Craftsman 9 Bushel 3- Bin Soft Bagger for 48" Deck on Yard & Garden Tractors

Quick install 3-bin bagger November 01, 2011

I finally retired my 19.5HP 42" Crafstman mower after 15+ years. I purchased many attachments for it over the years and everyone of them seemed to be a half day project in the making.

This Spring I bought a YTH 2348 Husqvarna and put off buying the bagger for it until Autumn because I use it mainly to pick up leaves. I removed the two bolts per the instructions and installed the new ones. (not sure why you have to replace them although they are a tad longer) I then Installed the lid and bags and was wondering what I missed because the whole project only took 20 minutes. This was the easiest mower attachment I ever installed.

in response to another reviewer, the plastic handles to secure the lid are exactly like the one on my old mower and I replaced it once in 15 years because I caught a low hanging branch and broke it. The handle was easily obtained from Sears Parts. The only thing I replaced on a regular basis is the rubber strap holding the two peices of the chute together. After buying several of them, I realized a small bungee cord would do the trick.

Craftsman 3 bin soft bagger is adequate... June 28, 2011

Seeing this model in the store (damaged) made me wonder about durability. After purchasing and using 4 times, I'm still not sure. Some parts look engineered to fail. (Plastic primary hinge to unit lid) The 3 fabric bags collapse and fall over if not 100% full and they are difficult to empty because the grass blades lodge in the fabric when dumping. My 24HP engine and the shape of the grass shoot cause 100% of the grass to end up in the 3rd bag. Doesn't fill 2nd bag until 3rd bag is full and overflowing, dumping some grass back on the lawn. The 1st bag never fills. Overall, I'm moderately satisfied. For $400 including tax, I would expect more but settled because I really missed having a bagger. Assembly is simple, although somewhat cofusing at first due to several tractor connection options.

Works well but can't leave on and still tow a cart May 31, 2011

The attachment mechanism to the tractor uses the hole on the tractor that is also used for towing a cart. Not a bad mechanism to provide support for the bagger but to tow a cart the entire assembly must be removed because the pin that goes through the tow hole is welded to the frame of the bagger support assembly . If this pin was removeable then it would be possible to use it to secure the cart to the tractor while keeping the bagger attachment in place. As is you can either have a bagger or have the ability to tow a cart. We shouldn't have to remove the bagger assembly to use a cart. I'd like to see if I can grind off the welds on the support pin to do what I'd like it to do.

The Craftsman 9 bushel bagger is a big help October 26, 2010

Very easy to add on, works better than I expected.  I used to pick up leaves in the fall with a pull behind lawn sweeper; that was a BIG chore ( I have about two acres for a lawn) but now it's not a big deal.  I just set my deck to the highest setting so I don't also mow grass, and boom,  I have a lawn vacuum                                     I  would wait until the fall when they go on sale to purchase though, because they are crazy expensive otherwise.  I even waited until Sears had the friends and family four hour sale which was an additional 10 % off of the sale price.  That made the final price around $350 rather than $500