Raking leaves during Fall can be a back breaking task, especially if you do it by hand. Bending over to pick up the leaves and then placing them into a bag can be a pain. If you own a riding lawn mower, it can help ease your leaf removal process. There are certain types of attachments that may be needed with most riding lawn mowers in order to help you pick up leaves as you ride across your lawn. It is nice to use these attachments while you mow the grass, making it so you can both cut the yard and pick up leaves at the same time.
Bagger Systems
Most riding lawn mowers and push lawn mowers have an optional bagger attachment that you can use when cutting the yard. Most push mowers include the bag while riding mowers do not (and you have to buy them as an add on). The bag attaches and detaches from the rear of a lawn mower. You can choose to attach it when you want to collect grass clippings or leaves during the Fall. The grass cut by the mower deck of your mower is blown through the discharge chute into the bagger. A bagger will also collect any material or debris your lawn mower mows over. So if your yard is covered with leaves, this is a great way to clean them up without bending over to pick up leaves manually.
Tractor Leaf Bags
Another leaf collection attachment you can use with your riding lawn mower is a leaf bag. This bagger is pretty much the same as the bagger system previously mentioned; however, it is much larger than your basic bagger system. It is nice to have if your yard is large so that you can pick up more leaves without having to empty the bags as often.
Lawn Sweepers
A lawn sweeper hooks up to the rear of the tractor, acting as a tow-behind attachment that sweeps the leaves off the grass. Rotating bristles throw any debris on your lawn into the sweepers bin area. If you only want to pick up leaves without mowing the lawn, a lawn sweeper is a very useful attachment to use. You do not need to engage the blade while going over the leaves (as you do with a bagger system). The sweeper will pick up the leaves without chopping them up. Be sure to check the lawn sweeper owner’s manual to make sure it is compatible with your type/ brand of riding lawn mower.
Mulching
Sometimes if you do not have too many leaves in your yard you are able to just cut over them without having to bag them up. This method will create a nutrient-rich mulch material that will fall between the blades of grass. Because the pieces are so tiny, your lawn will appear to look as though you picked up your leaves. If the layer of leaves on your lawn is too thick, don’t mulch. This will cause too much mulch left on your lawn and that excess mulch will suffocate/ kill the grass. In order to mulch with your riding lawn mower or push lawn mower, remove the rear bagger and cover the side discharge chute with a mulch cover flap.
