I put gator blades on right away, I got mine in august. No complaints although I didn’t try the factory blades to see if maybe the grass itself is a neater cut. The gator blades will cut any and everything. It will mulch a fully covered lawn with leaves to almost completely unseen in three passes. That’s a lot of leaves. I thought about getting the bagger but after seeing how it disintegrates leaves I’m going to rely on different blades to do the work. I’m hoping to see how the factory blades handle nice grass this summer and compare it to the toothed blades I’ve been using. By gator blades I mean the toothed blades that came with the mulch kit. I bought the mulch kit because I wanted the trap door and I didn’t want to pick up grass, which by the way the grass nearly disappears Also. It’s actually pretty good. It does get all kinds of grass pushing through on taller grass but after a two passes it does the job. More on reddit.com

You bought a 3400 dollar lawn mower. Alberta, Canada professional lawn services charge 35 - 70 bucks for weekly / biweekly landscaping. You have about 24 weeks a year where the grounds not frozen. Lets say you're paying median lawncare cost of 50 bucks times 24 weeks is 1200 dollars so complain about your bad investments cost in three years where you might break even considering zero parts, maintenance, and upkeep. Or you own a lawncare company in which case why do you care if your employees have armrests? More on reddit.com

The ripper teeth on the backside of the mulching blade dulls down and it’s hard to sharpen. Get high lift blades. Ballard has aftermarket blades More on reddit.com

My MoJack 500 HDL does a good job lifting my tractor, and can be folded flat, which is great for storage. It lifts the front wheels. If you don't need as much lift, ramps will get you some. Or use a car floor jack under the center of the front axle. https://www.amazon.com/MoJack-Hydraulic-Cylinder-Maintenance-Capacity/dp/B079LMMZHB A picture of it with the bagger might help, but it sounds like you would need some sort of extension or extra mount. More on reddit.com