I bought the 350 a couple weeks ago and it had neither, just a side discharge. I image because of covid all mulch control kits were out of stock and no shipping dates at the time i bought. In fact, i ordered a electronic one touch mulch kit from green tractor and was sent a note of what i wanted to do because no one had them and Deere had no production dates for new ones., I said leave it on back order and then the next day I received a tracking number. ??. I picked up a collection kit and chute and installed them the day i bought the mower. I have since received the electronic mulch control kit. I would like to put the mulch kit it on and have the ability to do either when i need to. The bagger kit said I needed to take off the rear mulch plate if i had it. I started reading about gator blades also. From what i read , Gator blades are not supposed to be used with a mulch kit because of their high lift. Can you leave the high lift bagging blades on with the mulch kit or use the JD mulcher blades for both bagging and mulch. Can you use the gator blades with the bagging kit the way its currently set up? Open for suggestions here from someone that's been through this.
X350 with 42A deck , bag or mulch question
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I've got a Model 48, no mulching baffles, deck that I use on my 314, 317, & 322. I've got a bagging system that works well, but when used with mulching blade, Predators from JD dealer, the collection container getss REAL heavy...clippings are smaller with mulching blades and pack tighter (more!) into bag. I disconnected the hose from the discharge chute to the bagger and blocked the opening with a piece of sheet .metal. It works fine as long as the grass isn't too long and I travel slowly.
In your case, I'd close discharge chute and mulch. Pay particular attention to the area you just cut. If you see clippings, you're going too fast. With WOT and proper ground speed, you won't see any clippings on/in lawn. Bob
In your case, I'd close discharge chute and mulch. Pay particular attention to the area you just cut. If you see clippings, you're going too fast. With WOT and proper ground speed, you won't see any clippings on/in lawn. Bob
2017 X580 48A deck, gator G5’s & 2022 47snowblower. JD 42 lawn sweeper, Assorted line of STIHL tools
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so not a direct answer but maybe some info you could use. on my X300 42 deck I had the bagger and high lift JD blades. It was a perfect cut with that set up, best in the neighbourhood. But it created so many clippings to bag and haul away it was painful. I tried the gators because they where claimed to cut the clippings finer and pack more per bag. They did this for sure. Nice fine clippings and more per bag. But in my conditions I ran into clogging of the bagger chute that I never had with the high lift blades to the point it was basically unusable. Also I don’t think the cut was quite as nice. So back to the JD high lift blades and no issues again. On my new X580 48A deck I put the JD mulch control kit on to try. But on dealer recommmedation I ran high lift blades rather than mulch blades that came with the kit. So far I’ve mowed with this set up 3 times and see almost no clippings on the lawn. Nearly as clean as with the bagger before. The real test was if the kids and dog are covered in clippings from playing out there after I mow. So far they are not. I had planned to buy a power flow bagger for the X580 but now wonder if I even will. Very few visible clippings and no clippings to dispose of.
So Jaybert , your muclhing using the bagging blades? That what i am thinking of doing. I dont have a big yard, normal residential, just have pain in my knees thats why i bought the rider. It filled the bagger up and clogged the shoot on the front alone. didnt realise the indicator changed positions. Normally i would only empty the pusher 1 to twice on the front. It filled my yard waste cart and i didnt even get through the front yard. World of differance.
2017 X580 48A deck, gator G5’s & 2022 47snowblower. JD 42 lawn sweeper, Assorted line of STIHL tools
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191 Posts
The dealer installed the mulch control kit but left the standard blades that come with the tractor on. I believe the standard blades on the 48A are considered a high lift blade for either bagging or discharge. I questioned why with the mulch kit they didn’t install the mulch blades that came with it. They can’t really explain it but they have had much better success with the stock blades and the mulch control kit. So the mulch blades are still in the package and it’s working great without them. So far I’m happy with it. I was pretty skeptical with mulch control but so far I can say I’m happy with it. There is a thread here somewhere about this
2017 X580 48A deck, gator G5’s & 2022 47snowblower. JD 42 lawn sweeper, Assorted line of STIHL tools
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191 Posts
2016 MulchControl review
This is a review of the MulchControl for the Accel Deep deck. I know that:thisthreadisworthle but I had a hard time attaching them to the thread. So I added a PDF with the review and pictures at the end. Let me know what you think:thThumbsU After getting my new tractor I wanted to do a...
www.mytractorforum.com
Well i put the electronic mulch control kit on today and left the blades that came with the bagging kit on. I tried it and it cut pretty good, but i have alot of maple helicoters in the yard and you couldnt really see them , It seems to have sucked them up and pushed them out from under teh sides of the deck. Maybe too much lift? It seemed i was blowing up a lot of debris onto the tractor more than it did when i used the bagger kit.
2017 X580 48A deck, gator G5’s & 2022 47snowblower. JD 42 lawn sweeper, Assorted line of STIHL tools
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191 Posts
Yes I’ve noticed it’s not as clean too. I have not tried on leaves, maple keys etc. Yet but you do see the odd clipping blow out so I am sure keys and leaves would too. My bagger and 42A was the cleanest and nicest cut by far. Lawn always looked vacuumed after and tractor mostly clean. Leaves and whatever else was gone. Since our yard size tripled at a new house I’m trying to find a solution that eliminates the bagging. There are some trade offs with going to the mulch control for sure but so far I think I can live with them. In my case it’s not as perfect and tidy as bagging but it’s a lot closer than I thought it would be so sticking with it for now.
Well I mowed part of my back yard with the high lift blades and mulching door engaged. I had the deck set on 4 but would have helped if i would have actually dropped it down off transit mode. I noticed the same maple helicopters and some debris being blown out from under the deck.Both sides had some discharge coming out from below and pushing some debris up onto me.
I took the high lift blades off and put the mulching blades on and that cut down on the material being blown out. I did see some small clippings escaping but all in all much better. The cut looked pretty good also. With the high lift blades i guess there is so much turbulence it was actually blowing some stuff away from the deck. The air has to go somewhere if its not out the side of the bag.
It only took a few minutes to change the blades with the 42" deck and if i had to bag anyway , i would also need to remove the rear baffle that black part of the discharge. I'll stick with the mulching bags for now.
I do like how the yard looks better being vacuumed with the bagging kit, but i only have yard waste service once a week and cutting once was overfilling my cart and I have been having to cut the yard twice a week.
My only complaint besides the mow in reverse button is why do they put the brake pedal so high. I have to roll my whole body to get my foot up to it. I bought the rider because my legs were getting sore.
I took the high lift blades off and put the mulching blades on and that cut down on the material being blown out. I did see some small clippings escaping but all in all much better. The cut looked pretty good also. With the high lift blades i guess there is so much turbulence it was actually blowing some stuff away from the deck. The air has to go somewhere if its not out the side of the bag.
It only took a few minutes to change the blades with the 42" deck and if i had to bag anyway , i would also need to remove the rear baffle that black part of the discharge. I'll stick with the mulching bags for now.
I do like how the yard looks better being vacuumed with the bagging kit, but i only have yard waste service once a week and cutting once was overfilling my cart and I have been having to cut the yard twice a week.
My only complaint besides the mow in reverse button is why do they put the brake pedal so high. I have to roll my whole body to get my foot up to it. I bought the rider because my legs were getting sore.
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