot of trouble with this idea in my particular area...
Where do you guys live - if I might ask?

thx - Dave

I agree with you njdpo, it matters what climate you live in. Mulching isn't necessarily for everyone, IMO. Here in dry So. Colo. my clipped grass, if I don't bag just sits there, and sits there, and finally turns into a straw-like thatch. If I pile the clippings high and keep the grass pile wet in the hot summer, the grass in the middle and at the bottom of the pile will decompose, but that doesn't happen on my lawn...so I bag. Same with the leaves.