60” Deck Mulching Kit for a BX2200?

JeepJeep · Apr 4, 2003

Anyone have any experience with the mulching kit available for the BX2200? Is it worth the extra cash? Does it work well? What did you pay? Did you install it yourself? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Thanks, Jim

BX2200 w/ 12 hours an loving every minute of it!!!

Anonymous Poster · Apr 4, 2003

( Anyone have any experience with the mulching kit available for the BX2200? Is it worth the extra cash? Does it work well? )

I was just asking the dealer about that today and he told me to forget it. He said mulching doesn't work well here in New England if you mow wet and deep grass. If you always mow when it's dry and you mow very frequently then it might work okay. Of course, he was wanting my to buy a rear bagger... /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

JackIL · Apr 4, 2003

Well there's more to the story than that. Almost all mulching set-ups use special blades and a baffle to close the exhaust chute. My experience is that these do a good job of mulching when the grass is not very tall and is dry, but they can make a mess if the grass is wet and / or tall. In fact the operator's manuals that come with mulching mower kits generally say this. Your dealer did not lead you astray on this point.

On the other hand, a bagger or vacuum system can also have trouble with tall wet grass. You can get along in tall grass by making multiple passes with the deck raised high on the first pass. However, you will find that vacuuming or bagging wet grass (meaning rain or dew) is generally going to be very difficult due to repeated plugging of the boot or hose. You just have to accept the fact that you need to do the mowing when the grass is dry.

There are some specialty mower blade manufacturers that claim their blades will chop the grass into very fine pieces for mulching without having a cover plate over the exhaust chute. On of these is Meg-Mo (www.meg-mo.com). There are 4 pivoted short blades on each disk that replaces the original mower blades. Their video shows mowing in tall wet grass with apparantly good results. I have not tried them out, but am planning to this summer.

JackIL

Anonymous Poster · Apr 4, 2003

Re: 60” Deck Mulching Kit for a BX2200?

Last fall I bought the mulching kit for my BX. I just wanted to get rid of the leaves from about fifty oak trees. I couldn't see $1600.00 for the bagger. I don't know for sure, but I think the kit was about $250.00, blades included. I installed it myself. You do have to drill ten 5/16 holes (size approx.) in your deck. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif But once you have the holes drilled you can install/uninstall the baffles and blades in less than 15 min. with a air ratchet and the deck off. I do not use the mulching kit for mowing as I sometimes let my grass get pretty high. But I will tell you this, you can make dry oak leaves virtually disapear. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif The kit excedes all of my exspectations with the leaves, I would buy it again with out thinking about it.

Anonymous Poster · Apr 5, 2003

( My experience is that these do a good job of mulching when the grass is not very tall and is dry, but they can make a mess if the grass is wet and / or tall.)

Knowing my mowing style this will not work for me. I have areas of my lawn that grow much faster than others and tend to stay damp much longer. I can't count on being able to mow only when it's short and dry.

( On the other hand, a bagger or vacuum system can also have trouble with tall wet grass. )

I bagged with my old tractor (Wheel Horse 520H) and had minimal cloggin problems. It had a belt driven turbine blower built into the shute like the Kubota does.

( There are some specialty mower blade manufacturers that claim their blades will chop the grass into very fine pieces for mulching without having a cover plate over the exhaust chute. On of these is Meg-Mo (www.meg-mo.com). There are 4 pivoted short blades on each disk that replaces the original mower blades. Their video shows mowing in tall wet grass with apparantly good results. I have not tried them out, but am planning to this summer. )

Thanks for your thoughts and the info on the blades. I have been waffling back and forth on the $1700 the dealer wants for a bagger. I really don't want to spend the money but I did like the cleaner yard. Maybe I'll try those blades instead.

JeepJeep · Apr 5, 2003

Re: 60” Deck Mulching Kit for a BX2200?

Peppers, where did you get the kit for $250? Best I'm seeing is $330.

Thanks, Jim /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Anonymous Poster · Apr 6, 2003

Re: 60” Deck Mulching Kit for a BX2200?

JeepJeep

I bought my tractor at Edgeller and Harper Equipment in West Plains, MO. The mulch kit was figured in with the tractor and a couple of other items, so I could be wrong about the exact price. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif When the wife gets home I'll see if she can find my invoice. The sales invoice did have everything itemized. I just remembered wondering if it was wroth $250.00. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif I'll let you know what the exact cost was. I will say this, knowing now how well it does work on dry leaves, I would pay $350.00 for it if I had to. It is a shame though, you're really not getting much material for that kind of money. I guess I'm getting old. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Bob