This is what I have done for years! It is so nice to see a true professional reinforcing good practices. Thanks for sharing your easy method that takes half the time and labor of other types.
A different direction. A strong leaf blower is a great way for clearing snow from the driveway, in the winter as well as those things you've mentioned. I agree with the mulching blade for leaves. I bought one for my push mower. Great for my soil, lawn and especially my back. This gator blade that I bought, for leaf mulching, was the best money that I've ever spent. My neighbors rake them up and bag them. In the spring my yard is so much prettier because I mulch them into the soil.
I've been mowing for 30 plus years and the easiest way to mulch leaves is to ad a chute blocker to your mower. Also go backwards as the mower eats up the leaves more.
Ever since I started mulching my leaves back in 2007ish I have never turned back. I like to mulch as you shown but then go over the lawn one last one using my grass catcher. I refuse the mulched leaves in my compost for my garden. By mulching I dont have to empty my grass catcher as much and it helps break down in the compost much faster. In the spring I dethatch and again throw it in my compost. We very rarely throw yard'bage at the curb.
The shredding blades or Gator Blades are awesome.Been in business 20 years and every fall/winter I use them,they mulch up really well.For those with regular lawn mowers you can use the Gators also
John, great video. I put a bagger on my commercial mower, let the bagger fill up, and continue cutting and shredding leaves with a full bagger. This traps remaining leaves under the deck and resulting in a quicker shredding process. If you have a good set of mulching blades it is really amazing how you can reduce a giant amount of leaves into practically nothing. After going over entire lawn with bagger on, I will bag the remaining material and take it away.
Hi John, Bryce in Norwalk, CT here. I learned a good deal about splitting wood by hand with some of your videos (have since moved to an HV-16 Ramsplitter) and never knew you were in CT. I just purchased a Snapper RER and was looking for ideas about mulching leaves and your video popped up. Never knew you were in CT. Much appreciated for the tips. If I need landscaping help in the future I'll look you up!
this is great advice here. As a lawn care guy myself, he hit upon a lot of key bits of info, and we use the same approach to leaf clean ups. Its faster, and better for your lawn in the end. Key tips; get the high end blower. It DOES make a huge difference when dealing with leaves. Either the Stihl BR600, echo 755, or a few of the other top of the line blowers. I have a echo 500, and a 755, and the latter does a better job on the leaf clean ups. Don't let the leaves get wet and mat down either if you can avoid it.
Anything less than echo 750/755 and other brands' equivilents is too weak to handle big leaf buildups. For $200 more you get a much more capable machine. Homeowners waste billions buying cheap junk to care for lawns and quadrupling the time it takes to do the job.
When you are mulching around trees keep the chute blowing in one direction to move the leaves away from the tree to a clearing. Then continue mulching the leaves in that area. No need to pick up the leaves with the barrel.
You can actually mulch them with the Exmark version of this mower. It turns them to dust amazingly, even knee deep concentrations. It will take 2-3 passes, but it works.
My buddy has a property management business and he swears that its best to remove all of the leaves every fall. Maybe the climate in Missouri requires that, I don't know. He claims the dead leaves change the acid levels and makes it harder for grass yo grow. I agree with you though. Good videos!
Do not pile it up into one area and just mulch it! That’s what kills the grass underneath and overloads on nitrogen. If you disperse them you won’t have a problem. I blow out the leaves 8 feet away from the beds ,driveways etc onto the lawn then I cut it up to 4 times with each time being a different pattern. Then I do light blowing if there’s heavy layers in spots and that’s it. No damage to lawn and no damage to your back. One thing I will recommend is mulching blades! They do make a difference.
I have been vacuuming leaves for several years and my customers prefer this as opposed to mulching. Excess mulching is actually a deterent to a good healthy lawn. I use a RedMax 8500 to blow out flower beds and landscapes and vacuum with my Cyclone Rake. Then i dump in gardens and around trees and landscapes. This, i learned from common knowledge and experience and not a degree in horticulture.
