Just discovered that our mower (rebadged Countax) has added ‘charging the battery’ to the list of things that it no longer does and I think it’s time for a replacement.
One option is a mulching mower which would save a load of time going back and forth emptying the cut grass and then there’s less to go wrong as there’s not collector to maintain. My sister has one and thinks it’s is great but I’m slightly unsure about it in our climate. Anybody have/use one and have an opinion?

Yes I have one. Was advised to get one with a specific domed mulching deck (not one of the duel mulch or collect options with a plug for the collection outlet) and they do work.

You can’t try and take too much off in one go though and expect the clippings to magically vanish, about a third each cut is recommended.

It seems to work just as well when the grass is wet if you stick to this rule and as you say it does save the hassle and time of empting. More importantly to me you don’t end up with a mountain of grass cuttings in the corner of the garden that never rots

I use a 21″ machine commercially. Good choice for ease and speed. No big deal if you end up with some clumps at times.

Mulching will do your lawn good in the long term.

I’ve got a big Viking machine that mulches. Great when it’s wet but still prefer a collection.
Using it all the time can make the lawn a bit “thatched”
Early and late season is ideal time for it as it feeds the lawn.
As said above, cut little and often to keep it as hidden as possible.
Tim
(commercial gardener)

If you are local to Lewes/Brighton I’ve got a Mountfield mulcher you can borrow to try. It’s a dedicated mulcher and prob the best cut I’ve seen from any mower. Not fancy, not expensive but a cracking little mower.

Honda HRX mower here in the US. It has a plastic deck, with a lever to switch between mulch and bag (or a mix). Works really well to mulch. Pretty much the only time that I bag is when there are a lot of leaves in the fall. A few leaves mulch just fine, but I need to bag when there are a lot of them.

Cheers guys.
The machine Im looking at (JD X740) is being brought over for me to try for a couple of days so I’ll see how it goes.