Lawn mower collect leaves. Can I Pick Up Leaves With My Lawn Mower? The Answer You Need Is Here

Can I Pick Up Leaves With My Lawn Mower? The Answer You Need Is Here!

The primary purpose of lawn mowers is to help you mow the grass and do some other gardening utilities. However, many users may want to use this device to pick up leaves in their yards.

Can I pick up leaves with my lawn mower ? If the answer is yes, how can you pick up leaves using a mower? If you are wondering about these questions, don’t miss out on this post.

I will discuss the uses and characteristics of a mower in detail to bring you an honest answer. Now let’s jump straight in!

Can I Pick Up Leaves With My Lawn Mower?

Yes, it’s doable to pick up leaves using a lawn mower. You can take advantage of the mulching setting of the device or attach the machine to a bag and a leaf blower.

In the following sections, I will discuss some simple and effective methods to pick up leaves with a lawn mower. They come with some conveniences and disadvantages, which you can consider carefully before choosing.

You Can Shred Leave With A Mower

Using A Lawn Mower With The Mulching Setting

Modern lawnmowers feature the mulching function, allowing the machine to shred the leaves into small pieces when you run the machine over. This method is convenient since it can help you chop and pick up large-sized leaves.

In addition, the shredded leaves will turn into nutrients and permeate back to the soil when they decompose. It’s a brilliant way to clean your garden and increase the richness of the soil.

Attaching Your Mower To A Bag

If your mowers have an extended part to attach accessories, you can combine it with a large bag. When you run the mower over the leaves, the shredded pieces will fall into the bag.

This method is particularly effective when you want to pick up large piles of leaves. You need to throw away the bag rather than leave the leaves decomposing in the garden.

Use A Bag To Contain And Remove Trash

Combining The Mower With A Leaf Blower

If you have a leaf blower, use it to blow and concentrate the leaves into big piles.

Then, you can run the mower over these piles to cut them into tiny pieces, making them easier to clean and pick up.

The disadvantage of this method is that it’s significantly more time-consuming.

If possible, you can invest in a leaf vacuum designed specifically for picking leaves, which saves more time and effort than using a lawn mower.

In addition, the mower cannot shred and pick up wet or dense leaves very well. The machine may get stuck and waste even more time!

How Do I Get My Lawn Mower To Pick Up Leaves?

The process of attaching bags or using a leaf blower to pile up leaves is pretty simple. Therefore, I will instruct you on using the mulching function of modern mowers. Follow these steps to do it:

Step 1: Adjusting The Power

You should adjust the mower’s power and height to suit the type of leaves and the conditions in your garden. If you want to shred and pick up large or dense piles of leaves, ensure to set the machine’s power to the highest.

Step 2: Start The Machine

You can follow the manufacturer’s instructions in the owner’s manual to turn on the mulching function. Then, you can run the machine over the piles of leaves to shred and pick them up.

Step 3: Move The Mower

You need to move the mower like how you usually use it to mow the lawn. Start at one end of the garden and run over all the surfaces that have leaves on them.

The machine will come with a bag that contains the shredded grass and leave. Please turn off the engine and collect this bag to remove the trash, leaves, and grass in it.

You may have to empty this bag several times when cleaning up a large garden. The bag may need more room to contain the large piles of debris and trash in your garden.

Step 4: Cleaning Up

What if your lawn mower needs a bag to collect the shredded leaves? If it’s the case, you can use a leaf blower to blow and concentrate the shredded leaves into large piles.

Then, use a shovel to collect and put the trash into a bag to remove them. One further note is that you should shred and pick up leaves when they are dry. Wet leaves are sticky, making the cleaning process more time-consuming.

Also, don’t forget to clean your mower after every use since dead grass and leaves slowly ruin the machine’s surface.

Can A Lawn Mower Mulch Wet Leaves?

Yes, a lawn mower can still mulch wet leaves and grass, but the efficiency will decrease. Wet leaves are harder, more resilient, and sticky, making it harder for your mower to shred.