It amazes me when I see people raking leaves and bagging them. I have a Toro Super Recycler and I blow the leaves into the middle of the lawn and mulch them easily
What I do is go around and mulch the leaves first, then use the rear bagger to pick them all up afterwards. I take my leaves to a drop off site, so I bought a couple of used triple baggers real cheap and take all eight bags to the site for dumping. If there is more than eight bags, I dump them all and come back and fill them again. I needed a break anyway, lol!
i find i can do a faster job with a rake than a blower. i'll rake them in a line and run over them with the mower then suck them up with the leaf blower and dump them in my garden. they really help the soil and this year i have purchased a shredder/chipper so will be adding wood chips to my garden.
Great video with tips on multiple aspects. We just bought a house on an acre with lots of leaves and woods to blow leaves into. Been using handheld but looking at backpack now. Seems most are very loud. Any suggestions on model for homeowner and where to buy? I am in Ffld county.
I like to mulch the leaves towards an evergreen tree or shrub. When you're done, you can blow the chopped leaves under the tree with a blower. Just as long as its not too thick though.
Thank you, I'm guessing that's it. I had it pretty thick. 6-8" deep in large areas around tree group in the yard. Something made me a little hesitant, as I have never seen anyone do it before here. And WE have plenty of oak leaves in the fall. My back yard is the worst. Almost one acre chain linked and it holds all the leaves. Also been seeing a lot of moss taking over. The drought has not helped any in the last couple of years. SW Missouri area by Joplin
I really like your video. Im a new homeowner and I have a lot of leaves mixed with acorns and small branches. I have a Bolens 15.5 lawn tractor with 38" blades (i think). The mix of small branches and acorns made me feel that I am going to damage my tractor in the long run. The tractor does not mulch the acorns because they are very low, so if I try to remove the acorns last I will still have to rake and will remove the leaves I just mulched. If I do it backwards and try to remove the acorns first I still have to rake... lol so I need some help here. Thanks you very much!
I mulched my leaves a few years ago and used them as mulch under my trees. Looked really good but I think it killed my grass in the yard downhill from the areas that were mulched? My house is on a hill and now I have ground erosion. Why did it kill off my grass, any ideas? BTW-great videos, thanks
One negative aspect of using a gator blade (mulching blade) is they do not create a lot of lift, so when cutting tall or wet grass, you're not getting the best possible cut. Your video made me chuckle though; for years I have tried to tell my customers that mulching is better for the lawn than taking them away. This is a hard sell when they see large companies coming in and sucking their neighbors leaves up. I try my best to accommodate my customers sooooo......looks like I will be buying a vacuum this year. Nice video by the way.
Oh, How I wish I did live by you. We live in Baltimore MD. I love the cooler climate of the northeast. From what I have seen, CT looks like a beautiful place to live. Do you post videos often, if so I will subscribe. I too, wish you a great season.
One of my employees was cutting a grass today and the mower began to produce heavy smoke. From what I've read its from unqualified oil or mowing at a high angle. Is this mower now permanently broken? What can I do now to fix it? Thanks John.
i had to aerate my lawn after because i ended up with compacted soil from driving over and over on the lawn until i a got a bagging system for my mower
I've got too many oak leaves to mulch in my yard, so I'm planning to get a lawn tractor with bagger. Do you think I should change out the standard blades that come with the mower for the hi-lift blades that come with the bagger? I'll be using this tractor almost exclusively for leaves.
Forgive my ignorance...is there a Gator Blade that is also high lift, or are you referring to two different blades? I was under the impression that Gator Blades were only for mulching and wouldn't provide enough lift to get leaves up into the hopper.
If you have a good deck (nothing homeowner grade) you can mulch very deep leaves, just run over them every 2 weeks so it doesn't get too bad and they will look bagged. If you have a lot to deal with, the money is better spent on a used commercial ZTR that will last a lifetime. 25 years LCO.
Triple-D's Lawn Care & Services Blow the leafs into a huge pile get a trashcan and start bagging them up I had like 10 bags full of leaves of course I did it with some help
mulching up those leaves is why you have no glass. the same way you need that respirator while working with those leaves. youre choking out the lawn cutting them up thinning out your lawns.
Just a bit of friendly advice. If you need it for commercial use don't buy it. Even a used commercial backpack blower that was maintained will be better for you imo.
Blow and rake smaller piles onto a tarp and drag it out to the street. You can tie the two front corners together, hook your elbow by the knot and when you get to the street untie the knot and pull the back corners over.
