Mulching Kit VS Chute Blocker? Which Is BETTER?

Today I just wanted to do a quick video demonstrating a chute blocker mulching leaves. We don't really run a ton of mulching kits up here in Michigan, but I know they're extremely popular in other regions.
My question on this video is: what system is better for mulching up leaves and DO YOU CHARGE this time of year to mulch up a weekly mow clients leaves? Do you add a premium? For us, we do not, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't!
Love to hear what's working for you guys and how you prefer your mulching kits compared to a chute blocker down in the comments below. Thanks for watching!
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[@BriansLawnMaintenance]

Mulch or Chute Blocker.. that is the question!

[@superiorpressurewashing6489]

I’ve done two seasons of leaf cleanups, all mulching. I used the Bobcat XRZ Pro mower. The first winter I used just the chute block and the second winter I used the full mulching kit both for leaf mulching. I found that the chute block only causes leaves to clog the far right blade and resulting in the mower more easily bogging and marking it slower to mulch leaves. The full mulch kit traps the leaves around each blade instead of sending them all to the far right blade. The full mulch kit resulted in a noticeably more efficient/faster mulching of lawns. I also found that the tampered blades are better for mulching because the first winter I used non tampered and my blades were destroyed at the end of winter but the tampered were ready to rock another winter of leaf mulching after using them a full winter. This also increases mulch spread because the blades aren’t wearing out during the winter.

[@daflea66]

Recycler kit. Period.

[@augustalawncareoffenton1461]

Both. I have a John Deere quiktrak with the "mulch on demand" and I use X blades with double ripper.

[@ShiftyEddie]

Haven't tried a chute blocker, but I'm very pleased with my mulch kit. I do have to keep an eye more often on clippings building up but well worthrth it

[@lawncarelife]

I like the versatility of a chute blocker. Mulching kit tends to bog down in thick grass

[@tonymcfee]

Good point because the deck isn't clearing out the cuttings and makes the mower work harder. I used my mulch kit like twice, so I haven't experienced that yet. Next year is going to be very different with these customers of mine!

[@BriansLawnMaintenance]

Great tip Jason!

[@jeffblackston724]

In Alabama, I run 1 mulching mower and 1 side discharge mower. I mow zoysia, bermuda, centipede, st Augustine and weeds. I have a couple of lawns that have very healthy stands of st aug and zoysia. When these lawns are really growing in July and August, I have to double cut with my mulching mower, as it simply can't handle the load. But other than 2 - 3 lawns, mulching works great. Of course there are times when I side discharge too.

[@jeffblackston724]

Jason, do you know if mulching leaves and pine straw hurts / helps the grass? I have a few weekly accounts where I mulch alot of debris into the grass, and I'm always wondering about the impact to the grass.

[@300hiker]

@@jeffblackston724 I’ve always noticed the mulched up leaves settle into the grass and can cause bare spots in the spring.

[@DistrictFire]

I ran all summer with the Ballard chute cover. Leaves would not mulch well in that set up. I installed a factory mulch kit from Cub on my pro 54 and left the chute cover on. Incredible difference in efficiency. You are making many more passes and using more fuel than I would in my current setup.

[@michiganman845]

I appreciate your transparency with pricing. It really helps us noobs. 👍

[@dancoffman4336]

Been running chute blocker w/ X-blade set up for years with great results. Running mower backwards helps big time.

[@conorsmith5471]

Im in northern NJ, my properties have tons of mature trees and most are surrounded by woods. We have to clear the leaves to be able to mow, you couldn’t bag these bad boys after the first week in October. We are running a 35hp hurricane with a backpack on operator for details plus a dedicated backpack man we are charging $150 an hour and up until this wet week had been doing weekly to 10 days, blow and then mow. Only a few do I take things away and that is billed extra too at $40/yd. A friend gave me a great rate on dumping my truck)14yds full) he has a grinder and screener and makes top soil. Im saving time and money for dumping so Im happy. Great podcast today brother! You’ve been a big help to me in getting my revenue up

[@markmilan01]

Brian! I love the idea of having a separate mower for mulching and one for cutting. That’s what I’m going to do

[@gonzalezproservices8961]

What up Bri! In Oct I switch to mulch blades on my mower and depending on the amount of leaves that are down during the course of Oct, I may just do a regular cut which chops up them leaves just fine. Then as I move on into Nov, I run the course a couple of times (as needed) to break down them leaves down then run over with bagger. In Oct and Nov, I up my service hourly rate by 30% and as the jobs get bigger, I bring in help and charge for multiple man hrs. Oh, plus a really nice haul away fee & my service fee doubles in fall for the extra fuel and ware on equip. I'm in New England and that works for me, that being a small scale lawn maintenance business guy!

