I think Deere only makes 1 blade for this themselves, but you may want to visit a Snapper dealer to see if they have a bagger blade that is better for their version. I didn't see a Gator listed in the book and don't really know if that would be an answer anyways. Things you can do to help bagging performance is to verify the engine is running at the proper RPM (likely a visit to the dealer), ensure the bag is clean and possibly try a lower height setting.

Thanks for the response, Tom. I submitted a request online to Gatorblade (or whatever the mfr's website is called) to see if they even make a blade for this mower, and you may be right that the Gatorblade may not make that much of a difference. If I could find one locally that fits, I would definitely give it a try.

. . . and I agree that a lower height setting should help. The problem with this machine is that the lowest setting doesn't really get that low to the ground.

I am toying with the idea of changing to a smaller diameter wheel to get closer to the ground. It seems Deere has ignored the need to ever get the deck really low to the ground, but they have upper height settings that I can only wonder in what sort of conditions someone cutting his/her lawn could make use of those very high settings.

I guess the limitations on the low end have something to do with the one lever sets all wheels feature on this mower - a feature with which I am not really thrilled. It's easy enough to change the wheel height of four individual wheels, and, if raising the deck, the best way to do so is to take the weight off the wheel being raised. This is actually harder to accomplish when one must use a single lever that raises all the wheels simultaneously.

All the "professional" reviewers make such a big deal of this feature, downgrading their ratings on mowers that require the user to set each wheel height separately . . . I think it is silly, actually.

Anyhow, thanks for the response. I will continue to search for a suitable solution to this problem. I hate to have to go out and purchase a new piece of equipment to pick-up my leaves. With the Lawnboy, it was simple and fast.

Caruso