Bagger for a B7610?

[Koz]

After being too busy to mow over the last two weeks, I had one heck of a mess on my hands this weekend. My wife is insisting that we purchase a bagger for our B7610 so I stopped at the local dealer. He didn't have one in stock, but told me about a Kubota GCK60-24B Grass Catcher. He has never sold one, and it turns out that a diff local dealer also has never sold one.

This thing is pretty pricy, 1610 plus tax. It has three bags, uses a blower that works off of the mowing deck and has a 9.75 pound capacity. The picture doesn't look much different than much less expensive baggers that i've seen people using on JD's.

I have lots of trees and shrubs to mow around and am concerned that the Trac-Vac units would not be maneuverable enough.

Several of my neighbors have the lawn sweeps and swear by them, but it just looks like twice the amount of work.

I'd prefer to just let the clippings lie, but my wife is pretty adamant about this!

Do any of you have this bagger? I'd be interested in any comments.

 

[BoneheadNW]

I use a JD LT to do my mowing and I mulch exclusively with a freedom 42" deck. Explain to your wife that 1) Mulching is better for the lawn than bagging; 2) Discarded lawn clippings are bad for other plants, unless they are spread out over a large area; 3) It is more effort (although if you are doing the mowing it is YOUR effort) to bag, empty, bag, empty, etc.; 4) Mulching decks do a great job in leaving little behind in the way of clumps of grass, UNLESS the grass is too wet and/or too long. In these cases, they will disappear if you mow back over them.

Just my $0.02 shpeal!

Bonehead

 

[JimCald]

I have the Kubota bagger attachment for my BX1500, and it is very similar to the one you described. It works quite well, but is a PIA to mount and remove. Not sure if it has a similar capacity, but it does not need to be emptied too often when cutting grass, however leaves are another story! I use it in the spring and fall only, have a mulch kit that I use during the summer when the grass isn't growing too fast.

Jim

 

[Jeff396]

I have one on my B7500 and it works great. The capacity is fine for grass but leaves a lot to be desired on leaves. Removing and attaching the blower on the deck is a piece of cake. Taking off the bag and frame is easy but putting it back on is another story. It's large and hard to get a hold of to maneuver it into position. Keeping the receiver cleared out of debris and rust is the key here otherwise you have a hard time sliding it in and lining up the holes for the pin that holds it on. It doesn't help that the 3pt arms get in the way a bit. I think making some sort of dolly to store it on would also help. With that said, I usually leave the bags on all the time even if the blower and chute are in the garage. The only time I take it off is when I need to use a 3pt implement and since I only have one it isn't too often. When you do want to use the 3pt you also have to change the 3pt lift arms from the shortened ones that come with the bagger to the standard ones. Any other questions, let me know! As for the cost, I imagine it's so high because the one mower head needs to be replaced with an entire new one and that doesn't look like an inexpensive piece.

Jeff

 

[WayneW]

I have the bagger on my 7610. It works great, just a PIA to put on and take off. Esp if you want to use the 3pt hitch for other things during the summer, like a box blade, harrow or similar. Why? Because the bagger comes with new 3pt lift arms. These are shorter than the normal ones so that they don't get hooked on the bags. You need the lift arms because that is whst lifts and lowers the mowing deck. So if you mount the bagger, and want to use the 3 pt hitch, you need to remove the bag unit (a little heavy and awkward), remove the mowing deck or at least the blower assy (unlike the BX blower, it mounts on the mowing deck, not the 3 pt), and change the lift arms back to the stock ones.

I usually do not put the bagger on until fall, mostly for leave pick up. Which it does an excellent job. Fills up much more slowly than my old Scotts lawn tractor did. And it will shred even large leaves (Catalpa)

 

[Koz]

thanks guys.

I frequently pull a cart with my 7610, so the bagger would be on/off a lot (although the 3 pt arms could probably stay). I'm going to look at one of the Trac-Vac units and am even going to consider a second (smaller) tractor. My son will be old enough to help with the mowing soon but there is no way I will let him use the 7610. A small tractor with a bagger will not cost much more than the 7610 bagger. But.....i'm rapidly approaching the day when my 16x20 shed is too small and a new garage needs to be built!

My old JD 445 had the JD MC518 unit. It was very nice, lots of capacity, easy to maneuver, easy to dump but it was also a PIA when I needed to use the pull cart. I probably should have kept the 445 instead of trading it in!

The real solution is for me to mow more often so this is not a problem! I get more time on the tractor and my wife doesn't get upset about the clippings.