So, I don’t recommend using a lawn mower to mulch wet leaves. If the rain comes, wait a few days until the leaves get dry before doing the cleanup.

How To Use Leaves After Picking Them Up With A Mower?

The most popular and eco-friendly way is to compost the shredded leaves. The nutrients left in the shredded pieces will decompose into the soil in your garden, thus increasing the soil’s richness.

You can also use chopped leaves to decorate your garden or turn them into small garments. Spreading shredded leaves onto the ground will create a more natural view and increase the beauty of the site.

Can Mulching Leaves By Lawn Mower Kill The Grass

Yes, there’s a slight chance that the mower will kill the grass when you use it to mulch leaves. If you just leave the shredded leaves on the ground, they will block the sunlight and make the grass underneath die.

Final Thoughts

In summary, you can use a modern lawnmower with a leaf mulching function to shred and pick up leaves. If you use an old-generation mower, use it to shred leaves and collect the leftovers with a leaf blower.

I hope the answers provided in this post will help you pick up leaves using your mower conveniently. Thank you for reading!

How to Mulch Leaves with a Lawn Mower

This article was co-authored by Grant Wallace. Grant Wallace is a Landscaper and Owner of Grantlanta Lawn in Atlanta, Georgia. With over seven years of experience, he specializes in lawn maintenance and landscape installation. In 2012, he earned his BA from the University of West Georgia. Grant has been profiled in Shoutout Atlanta, Canvas Rebel, and Voyage ATL.

This article has been viewed 55,894 times.

If you allow fallen leaves to remain on your lawn without raking them away or mulching them using the mower, they can suffocate your lawn by depriving it of light and air. Mulching fallen leaves with a lawn mower helps to provide a nutritious, protective mulch for the grass, clear unsightly leaves, and stops the leaf litter suffocating the lawn. All things considered. mulching is good garden practice!

Mulching the Leaves

If you want to leave the leaf mulch on the lawn to improve your grass, take the grass catcher or bag off the lawn mower, being very careful of the blade.
If you plan to remove the leaf mold for use elsewhere, consider raking the leaves up into a smaller area. That way, after mowing you will have less area to cover when gathering the leaf mold.

Set the mower to a height of three inches and mow over the leaves. You’ll want to cut the leaves into pieces about the size of a dime. [1] X Research source You may need to pass the mower over the leaves several times to achieve this. Try making the second pass at right angles to the first.

If the mulch is still too thick on your lawn, try reattaching your grass catcher or bag and passing over it again – this will gather up some of the mulch.

Feed your lawn at the same time as mulching. It’s a good idea to feed your lawn at the same time as mulching it – you’ll notice the difference in springtime. A winter blend fertilizer is a good choice in the fall. These fertilizers that have a high proportion of potassium relative to other ingredients. [2] X Research source

Using the Leaf Mulch

Understand why leaf mold makes a good mulch. Leaf mold is a good garden mulch as it is freely available and breaks down easily, as well as offering all the properties of a regular mulch, such as keeping weeds down, protecting the plant roots through colder months, and keeping moisture in the soil.

Decide how to use your leaf mulch. You have two choices when it comes to using your leaf mulch. Either leave it in place on the lawn, where it will help to improve the lawn, or rake it up or catch it in the grass catcher on your mower and use it elsewhere in the garden. You can use leaf mulch over any kind of plant, hedge or shrub.

• Although fallen leaves will mulch the lawn naturally, mulching the with the mower helps them to break down (decompose) faster, especially if they are mixed in with grass clippings. This will happen naturally if you use a mower to make the mulch.
• Fall is a good time to do this, as the leaf mulch will also protect the grass roots over winter.
• If you are replacing a mulch layer from the previous year, remove any old mulch before you apply a fresh layer.
• Leaf mulch is also good for adding to the compost heap.

