Vac Bagger Attachment

[P3x 55]

Hi all,

I'm looking to purchase a Bagger attachment. Since I have a 48: SD deck, I'd like to get opinions on the pros and cons of having a Vacuum Blower (Toro PN 79301) mounted. Does it leave the lawn a lot cleaner than cutting with only the deck and does it "chop" the clippings leaves into finer particles?

How much does it accerate the disharge from the deck? Another "fun" consideration is I have a retired neighbor accross the street that does leaf removal on a daily basis with the propensity of blowing "my" leaves from their yard to mine while at work. If it can accelerate the disharged items with enough force to cause a downpour of leaves, grass, sticks cascading all over their front lawn, a one time demonstration will put a quick end to that!

Thanks for the input

[jtmoyer 1]

i have a bagger and it does not chop but it does collect the grass ect. don't think you could use it to blow the leaves back to his yard. i do have mine speed up by placing a smaller pulley on the deck to drive the blower. if you want to send things back to his yard i would use a snow blower. just think about the 40ft snow plume but made of leaves

on the down side the bagger housing is made of plastic and likes to crack, and to empty you have to lift off the full bag of grass. they could have made that better, on my craftsman the bags just slid off.

[Docwheelhorse 2,561]

HI---I have the bagger system with the deck mounted blower on it, it cuts the leaves and grass into very small pieces and PACKS the bags right to the top. In my opinion it works fantastic and I have it mounted on a 42" deck. The ONLY downside is that when doing a heavy load of leaves or very high grass the bags fill up QUICK and your stopping often to empty them. I wish Wheel Horse had gone three bags wide like on the bigger Craftsmans----but on the other hand the Craftsman doesn't have the blower. You will notice that the bags fill even quicker when you mount it on a 48" deck. I would buy it in a second and not look back.

JMHO

Tony

[shorts 182]

I'd be thinking that a squirl cage blower out of a relatively large air handler mounted on the front attach matic and a little ductwork to increase the air velocity and point it to the neighbors yard would make a lasting impression, when you redistrubuted your leaves across his front yard in 1 pass down the property line.

In reality after using several different types of baggers and vacuums, the neighbor's pull behind sweeper does a better job but he has to cut first and then sweep.

[P3x 55]

Thanks for the responses. If I find one I think I'll consider it even though it cannot throw a plume of leaves accross the street.

The recommendation to use a 2-Stage Blower to do this is an incentive to add it to the implement list. Just don't know where I'm going to store all these critters...

[P3x 55]

Another Q on the Vac Baggers I should have asked earlier. What is the going market price on units in good shape? From all the implements on my wish list, I may need to start working another job!

Thank you.

[jtmoyer 1]

out right buying one used would be $300 - $500 but you may find one with a tractor to buy and then sell the tractor to off set the cost.

[mr.pipes 4]

What is the going market price on units in good shape?

I bought one for $300 last fall and then bought a tractor with one shortly after.

I then sold it for $300 here within a day during the winter.

Some lucky person got an almost complete one for free a few weeks ago.

It needed the tube and a bracket or two that probably could have been made.

I have seen new ones for $899 online.

[farmer 1,075]

I would like to add a few points that may be of interest,

I bought twin bagger new in '93 as part of the deal with my 312, and until three years ago I bagged all the time, it did a great job. The only part that had to be replaced was the blower housing. This was my fault, I didn't clear up fallen apples before mowing, so over time the plastic failed.

When I bought the new part (very expensive) I made sure I didn't make the same mistake again.... also I added a small skid under the blower because it rubs on the ground also causing avoidable wear.

As I mentioned, three years ago my SD deck rotted out (my neglect)

I managed to get a RD to replace it which does 90% of my mowing. But I kept the bagger.... just in case.

Well, not long after I got hold of a SD, and now I use it with the bagger in the autumn for clearing up the leaves.

Point is, the attachment is very good, with care it will serve you well. :WRS:

[mr.pipes 4]

That is definitely a good idea to reinforce or protect the blower housing.

They seem to be prone to breakage due to its location and being plastic.

The blower housing on the bagger I have now was cracked and repaired with some reinforcement.

The housing alone is $201 from partstree :hide:

[P3x 55]

Thanks for the info. One came up for sale locally low hours and looks new, but a little more than I'd want to spend.

Then found another on a complete tractor. A 310-8 with the Vac Blower, Bagger, Deck, and Single Stage Thrower. It was a trade in for a new tractor and it ran when turned in. Being sold as is - bought it site unseen for the implements.

Hopefully this will quench my thirst for implements.

P3x

mr.pipes: Sent a mail to you as your PM Box was full.

[bk-scouter 93]

Farmer and Mr.Pipes, can either of you post any pictures on how you reinforced the housing ? I'm in this predicament myself and would like to add something to avoid having the housing destroyed again in the future.

Thanks.

-BK

[farmer 1,075]

P3x,

Glad to hear you sorced a bagger, hope it works out well for you.

A few other thoughts on it,

It does add quite a bit of extra weight to the right side of the deck, when raised its lop sided, I remember having a go at the dealer at the time about this. Their solution was a tension spring from the deck to the running board, which I used for a while but didn't like. At speed the deck would bounce around and the quality of cut wasn't great....you had to put left foot on the deck to steady it. So I got rid of the spring, replacing it with counter weight on the left side by the gauge wheel.. works well, ok slightly heavier to lift, but no big deal.

The extra width on the right and weight on the back..when the bags are full are obvious things to remember.

bk-scouter, pictures as requested, hope they make sense.

[P3x 55]

Thanks all for the information. Nice Beefy Reinforcement you have farmer. Looks like armor plate.

I'll be planning to add one as well - unless the housing is already gone.

Thanks again.

[farmer 1,075]

P3x,

Bit embarrassed really, forgot to paint it.

but it does work. :D