it was so bad I borrowed neighbors 50 inch husquevarna pull behind sweeper, adapted a 2" (class 3) receiver ball mount hitch to work with his pin type (normal lawn tractor crap) hookup, tossed that into the tractor receiver hitch, adjusted everything for height, bagged a crap load of cuttings up to mix into my large compost pile.
first time in 23 years I bagged grass here.
and I only went over 2/3 of the area I mowed.
next time it needs it I'll buy (and by that I mean my wife will buy for me LOL ) a pto driven bagger. wish the 60" MMM offered a mulch kit.
edit: I see I did not mention WHERE I trimmed.
I trimmed right behind the first set of airflow holes, approx 2" from front of guard and then took approx 3/4" off right hand side of guard using the notch as a guide. transaxle end of guard not touched, only front section of notch touched. guard still rises up and runs along driveshaft.
this was only to make sure guard met MY needs for MY tractor. other brands would not allow this.
did see there was possibility of, if bad crap happens, very slight chance of directional pedal spring getting messed with. just took the 90 deg angle there to a 45 deg angle, removed very small piece. that was just a precaution, had not happened but the ditch angles I work with ....one front tire off ground, rear tire on opp side off ground. diff lock used often. possibility of frame twist so ....precaution.