[@jeffgootjes8418]

We run mulching kits and vacs. The difference on the lawn in this instance would be that you can run over it once and you’re done. You’re not running over it 4-5 times chasing strips of leaves because they’re being side discharged and blocked. This allows you to get the job done in the same amount of time as a regular cut in many cases. If the leaves are a little heavier or wet it may require a double cut similar to longer wet grass during spring or summer.

[@BriansLawnMaintenance]

That’s a great perspective thank you for sharing Jeff

[@javanwinders3399]

So do you run the vac on the mower with the mulching kit? Thanks

[@jeffgootjes8418]

@@javanwinders3399 no, we have separate mowers for each. One person mulches the leaves while the other follows behind with the trac vac mower. It drastically reduces the volume of leaves and reduces the number of trips to unload the vac bags by half of more.

[@mikewilliamson9977]

I don’t think we’ve ever ran over leaves 4-5x. Usually it’s 2x minimum of 3x I’ve been using mulch kits for 14 years and never vacuumed a leaf. Mulch kits will save you in the long run. The reason I say that is because yes your right you run it over 1x and it sucks it up but you’re not accounting for the time you have to stop and unload the bags in the truck hook them back up. Then paying someone to go to the dump. Dump fee / fuel etc. there’s a lot more costs involved in using a vac system than mulch kits

[@schearlawnmaintenance5468]

I had a hurricane mulch kit on a scag for a couple summers but it was a mess if there was any significant growth. I’ve sense modified the mulch kit to have slight openings in the baffles and installed a chute blocker. When open the grass is slightly mulched into smaller clippings and discharged, while closed it performs just as the hurricane mulch kit did. Best of both worlds.

[@tonymcfee]

Perfect timing video Brian! So I bought a Toro Grandstand 36 with a mulch kit on it. Customer complained it left brown spots on his lawn (BS) So I don't use the Grandstand and use my Scag SFC 30 inch instead and bag everything. So I get to his property last service and I find myself doing a partial leaf cleanup. I'm like WTF? So he hands me the usual envelope with the regular mow money inside. I ended up having a Kalfism (haha) Meaning I felt taken advantage of. So, we are close to the end of the season and I am going to draft a price increase letter and a fall pricing structure from October 1st through November 5th. What sucks is, The Scag SFC 30 cant bag heavy leaf debris so I have to bag them and in this instance it was 7 fn bags full that I had to remove before I could mow. So in 2023, I'm going to charge 1.5 times my mowing fee from Oct. 1-15 then 2 times my mowing fee from Oct 16th through November 5th. So needless to say, I bag it all because I have PITA customers...ALL OF THEM! Watch how many customers wont want any mowing done in October-November next season! That just means fall cleanup will cost more because more leaves will be on the ground! I cant tell you how many times I've thought of just selling everything and dumping the lawn care business. People suck and its partly MY fault.....

[@billhull6842]

I got away from weekly bagging. But last week I did put my discharge blocker on, and I am now starting to mulch the grass and leaves in prep for the final big clean up when I will bag the leaves.

[@timothydooley1550]

Been running Mulching kits on all my Toros full time for 2 years now. Will never go back... You don't get all that blowout with a mulching kit compared to a shoot blocker. Here on Long Island we don't skip a week until the season is over. Most guys here shoot for December 10-15th. I've been charging the same price as per when we removed the leaves. If anyone ever said anything (which they haven't) my answer would be it's a 10-15K machine that allows us to do this.... Great video!!!

[@shanstover9317]

I'm always listening for tips on mulching leaves. I use a grass flap and it does such a better job mulching the leaves if you drive backwards. You will see me out during leaf cleanup season driving backwards on all my properties because it also doesn't push the leaves up into a big pile when you drive backwards

[@Alex.AL_26]

100% agree

[@byronn.2885]

I’m fortunate enough to have 2 Ferris Z3X 61” stand on mowers and I have 1 set up with a full mulch kit and 1 set up with a chute blocker and ripper blades for fall cleanups. The mulch kit does an awesome job when leaves are dry and there is minimal grass being taken off. If there is tall grass or things are a bit wet having the option to open the chute is beneficial to disperse clumps. I usually charge regular mowing rates until grass stops growing or the leaves start to overwhelm the lawn. From there I consider it fall cleanup. Some of my accounts are a set price for fall cleanup and all the others are billed out hourly at $70-$150 per man hour depending on what equipment we are using. I’m located in northern Michigan so leaf cleanup is a huge money maker up here

[@mikedennis8]

I run the exmark mulching blades and the advanced chute during fall. Seen better results with mulching blades than the high lift blades for fall time. Always wondered about the pricing for fall time. Pricing changes are coming for sure.