Expert QA

Grant Wallace is a Landscaper and Owner of Grantlanta Lawn in Atlanta, Georgia. With over seven years of experience, he specializes in lawn maintenance and landscape installation. In 2012, he earned his BA from the University of West Georgia. Grant has been profiled in Shoutout Atlanta, Canvas Rebel, and Voyage ATL.

Start by blowing out all the beds and any areas that your mower can’t reach so the leaves are all in a mower-accessible part of your yard. Then, install mulching blades and head out in your mower. Afterwards, you can take your blower and make sure there are no chunks left in the leaf piles.

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How to Pick Up Leaves With a Mower: Fix Bagger Problems

When you have too many leaves to pick up with a rake or a leaf blower, you can install a leaf collection system on your riding mower or zero-turn. I prefer to remove leaves using a bagger because it is a much simpler solution to leaf pickup than blowing leaves into a pile and bagging them.

Having to manually bag leaves is a pain and I go through so many bags. With a leaf collection system on my lawn mower, the mower blades chop up the leaves before it blows them into the leaf collection bags or hopper.

I find a collection system convenient to pick up leaves with a mower, but you can run into problems when your leaf collection system will not pick up the leaves.

I will explain the several types of leaf collections along with items to look at when you have problems picking up leaves.

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Follow all safety instructions provided in your equipment operator’s manual before diagnosing, repairing, or operating. Consult a professional if you don’t have the skills, or knowledge or are not in the condition to perform the repair safely.

How to Pick Up Leaves With a Lawn Mower

A lawn mower can be used to pick up leaves with the use of a leaf collection system. A riding mower or zero-turn mower can utilize a flow, belt-driven, or pull-behind leaf collection system.

The best way to pick up leaves is to make passes over the leaves with your lawn mower which blows them into the attached bags. It may take more than one pass to collect all your leaves.

Leaf collection systems used to pick up leaves are the same systems you use to pick up grass clippings. You can use your current lawn mower grass bagger to pick up leaves.

Many lawn mower manufacturers have collections systems that have been designed to fit their model lawn mowers.

Check with your lawn mower dealer to see if there is a bagger system that fits your lawn mower as this will be ideal if it is available.

Types of Leaf Collection Systems that Can Be Used on Lawn Mowers

There are three types of grass collection systems that can be used on your riding lawn mower or zero-turn: flow leaf collection system, belt driven leaf collection system, and pull-behind leaf collection system.

Flow Leaf Collection Bagger System

The least complicated type of leaf collection system available for your riding mower or zero-turn is the flow system.

This type of system uses the airflow created by the mower blades to move the chopped leaves through the tube and into the attached bag.

On a push mower, the leaves will be pushed through the discharge chute into the grass catcher bag.

Belt Driven Leaf Collection Bagger System

In a belt drive leaf collection system, you will find a blower housing attached to the discharge side of the mower deck. This housing protects the impeller fan.

A belt added to the mower to drive the impeller fan creates an increased airflow to push the leaves through the blower tube into the attached bags.

Pull-Behind Leaf Collection Bagger System

The pull-behind leaf collection system uses an extra engine on a trailer-mounted system to create a vacuum to pull leaves through the tube off the deck and into the leaf collection bags or compartment on the trailer.

Reasons Your Lawn Mower Will Not Pick Up Leaves

Your lawn mower bagger may continue to get clogged when there is a lack of air movement due to leaf buildup under the mower deck, worn blades, and plugged inlet screen.

Bad belts, impellers, and housing can also cause leaf and grass debris to become built up in the blower tubes and chute with a belt-style grass collection system.

You will notice a common theme when going through this list. All the items that you will check are items that will restrict air movement your leaf collection system requires to operate at its best.

Clogged Tubes

Remove the blower tubes on the leaf collection system and check for debris stuck in the tube. Look for grass, sticks, leaves, and other debris that may clog the blower tube.

Scrape the inside of the tube until all the debris is removed.

With the blower tubes off your machine, spray silicone inside the tube to assist with preventing future grass and leaf debris from sticking to the tube.

