Can You Use A Lawn Mower Without A Bag? Clearly Explained!

Good day!

As springtime approaches, grass cutting every week is a ritual that helps to maintain the cleanliness and attractiveness of a gorgeous lawn and yard.

If you have cleaned your yard with a bag put over the clippings, it may be more challenging to mow. So, can you use a lawn mower without a bag?

This article will show you the correct answer. Let’s read on to discover in detail!

Can You Use A Lawn Mower Without A Bag?

The answer is yes! It’s possible to use your lawn mower without a bag because clippings will decompose when left in the yard and provide necessary nutrients like potassium, phosphorus, or nitrogen for the lawn.

Read more: [Top 5] Best Lawn Mower For Older Lady: Reviews, Specs, Prices

After cutting the grass, you can compost the clippings, utilize them as fertilizers in your garden beds, or scatter them over the yard.

However, mowing without a bag comes with both advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages:

  • You don’t need to work much with bagging or disposing of the clippings since grass is fertilizer.
  • You can grass cycle the clippings throughout your yard to offer nutrients and retain moisture in the soil.
  • Clippings won’t leave on the yard. You can mulch large pieces into small ones to have a clean and uniform appearance. 

Disadvantages: 

  • Your machine must work more and require time to complete the task.
  • Cutting wet grass is challenging if you don’t use a bag due to grass clumps, which may cause damage to the mower deck. 

Read more: Great States 815-18 Review: A Reliable And Environmentally-Friendly Option

Consider and evaluate all benefits and drawbacks before mowing your yard. You can see how a lawn mower works with a bag via this video:

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Is It Better To Mow With A Bag Or Without?

It’s advisable to mow the grass with a bag. Bagging is the most effective option since it will collect everything in your yard including picking leaves and keep it in a location.

Moreover, you don’t need to consider the size of the clippings, like side discharge and munching. 

If you live in close neighbors or a confined area, bagging might be a terrific solution to keep clippings from flying everywhere to reduce the frequency of maintenance.

However, after gathering the clippings, you will need to discard an entire catcher bag loaded with grass cuttings.

Your grass clippings have a few uses that you might choose from. Some people can compost them and use the substance as a natural fertilizer to provide their flower beds.

But bagging requires a lot of additional labor on top of the various ways to get rid of grass clippings.

You may additionally re-distribute your grass clippings across your backyard, but you must ensure they are the right size to prevent harm to the lawn.

You can merely dispose of these clippings in the trash, but it offers no advantages and is the least beneficial for the environment.

Mower with a bag

When Should I Mow My Lawn Without A Catcher?

You can mow your lawn without a catcher whenever you want as long as you consider specific things. 

When mowing your yard without a bag, it’s advisable to distribute the grass evenly to avoid clumps. 

Use sharp blades to cut the grass instead of dull ones as they may cause a brown appearance. 

Ensure you won’t’ cut over ⅓ the grass blade as it’s vital to your grass health. Besides, don’t cut the lawn if it is misty. That’s because the clippings are easy to clump. 

Why Do Lawn Mowers Have Side Discharge? 

Using a side discharge configuration, you can blow the grass clippings many feet from the mower’s side.

The wet clippings leave a mess on your sidewalks, building, or other locations you run the discharge tube towards. 

A lawnmower that throws clippings, twigs, and pebbles might be hazardous in locations with many people, automobiles, or windows.

The direction of a machine’s discharge should be effective in these locations. 

Your mower may blow the clipping away the place you have mowed, and it’s an undesirable fertilization purpose. 

Instead, these clippings should fall into the soil and spread across the lawn. 

The short-term evacuation of the cuttings also makes them bigger, albeit they still decompose quickly in the soil.

If you mow in large, open areas where clippings may fly around, a mower with side discharge will be the best option. 

You may proceed without being concerned about clogging thanks to the self-clearing mechanism internal of the mower deck.

A side discharge machine will be helpful when mowing in the rain and extremely wet or unusually tall grass.

Mower with side discharge

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Can I Add A Bag To My Side Discharge Lawn Mower?

The short answer is yes! You can opt to attach a bag to your side discharge mower if following the proper guides. 

While installing a bag is simple, you may make some mistakes and cause hazardous consequences. 

For instance, if you incorrectly install a bag to your machine, it may cause the blade to clog, which hampers the cutting ability of this mower. 

Moreover, remember to secure the bag properly and safely to the vent of your machine. Otherwise, you may make a terrible mistake. 

How Do You Add Side Discharge To A Lawn Mower?

A side discharge can offer a suitable path for the flow of grass waste to prevent grass from accumulating in the cutter zone.

The grass clippings from your machine will be discharged to the sides, near its blades, if you attach a side discharge.

If you want to add this component, consider the following simple steps:

  • Turn off the machine safely.
  • Determine the location where you plan to install a side discharge. 
  • Take the bolts apart on the mower before adding a new chute.
  • Pull the mulching plug up.
  • Install a new side discharge on your lawn mower.
  • Lower the mulching button. 
  • Recheck the part to ensure you’ve installed and attached it firmly. 

Tips for adding side discharge

In A Nutshell

Can you use a lawn mower without a bag? If you want clippings to decompose in your yard to offer nutrients for plants, you should choose this method. 

However, your machine will have to put on more effort and spend more time completing the task.

Consider both pros and cons before mowing your lawn with or without a bag. Thanks for taking the time to follow the post!

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