[@jronmanlawn]

This is my first season using a mulch kit. Previous years I would take my blower vac off and bolt a metal plate to the mower. It is basically a poor man ‘s chute blocker. This year with having a mulch kit on the new mower, I feel like it does a better job at getting big piles of leaves under the deck instead of just pushing them around. Saves me time. I am able to do a pass with my mulching mower and a second pass with my bagging mower instead of having to do both passes with the same mower. Nothing is dust free in the fall but in the right conditions in the spring and summer mulch kits are nearly dust free.

[@affordablelawnservice5091]

We are mulching right now. Just ordered wrights bagging system for the ZK . To help with leaf cleanups. May offer bagging next summer.

[@corycottie1970]

Hey Brian, I have a landscaping/snow company here in Ontario, Canada and am growing quite quickly. What do you use to track your routes with a GPS option to put all the yards in order based on location. Also love the channel, just watching your snow plowing and grass cutting videos is inspirational!

[@andyhendrickson5619]

I have the ACS blocker welded to a walkbehind. It does great all summer and about one week into fall cleanup. After that it is piles and tarps.

[@marquiscaine882]

I use mulch kit mowers for leaves usually takes one pass Also I use it when I do shrubs I wish I could post videos of the huge piles of trimmings I've mulched to dust. You can never tell sometimes you have a few twigs to pick up after but besides that blow in the yard cut the yard like normal. Love it

[@smithslawncare2248]

I use the chute blocker on my Dixie. Works well to mulch up the leafs when I put on the dixie chopper X-blade setup as well

[@jasonscotthensley]

I just ordered a new John Deer stander for next year with mulch on demand. Plan on using and advanced chute blocker like I always have. Can mulch when I need to and just used the chute blocker when it’s thick or wet. Hopefully have the best of both with a flip of a switch or a pull on the handle.

[@rickdeboer1313]

Here in the North east we get alot of leaves. For extra money I target wooded areas for cleanups where you can blow leaves into the wooded edges. Easy money!

[@genedavis7518]

We use quick chute on all our equipment. 32 years in business never used a mulching kit. Most of my clients are willing to have me come weekly and mulch up the leaves. If it takes us the same amount of time as mowing and trimming we charge the same price. Some of our clients that have quite a few trees we may go every other week and charge three to four times the cost of a mowing. This typically keeps the customer happy and the employees busy.

[@johntaucher6949]

I keep cutting weekly or bi weekly, mulch all the leaves and do one final cleanup. I charge taking into account the extra time mulching takes plus final cleanup.

[@jerrygriffin7629]

Same here , blowing them is a waste of time

[@zebossxa2794]

Most of our customers like the weekly blowing/mowing of the lawn until mid November then a bigger final cleanup where the beds are cleaned as well

[@mylesbroussard2497]

I've tried both in my business in Louisiana with the grasshopper factory stuff and I have to say mulching with a mulching kit is by far superior. The little trail the OCDC leaves looks bad and I could have mulched that yard perfectly in a 1/3 of the time in one pass with the mulching kit. I will probably only use the OCDC in the summer and for overgrown properties because you will put a lot more strain on the belt if you are mulching wet/long grass. Side discharging I feel like I should wear a mask and dust gets all over you and it's a major liability bc you could sling a rock into a window. It is nice to be able to mostly blow off a driveway using the fan effect of the side discharge. And the extra lever to deal with is really distracting. Around here it seems like you need to have 2 mowers with a mulch kit on one and an OCDC on the other.

[@whyme7470]

Mulch kits. Have lots of lawns that have beds left and right. Takes time to raise/ lower chute blocker. There is still blow out with chute blockers. Keeps driveways and sidewalks cleaner with mulch kits. 36" 52"

[@jamesbeasley]

Chute blocker and I mow a lot in reverse!!! You should see some of the looks I get from people passing by but it works so much better and saves a ton of time.

[@chuckmaxon3727]

I run all year with an open chute and in the fall put the mulch plug in with gator blades. I charge the same for running over the leaves and mulching them as I do for cutting the lawn, but I don't trim or edge. If I pick up the leaves and take them away it's 3x the price of mowing.

[@tomgrossnickle9705]

I have a 2nd .generation 60' Toro Grandstand. I have a mulch kit on it year round in Minnesota. I wouldn't trade it for the world. I have tried different blades and all seem to function well with the baffles installed. Sometimes you will get a little windrow with deeper grass. It completely pulverizes leaves to confetti size . And yes, going in forward then reverse on piles is the key , as is mowing piles at a higher height , then dropping down to cutting height for the finish cut. No complaints here. In closing ... a bagger quality cut in the summer, less hauling for clean-ups in spring and fall....a win win , not to mention keeping fertilizer and organics in place.

[@mikesullivan7224]

Chute blocker works pretty well!