To reduce the number of times your blower tube becomes clogged, use this silicone spray frequently.

Clogged Mower Deck

A lawn mower deck that is full of grass and leaf debris will not create the airflow your leaf collection system requires. Raise the mower deck so you can gain access to the underside of the deck.

You can get this extra height using jack stands. Using a deck scraper or wire brush, scrape the deck to remove all excess debris.

When working under the deck, be sure to take safety precautions by removing the key from the lawn mower and removing the spark plug boots. This will prevent the lawn mower from starting while you are working under the deck.

Worn or Damaged Mower Blades

While you are under the deck, inspect the mower blades to see if the sails are worn off the top of the blades.

If the sails (which is the high side of the blade) are worn, you will not be able to move grass and leaves around the underside of the deck creating enough air movement to push the leaves up the tube.

You must make sure you have a good set of mower blades that are sharp. Read more about inspecting your blades and sharpening blades here.

Wrong or Incorrectly Installed Mower Blades

You need to create lift and air movement to achieve the best performance. A high-lift mower blade works best with leaf collection systems. This type of mower blade has a taller sail that creates the lift needed.

When inspecting your blades on the deck, make sure the sail is up when installed. The sail should be pointed toward the deck, so it creates a good vacuum under the deck.

Clogged Leaf Chute

Look at the leaf chute as it can become plugged with old or wet leaves. Clean this area to allow air to move grass up the tubes. You can also use a silicone spray inside the chute to help grass flow better.

Clogged Inlet Tube

Another reason your lawn mower may not pick up leaves is a clogged inlet tube. Remove the bags or catchers, whichever your unit has, off the hopper.

Inspect the inlet tube to make sure you are not plugged up there. Clean it out if necessary.

Plugged Inlet Screen

The inlet screen is one thing most people forget to check. The screen allows air to leave the hopper so it can carry leaves up the tubes.

If this screen is plugged, you can lose the air draft that carries the air clippings. When clogged, the system will not load the bags with leaves.

The screen is usually at the top of the hopper where no one can see it. Because you can’t see the screen people normally forgets it exists, and it becomes full of leaf debris.

When you pick the hopper cover up you are not seeing the screen because it is located on the side of the cover not exposed to you.

The screen can easily be cleaned by hand. A wire brush can be used for tough build-ups. Once you have it clean, spray it with silicone spray and let it dry.

Bad Deck Belt

The belt on a belt-driven leaf collection system drives the blower belt for the fan. Remove the belt covers, remove the floor pan, and inspect the mower deck belt.

A belt that appears worn or has a shiny glazed look to it must be replaced.

Bad Blower Belt

The next item to inspect is the blower belt. Again, if the belt looks work or is shiny, this belt should be replaced as well.

Worn Fan or Housing

The fan encased in the blower housing is often called the impeller on the belt-driven leaf collection system. Check the condition of the fan blades and the blower housing.

Fan blades and blower housing that are worn will cause you to lose airflow to move the leaf debris into the bagger.

When the gap between the fan and the housing is far apart you will lose airflow.

Bad Bearings in Blower Housing

On larger blower housing units, you will find a set of bearings on the fan shaft. Debris can get wrapped around the shaft causing the bearing to go bad.

Most likely, you will have to take your blower housing apart to check for failed bearings.

Not Enough Engine Speed

Engine speed is crucial to the operation of your leaf collection system. You need the engine to run at maximum horsepower to run the bagger.

When running your bagger and it sounds like the engine is not giving all it has then you need to look at the engine. The engine could be hurt, or you may simply not have a large enough engine on your lawn mower to use the leaf collection system.

Most engines should run about 3200 to 3650 rpm to give you all the power you need out of the engine.

Wet Leaves

Trying to pick up wet leaves can cause you to have problems. Wet leaves are heavy and tend to build up under the mower deck and stick to the insides of the blower tubes.

This will reduce the amount of air movement created by your mower and make it harder to push leaves into the bags.

