Pull behind grass catcher(Skip to last line if you want the short version)

[Moon Lake Refuge]

So, there we are at my mother in laws yesterday for dinner.  I went to replace the blades on her Honda 4514 and the yahoos at the small engine place oversold her on a $150 set of blades.  The OEM blades are 25 each, and the blades on there weren't even terrible so I took them to the grinder and touched them up.  Took a couple passes and mowed great.  Then asked her why its mowing so slow, she said always been like that.  Adjusted the throttle cable so she can now mow at full speed(only went to maybe 3/4 before, so it wouldn't even engage the choke all the way when needed) also adjusted the low idle as it felt like it was going to buck me off when I idled it down.  All said and done I was feelin pretty good about my self doing my good deeds for the day when I found out she only uses the rider for maybe a quarter of her three acre lot....  She push mows the rest 2-3 times a week because she runs a daycare and doesn't like when the kids trail clippings into her house.  Good grief.  Looked into a bagger on her mower, and they are not only hard to find but extremely spendy.  So finally to the original topic and relatively short question of this post.  How good do pull behind grass catchers work?

[Rebel SS]

The "pull behind" sweeper types I've seen and used were, well, not exactly terrific, especially for grass clippings. Bigger leaves and stuff, ok for that.  My buddy bought one and used it once on his new rider...then took it back. It was one of the ones from Fleet Farm, so I don't know if they're real great or not. Probably a reason why guys use the direct to mower vacuum type.

[Moon Lake Refuge]

Yeah we have one of the fleet farm variety at the cabin.  Its half falling apart so I know it wont do well on grass but it works fantastic on our one acre for leaves in the fall.  Just looking to see if anyone has used one on a relatively flat better groomed yard.  cant spend the money on a vac.  My other option for her is to just mow in a circle with the shute pointing in until she gets one strip of grass then just hit it with 1-2 passes with the push mower to bag it all up.  What about converting a universal bagger to other mowers with the trusty duct tape, zip ties and whatever else anyone has had laying around.  Anyone have luck there?  Seems I could just pop a flexible pipe  on and cut one end to fit....

[dew2]

 I have a 42 inch one that I thought was junk! TILL I started playing with the brush depth settings.If set right it picks up most anything. I quit using a mower bagger,the pull behind holds more grass,is easier ti empty also. Last year I started using it behind a wheeler and get the job done so much quicker.Tha barnd name I forget. The brush depth setting is the thing!! to close to the ground and it dont do much. Test it out it may help.

[HD]

I wish I could help ya.....But I have never raked my lawn....I cut it....and leave it....

[Boar]

we hjave a lwan sweeper, it dose a great job. on even terain, iss u hhave iregular terain like slopes, or whher one side might run jhigjher thhan thhe othher, tjhe sweep wont ruyn righht. plus its bbest to wait a dayu after mowing so tjhe grass looses.moistuyre and is ligjhter. hheavy freshh cuyt grass is jharder for it to pick up. great.for.leaves

[glenn57]

I wish I could help ya.....But I have never raked my lawn....I cut it....and leave it....

I'm with ya on this one HD. Unless it gets away on me I may need to take up the thick spots!

[Moon Lake Refuge]

Thanks all,
Yeah on mine I just mulch it, if its to long I wait a couple hours or the next day for it to dry up a bit an hit it again.  Her running daycare and having really nice new carpet, she likes to keep the clippings out.  Just hate to see her spending hours pushing when she has a perfectly good rider.  might see if I can find a bagger that would fit both hers and mine so I can bring it up north in the fall to pick up leaves at the cabin too..

[The General]

Thanks all,
Yeah on mine I just mulch it, if its to long I wait a couple hours or the next day for it to dry up a bit an hit it again.  Her running daycare and having really nice new carpet, she likes to keep the clippings out.  Just hate to see her spending hours pushing when she has a perfectly good rider.  might see if I can find a bagger that would fit both hers and mine so I can bring it up north in the fall to pick up leaves at the cabin too..

MLR,  I love the way you think.  Figure out a way to justify it and buy it.  I did that with my wife's new fishing pole.  She goes about once or twice a year.  So if it's just sitting there well......   Personally I'd go with 2 new riders and a bagger to share 

[Moon Lake Refuge]

Thanks all,
Yeah on mine I just mulch it, if its to long I wait a couple hours or the next day for it to dry up a bit an hit it again.  Her running daycare and having really nice new carpet, she likes to keep the clippings out.  Just hate to see her spending hours pushing when she has a perfectly good rider.  might see if I can find a bagger that would fit both hers and mine so I can bring it up north in the fall to pick up leaves at the cabin too..

MLR,  I love the way you think.  Figure out a way to justify it and buy it.  I did that with my wife's new fishing pole.  She goes about once or twice a year.  So if it's just sitting there well......   Personally I'd go with 2 new riders and a bagger to share 

Lol... The wife hasn't seen through this one yet but my old man is definitely leaning towards me just saying screw it and buying the bagger.  My mower at home fits the same attachments as ours up there sooo... I dont know been looking up reviews and may even just try to buy a used grass catcher for 50-60 bucks first but we'll see.  I would like to talk her into a new mower but that kind of defeats the purpose of keeping it cheap!