[@conorsmith5471]

I have had a mulch kit on my vride2 and it was great in tight areas when the grass was dry when growth has slowed down. But it was awful mowing large lawns. I took it off last year and put the advanced chute on and I am much happier. Mowing wet grass is easier, I have cut my lawn times down tremendously(and raised prices woo!) and i can still mulch leaves up sufficiently when necessary and I dont have to pirouette to avoid blowing grass in beds. Its the way to go for me and my properties!

[@tbirdvol29]

I’ve got a V ride 2 also. So did you install the mulch kit but leave the chute blocker instead of what comes with kit? I was thinking of installing a mulch kit but leaving the grass flap, but not sure that’s a good idea lol

[@toddbehrends1373]

I have two quick chute blockers on both Toro's and an Advance chute blocker on the Cub Cadet. Here in Central Illinois I use mulching blades and keep the chute blocker closed. I normally have to run over the yards twice with the chute blocker closed and the third round I have it open. I have never thought about checking with the customers about doing a weekly leaf mulch. That would keep us busy until the end of the year. Right off the top of my head I would charge double what a weekly mow would be on the same yard, to mulch the leaves. In the town I live in I am not sure many people would want to pay 80 to 160 dollars just to have me mulch the leaves on a weekly basis.

[@bruceslawncarenist9234]

I do use the chute blocker and I also bag leaves I let the yard dictate what I do. I charge by the hour for all the extra time

[@jasonjon88]

Fall setup (3 crews of 2 guys each in the Fall) -1 Lazer Z w/ultravac -2 Lazer Z’s w/ mulch kits -2 Lazer Z’s with chute blockers -1 36” Turf Tracer w/ mulch kit -2 36” Turf Tracers w/ side baggers -1 Commercial 30 which can bag or mulch We’ve found that it’s nice to have all the options because we just run into all kinds of different needs for different properties and areas of town.

[@brianfolding40]

I bought my Toro Titan HD 60 used, and it had a chute blocker already installed. In the fall, I just swap out the high lift blades for mulching blades and with the chute blocker down, this is my solution for leaves. Chop em up and let them be free fertilizer.

[@Alex.AL_26]

Definitely prefer the chute blocker because I can keep it closed to mulch and then easily open it whenever I need to discharge the leaves into a woodline.

[@schofieldlawncare]

We have ran both, we put our mulch kits on late September and take them off after spring clean ups. With running just a ocdc you’ll get a lot of blow out because of there being no mulch baffles to break up the air flow and a mulch kit in my opinion does better against leaves. We mulch till we can’t mulch on a weekly basis then mulch and bag. We just charge the normal mowing price because there is no trimming so it doesn’t take more time. Then we just send out a final bill for the season. So we just charge a seasonal rate to do leaves.

[@moebiwan]

I have run mulch kits on all my mowers for the last 6-7 years, until this year. I'm in Florida and this past summer was so rainy that things stayed overly moist for weeks and weeks. Because mulch kits don't discharge, all that wet, sticky grass gets stuck under the deck, and I found I was having to clean the underside of my decks after every job, sometimes in the middle of the job. It was incredibly frustrating and time consuming. So, I decided to take the mulch kit off my 54" (left the kits on my 42" and 34" as I don't use them as often) and switched to a chute blocker. Result: I may never put a mulch kit back on my 54". Leaf mulching sees much better results with a proper mulch kit, and if the weather is dry I prefer the cut result, but I am very pleased with discharging/chute blocking.

[@jonathankrum3016]

I have run both. The mulch kit does perform better when I close the chute with out the much kit it makes a bit of a mess but it does work. I have welded up my own mulch kit that still allows for side chute use and that seems to work pretty good for mulching and then not mulching.

[@HiddenZeroJs]

What i do in the fall-winter time in Texas November- march depending on the yard if they have large oak tree that drops a lot of leafs all the time i keep them on weekly schedule same price all year. If they have trees that are small or doesn’t drop very much i let them chose weekly or bi-weekly the biweekly is $10-15 mark up. And if they have no trees and no leafs it’s monthly service $30 mark up from weekly price. I started offering reoccurring leaf clean up last winter and it was successful keeps me busy all year around and keeps income flowing and customers are happy their yards are cleaned.

[@gg32484]

I have one mower set up with mulch kit, other with a chute blocker. I like to have both options. Mulch kit mower gets used more and more as season ends. In my opinion the mulch kit is great for dry leaves, but lacks the suction if too wet and also slower. The chute blocker set up allows for more sucker, but can have too much blow out if too dry and never gets as clean of a job, because I'm chasing the leaves, so to speak If I am able to stay on it weekly, I don't usually have to charge anything more, because it takes the same time. The other thing is there is no trimming this time of year. So I might take an extra few minutes mowing, but I am not trimming, so it is the same time. If not weekly or too many leaves than I have to charge accordingly.