Wrong, Purdue University and Michigan State did a seven year study not only proving that wrong but finding it very beneficial. It was the equivalent of a fall fertilizing.
@@danielintile751 Yes. I have a St Augustine lawn in north Georgia, a rarity these days and is only found in older homes in sheltered neighborhoods. It is a grass that thrives in acidic soil yet mulching leaves into it is only beneficial I have found.
This is what I have done for years! It is so nice to see a true professional reinforcing good practices. Thanks for sharing your easy method that takes half the time and labor of other types.
A different direction. A strong leaf blower is a great way for clearing snow from the driveway, in the winter as well as those things you've mentioned. I agree with the mulching blade for leaves. I bought one for my push mower. Great for my soil, lawn and especially my back. This gator blade that I bought, for leaf mulching, was the best money that I've ever spent. My neighbors rake them up and bag them. In the spring my yard is so much prettier because I mulch them into the soil.
Best thing I ever did was start mulching up the leaves. So much easier than raking, plus happy green lawn in the Spring!
I've been mowing for 30 plus years and the easiest way to mulch leaves is to ad a chute blocker to your mower. Also go backwards as the mower eats up the leaves more.
Great idea
Thank you for a great video and very professional. Thanks for the advice
Ever since I started mulching my leaves back in 2007ish I have never turned back. I like to mulch as you shown but then go over the lawn one last one using my grass catcher. I refuse the mulched leaves in my compost for my garden. By mulching I dont have to empty my grass catcher as much and it helps break down in the compost much faster. In the spring I dethatch and again throw it in my compost. We very rarely throw yard'bage at the curb.
The shredding blades or Gator Blades are awesome.Been in business 20 years and every fall/winter I use them,they mulch up really well.For those with regular lawn mowers you can use the Gators also
Awesome video, I love your channel!!
thanks John! awesome tips!
i'm 14 and i do my grammas lawn and 3 other lawns
***** thanks!
21PilotsPlaneRide ur 19 now congrats
John, great video. I put a bagger on my commercial mower, let the bagger fill up, and continue cutting and shredding leaves with a full bagger. This traps remaining leaves under the deck and resulting in a quicker shredding process. If you have a good set of mulching blades it is really amazing how you can reduce a giant amount of leaves into practically nothing. After going over entire lawn with bagger on, I will bag the remaining material and take it away.
Good Teaching Skills. Thanks for emphasis on Safety!
Hi John, Bryce in Norwalk, CT here. I learned a good deal about splitting wood by hand with some of your videos (have since moved to an HV-16 Ramsplitter) and never knew you were in CT. I just purchased a Snapper RER and was looking for ideas about mulching leaves and your video popped up. Never knew you were in CT. Much appreciated for the tips. If I need landscaping help in the future I'll look you up!
Really cool! Like that mower!! I own a hustler x-one 60' deck need to get me a set of gators
This is a great video!
this is great advice here. As a lawn care guy myself, he hit upon a lot of key bits of info, and we use the same approach to leaf clean ups. Its faster, and better for your lawn in the end. Key tips; get the high end blower. It DOES make a huge difference when dealing with leaves. Either the Stihl BR600, echo 755, or a few of the other top of the line blowers. I have a echo 500, and a 755, and the latter does a better job on the leaf clean ups. Don't let the leaves get wet and mat down either if you can avoid it.
Anything less than echo 750/755 and other brands' equivilents is too weak to handle big leaf buildups. For $200 more you get a much more capable machine. Homeowners waste billions buying cheap junk to care for lawns and quadrupling the time it takes to do the job.
70 dollar blower has lasted me commercially for 7 years now.
This is a great method! I like to use my push mower to mulch the leaves raised on it's highest setting then use my tractor to mow the yard.
I agree. There is no easy way out. I clean up my leaves 3-4 times when dry. I suck them up in a bagger after I chop them up.
I never need a rake.
When you are mulching around trees keep the chute blowing in one direction to move the leaves away from the tree to a clearing. Then continue mulching the leaves in that area. No need to pick up the leaves with the barrel.
Mulcher on the mowing deck will improve that whole situatuion so the leaves stay below and are no blown out to the side.
Great video John. Was about to waste a bunch of money on a yard vacuum, but plan to give your techniques a shot first!
Less equipment to buy and maintain. I recommend a respirator when mulching leaves.
