Dear McDermott,

Thank you very much for your inquiry. Both of these mowers are great machines and should do the job fine. One question I would wonder is how short are you trying to cut the grass? To keep the grass in its best shape, try not to cut more than 1/3 of the leaf blade off in any single mowing. The amount of clippings will be dramatically decreased and you may find you do not need to bag them at all (just mulch and leave on the grass). It will save you one fertilization per year.

Again, thanks for the question and let me know if you have more.

Respectfully

Trey Rogers
The Yard Doctor

I have the same machine and have no problems mulch mowing once/week at 3"+. I live in central New England where cool season grasses grow vigurously from May through October thanks to the rain and mild weather.

The higher I go the less clumping observed. Mow in the afternoon when dry and do two passes if necessary. Mowing wet or short in my experience will cause grass clumps to form. I never bag, even before over seeding where I use the opportunity to scratch the soil and add the clippings to my compost bin for a fast green and a good upper body workout.