[@josephtafari7575]

I agree with your pricing input, feel like I'd be cheating the customer to charge more for basically the same thing down here in Alabama, specially if you're not trimming and just running the mower

[@therealRustyShackleford]

I use a mulch hit solely for fall leaf cleanup. It does ok mowing if you're not taking alot off and it's dry. I mow short on my last mow without the mulch kit and then when I come back to clean up the leaves with the full mulch kit installed, the grass might need cut a little but it's all about the leaves. When it comes to mulching leaves, the mulch kit wins hands down. No comparison. It looks like a vacuum went across the grass after just one pass. This is using a Scag hurricane mulch kit.

[@bobbystewart2605]

For performance, Depends on the setting, mulching if it’s short Blocker for semi overgrown/overgrown At work we have a lazer 72 tht currently just has the mulching kit chute block (mulch kit got damaged so we took it off til we get a new one) and it cuts just as well as, if not better, than the mulch kit. We also have one that wide open and it was my go to before the oil pump went bad.

[@nighscuttingedgelawncare1046]

I have ran both and my mulching kit on my Toro Multiforce was like $350 and it leaves no mess and I can make literally one pass and it leaves nothing behind.

[@tonymcfee]

Do you use it while cutting grass too or just during the fall? Reason I ask is I have a mulching kit and was using it when cutting grass and the customer complained about it leaving brown spots on his lawn (dead grass after mulching) which I think was BS and he just wanted everything bagged.

[@nighscuttingedgelawncare1046]

@@tonymcfee I put on just for a leaf season cuz I do agree whenever I put it on for cutting grass it does not look very good and it doesn't stripe up. I have never had any meds to have to clean up afterwards either and I have used it on some major leaf cleanup, and it like no other. Plus I have a power bagger on my Z Master 6000 for when a customer wants to pay the added cost of bagging it. Plus this year I added a 29HP Billy Goat debris loader so I feel really good about our leaf systems

[@tonymcfee]

@@nighscuttingedgelawncare1046 I'm hoping to get the power bagger for my Toro, but after my price increase letter goes out before next season along with my fall pricing structure, I may not have any customers left and I'm getting to the point where I will be better off. These yards in MA are not that large and there really isn't any room to roll around mulching leaves multiple times until it becomes dust. This one customer I'm referring to has a gazebo, a shed, cement planter in the middle of the lawn, a red maple newly planted in the middle of the lawn, a big swing, a small wrought iron table and chair set and a gutter down spout that stretches into the yard that has to get moved before mowing so its not the ideal candidate to mulch. I get so deflated at times when I show up on site. Things are changing next year though!

[@nighscuttingedgelawncare1046]

@@ericstinnett9182 it does strip just not as good when I take it off. I just put the mulching recycling kit on in the fall for leaf season.

[@Lowcountryinshore843]

@@tonymcfee tell your customer u don’t back leaves 🍁

[@tomwakemjr1092]

i run a grandstand with a mulch kit and a walker bagging mower. mulch then bag. I try for weekly cleanups at 2x mow price or 12x for the "cleanup season" to lock them in

[@mikewilliamson9977]

Brian If you’re interested come to our shop in Washington twp. We have 7 of our lawn maintenance crews using mulch kits all fall. We mulch all of our leaves residential or commercial. We have a suck truck on stand by but haven’t used it once this year. It would be great content to show everyone how badass the mulch kits really are. Instead of spending 5k on an ultra vac system you spend $500 on a mulch kit but you’re still able to charge the same or more.

[@BriansLawnMaintenance]

Thanks Mike!

[@kirklyons1765]

Use both. Chute blocker majority of time. Have clients that we catch/vacuum as well.

[@DS-TRUCKS]

Does that work with a accelerator catcher?

[@jackiehall8630]

I do both, Advance chute on one mower, and vacuum bagger on another this time of year. For me it really depends on how many leaves are down and time of year. Right now with very few leaves I'll use Advance chute blocker, here in a few weeks I'll start using the vacuum bagger, really depends on how many leaves are on the ground.

[@DYMONDSLAWNANDLANDSCAPE]

Agreed.

[@peterprobst6307]

What blade setup are you currently running? Kind of important info when leaf shredding is in the mowing mix.

[@douglaspost5097]

I have a John Deere x394 lawn tractor with a 48" mulch on demand deck. If it's wet, the deck plugs up badly and sometimes will want to stall because of the clippings building up under it. If that happens, it leaves a big pile of clippings on the lawn when it does clear. I also have a Ferris z700 with a 61" deck. It doesn't have any kind of cute blocker or mulching option. That runs just fine. Having said that, I would like to put a chute blocker on it. At one customer, in the fall I took out a storm window and another year a French door shooting hickory nuts out. The customer was great saying she'd pay for it so I haven't raised her price for several years, even when the price of gas shot through the roof. On the JD, I took the chute blocker off to try to alleviate the clumping but when it's wet it still does it. My dealer said I could remove the baffles in the deck and that should take care of it. Then I'll see if I can put the chute blocker back on for protection of cars, windows, people, pets, etc.

