Patent ID: 7571593

Claim:
A multi-use lawn mower configured to selectively bag grass clippings or return the grass clippings to the lawn, the lawn mower comprising: a pair of front ground engaging wheels; a pair of rear ground engaging wheels; a power source; a cutting blade connected to said power source; a mower deck forming a cutting chamber in the underside the mower deck, the cutting chamber housing the cutting blade, wherein the mower deck has an opening therein through which grass clippings exit the cutting chamber during select modes of operation; and a grass-collecting hopper removably mounted on the mower deck, said grass-collecting hopper having a basket portion for receiving grass clippings cut by said cutting blade and a mounting portion having a plurality of stations such that the mounting portion is configured to interface with the opening in more than one different orientation, said mounting portion comprising a bagging station that configures the lawn mower to operate in a bagging mode and at least one other station that configures the lawn mower to operate in a mode in which grass clippings are returned to the lawn, wherein when the multi-station mounting portion mounts the grass-collecting hopper on the mower deck, one of said plurality of stations interfaces with the opening in the mower deck to configure the lawn mower to operate in the selected mode of operation, wherein the grass-collecting hopper is mounted above and generally over the center of the mower deck such that the hopper is positioned between the front and rear ground engaging wheels.