Bagger for RYOBI Zero Turn Riding Mower

This bagger started to fail within a few months of use, I noticed two cracks and metal pieces poking through the plastic by the hinges. Unfortunately I had this same issue with my old RM480e riding lawn mower I owned. I was hoping by upgrading to the new ZT this issue would have been engineered out. Expect to replace this once a year until it's redesigned.

I ordered this bagger online and had it shipped to my local store for pickup, as direct delivery to my home would have run an extra $50. I installed it this past Saturday and used it for the first time the following day. Here are a few of my observations, both good and bad: INSTALLATION - Installation was fairly easy and straight-forward. I was initially intimidated by the idea of having to remove the mower deck to change the lades, but this turned out to be a fairly easy exercise. I watched a video or two online and then went to work. The entire blade change process took me about 30 minutes, but that included 15 minutes of thoroughly cleaning the underside of the deck of excess grass buildup. I figured I may as well do it while I had easy access to the underside. I would recommend the use of a torque wrench for this process. The manual recommends tightening the bolts holding the blades to between 600 - 650 in/lbs. of torque (which equates to 50-54 ft/lbs.). I didn't own a torque wrench prior to this, so I picked one up online for about $20 and can testify that it made a huge difference. Trying to just loosen the original blade bolt would have been tough with my standard ratchet. The torque wrench provided a lot more leverage for this process and also allowed me to be much more precise in tightening the bolt to the new blades. Without the torque wrench, you really have no idea how tight your connection is. Is it tight enough? Did I over-tighten it? $20 well spent and I will get many more uses out of it in the future. - The blades are by far the hardest part of the install. The rest of the unit went together in under 5 minutes and does not require any tools. Add the bracket to the back of the mower with a linch pin, attach the bagger and then connect the two pieces of tubing to the side discharge of your mower. Everything snaps right into place without any issues. PERFORMANCE - As other reviews have stated, the bagger does leak some clippings while in use. The rear compartment is not an air-tight seal by any means. However, I found the loss to be minimal and not that big of a deal. It does leave a grassy mess on the back of your mower, but I've always used my leaf blower to give the mower a good once over prior to parking it back in the garage. The blower made quick work of clearing the excess grass clippings (assuming the grass isn't wet, but you probably shouldn't be mowing wet grass with an electric mower, anyway). - As others have stated in their reviews, the "FULL" indicator wheel is labeled incorrectly (see photo). It states directly on the chute that it will spin when empty and stop spinning when full. It is actually the exact opposite of that. The wheel ONLY spins when the bags are full. - The way the chute enters the bagging chamber, the majority of the grass naturally favors the left bag and only fills the right bag by overflowing from the left side into the right (see photo). If the chute wasn't so long, the grass would enter the chamber more naturally and would disperse more evenly. - The black rubber caps on the bars that hold the bags fall off every single time you slide the bags off to empty them (see photo). It's a bit of a pain and they will most likely get lost at some point over time unless secured with some type of adhesive. - The bagging chamber is held closed with a red bungee cord (see photo). I would have hoped that given the cost of this unit, a more reliable latching mechanism would have been included. Every time you release the latch, the bungee falls back behind the unit and you have to reach through and fish it back to the front to reattach it. It will also inevitably lose its tension and/or break over time. - The bags fill up pretty fast. I'm not saying this is a bad thing or by any means a fault of the product... simply something to be aware of. I mow my lawn every Sunday, so it's not as though I had an overgrown lawn by any means. If you're buying this unit, it's most likely because you care about your lawn and maintaining it. I have a .58 acre lot. When you subtract the area that my home, driveway, deck and shed take up, I probably have about .30 acres of mowable grass (complete guesstimate). I had to empty the bagger 5 times total before I was done and filled (5) 42 gallon Contractor bags full of clippings. - One additional thing to note is that Ryobi does not recommend using the bagging blades without the bagger attached. That being said, you can not easily alternate between mulching your grass clippings one week and then bagging the next week without changing out the blades every time. (I haven't tried it, simply referencing their recommendation) - One of my concerns before buying this was whether it would impede my ability to plug the mower in with the bagger attached. I can confirm that this is NOT an issue. I am still able to easily reach and attach the charger without any issues (see photo). CONCLUSION All of that being said, my lawn looks amazing! Despite the minor annoyances of the product noted above, it really does ultimately do what it is supposed to do. I do feel that it is a little bit over-priced given that it really is just some plastic moldings and mesh bags. I would find it to be a good value in the $200 - $250 range, but given that this is a proprietary product for a one-of-a-kind mower, you don't really have much choice.

Looks like I'm the first one to get the zero turn bagger and review it. Ordered it on Wednesday 7-10 and got on Friday 7-12 by FedEx. Box weighs about 50 pounds and was a little bashed up (holes in box in multiple places) when I got it. FedEx delivery person handled it with care but the bagger was still a little scuffed up, but nothing seems broken. Installation was easy except for attaching the shoot to the deck, even watched the installation video that was out long before the bagger was available. I haven't used it yet even though I cut the grass today (Sat.) because the mower does such a good job at cutting the grass no bagger is needed. I bought the bagger for yard clean-up in the fall, so that's when I'll really use it. I have to get use to the bagger being behind me when backing up or spinning around in tight areas.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] This is the second leaf cleaning season I have used the leaf catching assembly. The lower tube has a small metal rod that the upper tube attaches its rubber latch. While driving thru the leaves the metal rod on the lower tube came off and can’t be found. I have contacted reviews@ryobitools.com and am waiting for input on how I can get replacement parts.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I purchased this with my Ryobi zero turn last year and have had nothing but issues with it. This isn’t a reflection on the mower, just the bags themselves. These routinely fall off of my zero turn in operation leaving a mess of grass to rake up. I’ve tried using elastic bands to secure the bags into the frame with some success. The issue is really that the “latch” from the top doesn’t secure firmly enough to keep the bags in place.

This has been a great mower for us, my 16 year old daughter even uses it, it's easy to use and works well. The only problem is that the part to the bag attachment has broken and I'm having a difficult time knowing where to find replacement parts. This site's service seems very helpful, if you'd email me, I would appreciate it! We can't use it well until it's fixed!

Ryobi has clearly recognized the original bagger had issues as they have made changes to this newer model. My ZT has worked great with minor issues but the bagger doesn't. Bagger functionality and durability have been poor.

Works like a a charm. High lift blade packs the bags clear full. Although it takes more power, I still have enough battery to finish the job.

Fit on mower like a glove. Great product.