[@LuxAudio389]

I own a Wright Stander I for my personal property.I Bought a Wright much kit and blades from and it didn't do as good of a job with just an open chute and Oregon gator blades. Tried the Oregon blades with the chute blocked and I would get heavy lines of clippings in-between the 2 blades .

[@mikecochrantheboss]

Over here in Oregon using a zero turn kubota and bagging. We get alot of leaves in the fall

[@davehaggerty3405]

Chute blockers are so handy I’m surprised they don’t come stock. My Exmark Metro 36” with Gator blades is a leaf mulching machine if I just flip the chute handle. So I charged nothing extra. One or two complained about some slight windrows of mulched leaves. I said I could mow it again. But I’ll bill you again. In Ohio grass grows while leaves fall. So for about 3 weeks I leave the chute closed. I may blow out a couple of beds. That’s hourly work. Billed extra. My 10’ mower was rear discharge. I ran Gator blades. It did OK but you don’t get a lot of leaves in open areas. I bought a used Toro 580D that came with a leaf mulching kit. 16’ bat wing 80hp turbo diesel. The kit was a set of mesh rings that completed the encirclement of the blades. I used it one time. On a 33acre lawn. There was grass too. And the grass would get stuck in the mesh and stop the mulching and the mowing. I had to mow first. Put the kit back on. Then mulch. Without grass it worked perfectly. The leaves just disappeared. And they had a lot of trees. It just turned the lawn kind of brown. The leaves were dust! He was happy with it. So he sent me to mulch his mom’s leaves. Luckily she only had a couple of acres. She lived in a woods! Leaves to your knees! I ground thru them. Everything turned brown. It looked like a construction site! She said it was the best job she ever saw.

[@michaelritchie9709]

I used mulching plug for mine with gator blades any other time its cyclone rake xl

[@upscalelawncaremonroe408]

The chute blocker is the real deal!!!

[@flat4314]

I do weekly leaf cleanups although I don't charge extra above normal mowing price. it's also not an option all my customers stay on schedule until the leaves are done dropping. I either discharge the leaves towards woodline or mulch the leaves with chute blocker then throw on grass catcher to bag the leaf dust. Doing it this way takes about the same time than a normal mow because your not trimming. And because I mulched the leaves before bagging I normally end up with 2 large trash cans every day mowing around 20 yards.

[@Offroaddisturbance]

I use chute blocker and x blades I also do organic fall clean up I charge by the hour

[@anthonycook9803]

Mulch kit ONLY in Fall leaf season and first mow of Spring!! They shred 3-4” of leaves into nothing noticeable back into the soil surface, magical. We use to blow our lawn leaves until last Fall. We blow the leaves from the beds and driveway onto the lawn then Mulch/Mow over them at quarter speed than a regular mow at 3” height. We MUST charge more for MULCH/MOW due to the additional time required and the additional stress on machine. Some charge more but we charge $90 per man hour here in Va.

[@azimmey]

I use mulch kit all year long ( I hate throwing grass) and then don't charge for light leaf cleanup if I cut and mulch but charge for heavy leaf if more than regular cuts can handle.

[@InTeCh89]

I've got a mulching kit. It works good but tends to be more of a hassle unless your cutting weekly or bi weekly.

[@jaym1244]

So, I don't know if this is a dumb question, but when you mulch or just even side discharge, doesn't all that debris just get compacted in the lawn over time making it thicker and thicker where it gets harder to mow eventually? We always bagged when I lived in desert southwest but now that I have moved to the Midwest, with all these leaves in the fall, I would think that bagging is the way to go.

[@hairyplopperthebananascrat5962]

I think I’m going to try running a mulch kit with gator blades during the summer, then switch over to a bagger with hi-lift for leaves. Mulching leaves can be hit or miss where I live. More often it’s a mess.

[@glslawnservices1905]

Mid-Michigan here, have never run mulch kit only chute blockers. Leaf clean up format is all over the board so we have several ways of pricing. Weekly mowing customer vs Not weekly customer. Mulching vs bagging vs blowing in the leaves in the woods. We offer all of them in 1 visit, multiple visits or weekly except mulching. No mulching for 1 visit customers. Pricing structures we use are, per visit, flat fee or hourly rate. This year for per visit/weekly leaf customers I have built in a minimum fee to protect myself from the sneaky customer ( don't come this week not many leaves on the lawn and the next week they are all down) or a real cold rainy windy day that causes the leaves to fall all at once. If the minimum fee is not reached in the per visit fee then the final invoice will be more $$ to obtain the minimum fee price. Also, first time customers requesting a one time leaf clean up once all the leaves are down must pay the estimate in Full the day we arrive on site prior to any work being done. Had one person ghost me on a large clean-up who was a first time customer..

