Toro Lawn Mower Bag Not Filling – What’s Wrong?

A bag not filling with grass on your Toro lawn mower can be frustrating. It costs you a lot of time and energy, leaving you exhausted with an ugly lawn. We researched possible reasons for this issue, and here's what we found out.

Toro lawn mower bags commonly may not fill because of restricted airflow. This tends to happen when you have an untidy bag, an untidy deck, and incorrect angle or blunt blades. Also, avoid mowing wet grass or grass near full-width.

There are a few reasons aside from being untidy that prevent your mower from bagging clippings. Keep reading as we discuss why this is so and how it influences your mowing experience.

A red colored Toro Lawn mower left in a field, Toro Lawn Mower Bag Not Filling - What's Wrong?

An Untidy Bag

Dust and ground-up clippings can prevent your mower bag from passing enough air through it, resulting in no vacuum action.

Your mower bag can be thoroughly cleaned with a pressure washer. Be careful not to damage it, and let it dry completely before using.

A red colored Toro Lawn mower left in a field, Toro Lawn Mower Bag Not Filling - What's Wrong?

You can dry it much quicker if you place it on the mower and let it run without cutting any grass. A clean bag should balloon out from the air suction when placed on a clean mower. When it stops expanding, you can see it may be full of grass.

A gardener using a riding lawn mower to trim the golf course

Mower Bag Improperly Installed

Check to see if your mower bag is installed properly. To prevent air from escaping around your mower bag, ensure that it is firmly fixed in place. Leaky airflow is one of the main issues you could run into when trying to bag clippings.

A mower bag with good airflow should fill better. Watch out for places surrounding your mower bag frame where air can escape from and seal them off.

Using the Wrong Bag for your Mower

If your mower bag doesn't fill, perhaps you're using an old bag. Modern grass bags are fabricated from a loosely knit, mesh-like material consisting of polyester or nylon. These bags have a mesh meant to let air flow through them.

Without a way for air to flow out through the bag, it would just keep inflating until it rips at the seams. Be sure that the bag you are using is the right one and made to match your Toro lawn mower.

Click here to see this Toro Grass Bag Assembly on Amazon.

An Untidy Deck

The airflow necessary to force the cut grass through the tubes might be impeded by a lawn mower deck full of debris.

If grass can't fit through the tubes, then your Toro lawn mower will be unable to bag grass effectively. Any debris on the mower deck's underside needs to be removed.

Raise your mower deck securely using a jack stand or any similar object to access its underside.

Inspect your mower deck for debris with the key removed, the spark plug wires detached, and the mower off. If you see grass accumulation under the deck, scrape the surface using a wire brush or deck scraper.

Check out this mower deck scraper on Amazon.

The underdeck needs to be regularly washed every time you mow. Too much grass cut at once and a lawn too wet are frequent causes of grass buildup under decks. You can also use a putty knife to remove any residual clumps after the season.

Click here to see this putty knife set on Amazon.

Some measures to prevent accumulating grass under your deck are: cut more often (twice a week), cut less than the full width of your grass, raise your mower, and slow your mowing speed.

Clumps In Chute

Check out the area around the grass chute. Grass that has accumulated in this part hinders the upward motion of clippings into the tubes.

This area needs to be scraped out as well. To make the grass flow easier and prevent more grass from sticking, you can apply a silicone spray in the chute.

Check out this Water Resistant Silicone Lubricant on Amazon.

Incorrect Angle or Blunt Blades

Your mower bag not filling correctly may be caused by insufficient airflow created by your mower blades. Check your mower blades to see if it isn't worn out.

If you see its high sides (or sails) looking thin, you might need to consider replacing them. Thin sails of blades won't deliver good air movement on your underside to push the clippings into the chute.

Mower blades don't all function the same. Today's market is filled with various blades, including gator, mulching, low-lift, and high-lift blades. You want as much lift and air movement as possible if you use a grass catcher.

A high-lift blade is the ideal kind of mower blade for this application. The high-lift blade's sail can help to improve airflow under the deck because of its higher position. Make sure your blades are installed correctly to ensure proper air movement.

Click here to see this Toro High Lift Blade Set on Amazon.

The sails of the blades should be upwards, facing the underside of the deck. When the blades are correctly angled, a suction is created under the mower deck, which aids in providing a good cut and airflow.

Other Things To Look At

Here are some other things that you should consider looking at.

Maintaining the golf course grass using a Toro lawn mower

Consider Slowing Down Your Mowing Speed

In addition to adding extra strain on the engine, moving your Toro lawn mower too quickly may prevent giving your grass catcher a chance to collect the clippings. You can help your mower handle the flow of clippings better by reducing your mowing speed.

Avoid Mowing Wet Grass

It will be difficult to cut damp grass and try to bag it. In contrast to dry grass, all sorts of problems will arise because it is sticky and a lot heavier. As a result, it tends to congregate in the underside, chute, and other unwanted places where it can clog.

This increasing buildup will hamper airflow through the grass collection system. It is advised to wait until there is no longer dew on the grass and it's completely dry before cutting it.

Cut Less Than a Full-Width Grass

In a forum on lawn mowers, a homeowner with a 1.5-year-old Toro push mower had a bagging issue. He made sure that the underside of the deck is clean. He never mows his lawn right after a rain. There is nothing that blocks the chute to his bag and grass remains clumping under his deck.

After a few trials, he learned that he began having more issues with bagging when he left his grass growing too long. So he started to mow from once to twice a week, keeping his grass less than its full width. The results led him to a good mowing experience after.

Why is Your Toro Lawn Mower Spitting Out Grass?

A Toro lawn mower left in the field near a city

The underside must be clean to ensure that clippings have an uninterrupted passage to the chute. A portion of those clippings won't reach the chute if the underside of the mower deck is clogged. They will instead, spit out in different directions as they get cut.

Another cause is most likely due to Toro's mulching mechanism. It typically has a "kicker plate" intended to redirect the cut grass back onto the blade. But when too much mulched grass is hanging, they collect at the kicker plate and then fall off in clumps. Many suggest that you cut more frequently, slow down your pace, and mow in smaller pathways to address the issue.

What does the Toro Recycler do?

A Toro Recycler mower keeps grass clippings in the air with its specially designed cutting chamber. It has these deflectors that "kick" the grass through the uniquely shaped blades.

This is essential since the clippings must be reduced to an extremely small size, to serve as a source of nutrients for your garden.

The "accelerators," which are part of the "wings" design on these blades, function somewhat like fans to push the minute pieces of grass back into the ground.

In Closing

A red colored Toro Lawn mower left in a field

A smooth air channel in your lawn mower system should give you a better bagging experience. Pressure wash the underside of your deck, and do the same to your mower bag. Keep your blades angled correctly and keep them sharp. If you follow the proper guidelines for mowing, you can be free of any system grass buildup.

If you found this article helpful, you might also like to read our similar posts.

Toro Recycler Vs Super Recycler: Which To Choose

How To Keep Grass From Sticking To Lawn Mower Wheels

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