Keep in mind that he's on a powerful Commercial ZTR. Lesser machines won't do as well.
I use my blower to "sweep" my garage, driveways, knock off old blooms on my roses, and sweep my gutters!
You can actually mulch them with the Exmark version of this mower. It turns them to dust amazingly, even knee deep concentrations. It will take 2-3 passes, but it works.
My buddy has a property management business and he swears that its best to remove all of the leaves every fall. Maybe the climate in Missouri requires that, I don't know. He claims the dead leaves change the acid levels and makes it harder for grass yo grow. I agree with you though.
Good videos!
Mark Cotter probably true for most yards that are fertilized.
Do not pile it up into one area and just mulch it! That’s what kills the grass underneath and overloads on nitrogen. If you disperse them you won’t have a problem. I blow out the leaves 8 feet away from the beds ,driveways etc onto the lawn then I cut it up to 4 times with each time being a different pattern. Then I do light blowing if there’s heavy layers in spots and that’s it. No damage to lawn and no damage to your back. One thing I will recommend is mulching blades! They do make a difference.
I have been vacuuming leaves for several years and my customers prefer this as opposed to mulching. Excess mulching is actually a deterent to a good healthy lawn. I use a RedMax 8500 to blow out flower beds and landscapes and vacuum with my Cyclone Rake. Then i dump in gardens and around trees and landscapes. This, i learned from common knowledge and experience and not a degree in horticulture.
It amazes me when I see people raking leaves and bagging them. I have a Toro Super Recycler and I blow the leaves into the middle of the lawn and mulch them easily
That's the way to do it. With the invention of mulching mowers and blades it's silly any other way.
Mulch them with the Toro or a mulches?
What I do is go around and mulch the leaves first, then use the rear bagger to pick them all up afterwards. I take my leaves to a drop off site, so I bought a couple of used triple baggers real cheap and take all eight bags to the site for dumping. If there is more than eight bags, I dump them all and come back and fill them again. I needed a break anyway, lol!
i find i can do a faster job with a rake than a blower. i'll rake them in a line and run over them with the mower then suck them up with the leaf blower and dump them in my garden. they really help the soil and this year i have purchased a shredder/chipper so will be adding wood chips to my garden.
Great video with tips on multiple aspects. We just bought a house on an acre with lots of leaves and woods to blow leaves into. Been using handheld but looking at backpack now. Seems most are very loud. Any suggestions on model for homeowner and where to buy? I am in Ffld county.
I like to mulch the leaves towards an evergreen tree or shrub. When you're done, you can blow the chopped leaves under the tree with a blower. Just as long as its not too thick though.
This guy knows what he's doing.
Good video.
Thank you, I'm guessing that's it. I had it pretty thick. 6-8" deep in large areas around tree group in the yard. Something made me a little hesitant, as I have never seen anyone do it before here. And WE have plenty of oak leaves in the fall. My back yard is the worst. Almost one acre chain linked and it holds all the leaves. Also been seeing a lot of moss taking over. The drought has not helped any in the last couple of years. SW Missouri area by Joplin
this video was so helpful
+Land Designs Unlimited LLC I DO!
Oh lol! I thought you were giving one away haha
I really like your video. Im a new homeowner and I have a lot of leaves mixed with acorns and small branches. I have a Bolens 15.5 lawn tractor with 38" blades (i think). The mix of small branches and acorns made me feel that I am going to damage my tractor in the long run. The tractor does not mulch the acorns because they are very low, so if I try to remove the acorns last I will still have to rake and will remove the leaves I just mulched. If I do it backwards and try to remove the acorns first I still have to rake... lol so I need some help here. Thanks you very much!
Hello from Manchester.
I stopped by Buckland yesterday and they are already busy. Thanks for your reply. Have a great Holiday.
No such thing as too many leaves... Gods miracle grow///
KISS always works.
I mulched my leaves a few years ago and used them as mulch under my trees. Looked really good but I think it killed my grass in the yard downhill from the areas that were mulched? My house is on a hill and now I have ground erosion.
Why did it kill off my grass, any ideas? BTW-great videos, thanks
One negative aspect of using a gator blade (mulching blade) is they do not create a lot of lift, so when cutting tall or wet grass, you're not getting the best possible cut. Your video made me chuckle though; for years I have tried to tell my customers that mulching is better for the lawn than taking them away. This is a hard sell when they see large companies coming in and sucking their neighbors leaves up. I try my best to accommodate my customers sooooo......looks like I will be buying a vacuum this year. Nice video by the way.