[@brett9121]

With our cleanups we do what we call a cut and catch.. at 3x rate of the weekly cut price. We usually get 3 cut an catches with the 3rd being a final. We also charge per Trac vac load we collect and then also if our dump trailer with the vac is used. Fall can be very efficient and money making at times. Others not.

[@rayd1809]

Grass flap and fall cleanup with grass gobbler weekly for 100 each time or 220 for full yard cleanup at the end of season.

[@BriansLawnMaintenance]

💯🙏

[@slmlawncare7077]

We move customers that want there property de leafed to a every two week leaf maintenance schedule and price each one according to the property most customers love the fact that we will keep there yard clean year round and are willing to pay for the service as long as we don't get snow will clean leaves till there's none left or it's time to start mowing again

[@jeffbromley73]

I’m in Massachusetts, tried a mulch kit last year on my scag (scag mulch kit) it didn’t go well especially when wet I think if your a smaller operation (1 or 2) you’d be fine with mulch kit but it does require constant scrapping of deck because of buildup. when wet it’s a definite no go, IMO you’d need a second machine for wet days with no mulch kit just the blocker As far as pricing leaves 2x the weekly cut price , if you go over your BH up it accordingly

[@bushwhackerslawncarepryoro6526]

The chute blocker with the X-blades set up is what we use.

[@danfontaine6992]

Hey Ryan it's Dan in the Northeast here I have a three mower set up have a 36 Toro grandstand with Gator blades and open shoot I have a 48 grandstand with a mulch kit and then I have my Walker t25i and bag everything up after I've cut it down that's my fall clean up section I will mow right up until the end of the season and then do one final cleanup and it all depends on how many leaves I'm taking away price can go anywhere from $250 up to $1,000

[@danielc7737]

I use mulching kits throughout the year on my Wright ZK. I cant stand side discharging. It makes a huge mess clippings everywhere and you have to cut in a awkward way to avoid shooting clippings on driveways or flowerbeds. Mulching gives a fresh clean cut usually the first pass depending on how sharp blades are. It really shines in peak season when grass is growing like crazy. The best thing is never having to worry where your mower will discharge. Cutting around cars, driveways, flowerbeds it doesnt matter!! And lets say youre doing a flower bed mulch job and a little bit of mulch spills into the grass or trimming bushes you can blow the clippings into the grass and just run it over with the mower and leave it nice and clean without discharging it over all the yard.

[@aleemsmith9507]

You can do all that with a shoot blocker

[@danielc7737]

@@aleemsmith9507 True but a mulch kit does a better job at mulching

[@joshkellberg917]

I'm in the Pacific Northwest area. It's typically rainy during fall cleanups. Leaves are wet and heavy. How do you all handle wet leaf cleanup? When it's dry enough to mow we use a chute blocker.

[@glslawnservices1905]

Depending on how many wet leaves are on the ground makes a difference but here is what we normally do. Side discharge ONLY no chute blocker used. Deck height 1/2 higher than normal. Run over the lawn no more than 2 times. 3rd pass we now start bagging them. On the first 2 passes we are achieving 2 things, reducing size of leaves somewhat but not too small to affect the efficiency of the bagging unit and secondly those first two passes side discharging dries the leaves off somewhat. If you put your shoot blocker down with wet leaves you're going to make a mess it's going to clump up under your deck it's going to leave like cow patties all over the lawn and then the mower tires are going to be compressing it into the ground I learned my lesson the hard way.

[@zacjohnson8404]

The blowout from the front of the deck is a bit frustrating (have same thing with scag lib z 36). What blades were you using?

[@WichitayardbarberLawncare]

Mulch kits make a world of difference. Chute blocker from season start to about October then the mulch kits go on.

[@ericdelude722]

We use walker ghs mowers for fall clean ups…oh and tarps lots of tarps!

[@DYMONDSLAWNANDLANDSCAPE]

Us too!

[@aidenlepore]

Me personally I’ve always bagged and hauled offsite. I charge a premium for it and I have a local tip close to me. 👍

[@billygreen3515]

I did not spend the $400 on a mulch kit because i have a very old belt driven Exmark walk behind its all i could afford. But engine just blew on it so i put my back up engine on. I can bolt on a home made shield over my chute or i can just throw bagger on. Once bagger is full i keep mulching bulk of leaves. then empty bagger into brown home depot leaf bag. Mow one more time with bagger on and its usually very clean & green. They love seeing me full a few bags gives off old school vibes but its quick. I Charge based on amount of leaves. Im not weekly in fall i check on my properties after 10 days.