You should not mow very wet leaves. Leaf debris systems work best when leaves are dry or just lightly moist.

You may have to drive over your yard a couple of times to chop up and bag your leaves depending on how many leaves you have on the ground.

Wrong or Damaged Bags

Bags used on bagger systems used to be made of cloth and sometimes they can be repaired if they get a hole in them. Today, most bags are made from a mesh or loosely knitted polyester or nylon-type material and are not easily repaired.

The life of a bag can be two to three years depending on how much dirt or debris you pick up and if anything gets caught in the bag.

The newly designed bags are designed to allow air movement through the mesh vents. Without bags that allow air to move through the bags, the bags will continually expand with the buildup of leaves and air which can cause damage to the bags.

Bagger Not Secured or Attached Properly

When your bagger isn’t assembled or secured properly, you can have areas where air escapes through the system and causes reduced air movement.

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Winter Lawn Care and Leaf Removal

Learn all about winter lawn care and leaf removal tips in this post!

Why Leaf Removal from Lawns is Important

Putting together your weekend chore list and feeling reluctant to add leaf pick to it? Leaf removal is pretty important to lawn health. Leaving leaves on the lawn areas can create ideal environments for fungus and mold, thick layers of leaves can exclude sunlight and air from lawns, causing thinning over time. Tick leaves can also increase winter lawn damage of mice and voles. And it’s not just your lawn that can suffer; in urban areas, loose leaves are often blown over curbs and end up in in storm drains that then can clog and cause street flooding.

If you don’t have a ton of leaves falling or if the leaves are small, you can mulch them into the lawn with a mulching mower (more on this in the next section) or blow the whole leaves into landscape beds, avoiding areas with low growing plants. This method of lawn leaf removal isn’t ideal if you have a a large quantity of leaves. Mulching too much debris into your lawn can cause the some issues like thinning over time. If you have allowed the lawn to get blanketing with a thick layer of leaves, mulching them into the lawn is not recommended. If you would like to use your leaves, attach your mulching mowers bagging attachment, go over them with your mower to mulch, then empty the bagged mulched leaves into your landscape beds, spreading evenly, or place in a compost pile.

One other item of note, there is more and more information out there, calling for homeowners to leave the leaves for overwintering moths and even some butterflies. A good location for intact leaves is a landscape bed area; however, be careful of potentially suffocating winter annuals, groundcovers or low growing perennials. Around shrubs or trees would be best.

Be sure to read the last section below for a bit more on placing fallen leaves in landscape beds.

How Often Does it Need to be Done?

We recommend removing leaves once a week as they begin to fall and once they are falling fast, removal may be needed twice a week. You can use a mulching mower and mulch them one to two times, then put a bag on the mower to pick them up. Raise the mower height once notch above normal mowing height when mulching and/or pick up the leaves. After all the leaves have been removed/ mulched for the season, lower the mower one notch below normal summer mowing height and mow.

Winter Control of Lawn Fungus

Now that we have had a couple of hard frosts, warm season lawns such as bermuda and zoysia are dormant. You might be able to see different colors of brown in the dormant lawn. Sometimes irregular, roundish shapes of darker brown can indicate areas of lawn fungus or lawn stress of some kind, such as grub damage. Watch these areas closely as the lawn greens up in the spring, makes notes of what you are seeing and come see us if your lawn is struggling to come out of dormancy.

For more information about preventing and controlling lawn fungus, visit this blog post.

Is Leaf Removal in Landscape Beds Necessary?

Leaves can be left in landscape beds to act as a mulch and add nutrients back into the soil. However, all kinds of insects and insect eggs overwinter in and on leaf debris, both those harmful to plants and those harmless to plants. If you have had an insect issue (whiteflies on gardenias, lacebugs on azaleas, scale on anything, just to name a few) this past year, we suggest doing a very good cleanup of fallen leaves from these plants. This reduces the population for next year and is good cultural pest control. Spraying these affected plants with Dormant Oil several times this winter would also be a good idea.