Oh, How I wish I did live by you. We live in Baltimore MD. I love the cooler climate of the northeast. From what I have seen, CT looks like a beautiful place to live. Do you post videos often, if so I will subscribe. I too, wish you a great season.
Cool beans....I will subscribe
One of my employees was cutting a grass today and the mower began to produce heavy smoke. From what I've read its from unqualified oil or mowing at a high angle. Is this mower now permanently broken? What can I do now to fix it? Thanks John.
Thank you.....
If you mulch you must also spread lime to reduce soil acidity
i had to aerate my lawn after because i ended up with compacted soil from driving over and over on the lawn until i a got a bagging system for my mower
Keep in mind that excessive mulch will change your lawns pH. You may need to offset with lime
Leaf blowers the bane of mankind
I've got too many oak leaves to mulch in my yard, so I'm planning to get a lawn tractor with bagger. Do you think I should change out the standard blades that come with the mower for the hi-lift blades that come with the bagger? I'll be using this tractor almost exclusively for leaves.
Forgive my ignorance...is there a Gator Blade that is also high lift, or are you referring to two different blades? I was under the impression that Gator Blades were only for mulching and wouldn't provide enough lift to get leaves up into the hopper.
If you have a good deck (nothing homeowner grade) you can mulch very deep leaves, just run over them every 2 weeks so it doesn't get too bad and they will look bagged. If you have a lot to deal with, the money is better spent on a used commercial ZTR that will last a lifetime. 25 years LCO.
this is my first year doing leaves I don't know what I'm doing I got a Stihl backpack blower is a 600 backpack blower
Blow the leaves over to your neighbor's yard. He'll know what to do.
Triple-D's Lawn Care & Services Blow the leafs into a huge pile get a trashcan and start bagging them up I had like 10 bags full of leaves of course I did it with some help
Br600 magnum is the best blower.
Some good ole gator blades on a mower,multch them up
mulching up those leaves is why you have no glass. the same way you need that respirator while working with those leaves. youre choking out the lawn cutting them up thinning out your lawns.
how much
I'm looking to get a blower with a leaf mulcher feature. Any suggestions?
+Land Designs Unlimited LLC I've had mixed responses on the ryobi back pack blowers. What are your thoughts on them?
Just a bit of friendly advice. If you need it for commercial use don't buy it. Even a used commercial backpack blower that was maintained will be better for you imo.
commentary is lit
still figuring out how to blow the the leaves out to the road
Blow and rake smaller piles onto a tarp and drag it out to the street. You can tie the two front corners together, hook your elbow by the knot and when you get to the street untie the knot and pull the back corners over.
i use my snowplow to collect leaves. quick and easy.
i will talk on
Another tip is drive the mower backwards!
I do that if it's a small area. It's a pain to be looking backwards all the time or worse if you're working with someone else and lose track of them.
The high end models blow significantly harder than the low end. LOL
And man does it feel good!
I like what you're doing with them for mulch but they will kill the lawns as leaves ruin the PH balance in addition to causing patchy thin growth.
No
nonsense
Wrong, Purdue University and Michigan State did a seven year study not only proving that wrong but finding it very beneficial. It was the equivalent of a fall fertilizing.
@@danielintile751 Yes. I have a St Augustine lawn in north Georgia, a rarity these days and is only found in older homes in sheltered neighborhoods. It is a grass that thrives in acidic soil yet mulching leaves into it is only beneficial I have found.
when your done with your RESPERATER, take off the filters and put them in a sealed bag. because they keep filtering on the mask. ( NAVY RULES)
"because they keep filtering on the mask"
What the heck does that mean?
Probably some idiotic "Navy logic"
The Navy does not issue humor or logic to recruits therefor neither is allowed.
is this for real ? thats all i want to know. is this for real
Did you pinch yourself? ;-)
wtf
Some good tips overshadowed by a deluge of irrelevant information. It could have been at least half as long.
Why r u wearing a mask
Stop small dirt particles and bits of debree getting on your lungs
leaveblowers are horrible ask youre dog