[@coxandsonmachine2128]

Down here in south Alabama I just run my standard deck. No mulch kit or blocker just a set of gator blades does great.

[@gregdyer1991]

Run with chute blocker and grass catcher, have been doing weekly for 3 years. We mow the grass, then mulch the leaves, then put on grass catcher. On average we can get the grass clean in 20 mins…charge $125/hr. Charge for the mow, then the clock starts for leaves. So much easier to get the leaves weekly then 1 time. And they aren’t frozen!! No mulch kit, just a blocker and mulch blades

[@jonathanscott4010]

I add a mulch kit this time of the year. It saves so much time since I do not bag. Very few customers seem to want to pay for it in my area. If it's a new customer I will charge 2.5x the weekly mow price. If it is a regular customer, and they allow me to stay up it, I do not charge extra. I will reserve the right to add a clean-up fee to it. But, I have found a mulch kit allows my time to be similar enough to mowing.

[@ohiodigger4391]

There’s so much blowout from under the deck. Would a mulch kit do that?

[@gg32484]

@@ohiodigger4391 my mulch kit on my exmark has very little blowout, on the other hand though, it does not have near the suction though either. So the mulch kit works best when very dry and the chute blocker works better when a little damp in my opinion

[@jonathanscott4010]

@@ohiodigger4391 no it does not. I have however wondered if removing the baffle with a set up like Brian’s would cut down on that.

[@MrDrunkNFunky]

Do you run any specific blade for better mulching or is the OEM typically what you use in the fall?

[@BriansLawnMaintenance]

Just Ballards Ripper blades and even old Oregon gator blades yep

[@redblue40rc33]

Off topic but do review on the Schroeder back pack blower .it's German made.. cheers from Arkansas

[@ThatTexan2002]

My Chute blocker came in yesterday from Ballard

[@BriansLawnMaintenance]

🥳💯

[@bretforfar6582]

May I ask how much longer does it usually take you to mulch leaves than mowing. Also do you feel as if the fuel and wear on mower come into play on the price?

[@BriansLawnMaintenance]

About 50% more time so I’d charge a 50-100% premium with this topic

[@anthonycook9803]

Here in Va. when there is a decent leaf drop we use Toro grandstand with a mulch kit. Blow leaves from beds and driveway into lawn then run over it side to side(so on coming cars can’t see the ugly lines made from those passes on the lawn). Make slow pass then overlap onto that previous pass about 25% to grab the stranglers. After fully mulched we then stripe mow the lawn as we normally would in order to leave the lawn looking nice for the customer and oncoming traffic. For us last season this method took approx 3 times a normal mow price. Because of the additional fuel and wear and tear on machine we charge $1.50/minute per man per hour($90hour per man). So a $55 lawn that would normally take 45 minutes will cost about $165. We still charge for a standard mow as well bcuz we do stripe mow once more when finished mulching it in a way that leaves the property looking tight and striped. Hope this also helps

[@mikesullivan7224]

What do you use for ear protection??

[@advillarreal]

I have an older Ferris Duraguard GD 32inch and am just starting my business. do you have any recommendations on a shoot blocker?

[@zachpettit7725]

ever thought about reviewing a john deere ztrak

[@baylormustaine983]

Do you trim before of after you mow and why???

[@wardor9214]

Ballards chute blocker is what I use. I have never used a mulch kit so i can't speak on how they work. Out of my customers I bag 25% off them the rest I just mulch up leaves with the chute blocker down.

[@MemeCurrency1]

i like bagging, looks great and you can charge a little bit more>

[@arthurtotherow8208]

What hearing protection do you use?

[@mistamike83]

chute blocker with gator blades does the job for me

[@Jk1978-1]

Chute blocker all day... Still have a few yards that grow too fast to switch over to a full blown mulching setup in western pa

[@Mast3rChip]

We have city yard waste pickup so the homes that have that service I bag otherwise I mulch or push to a wood line.

[@migueliniguez9145]

Video title mulch vs chute blocker proceeds to say iv never tried a mulch kit .

[@jgizzle2545]

Definitely not against a blocker to each there own. I personally do leaf clean ups and my customers like to see it done in the manner if the pay, I dont mow a yard for less than $75 and yes I do put on a mulch kit when it’s leaf season. Only because it doesnt leave all the access leaves and its a lot cleaner than a chute blocker. I personally recommend the mulch kit but I have used a chute blocker before, also with a mulch kit its more effective because they come with mulch blades and not regular blades.

[@shanepipkin4041]

ditch the deck up 1/4 inch in the front in the fall