Ride-on Mower w/Snowblower

[cloud dreamer]

Hi,

I'm just starting to take a peek around at ride-on mowers that have snowblower attachments. Any recommendations out there?

My driveway is 300 feet long, gravel and is sloped. I had an ATV with a blade and I know it often needed to be in 4WD to plow the driveway...so I can't see a 2WD mower being able to do it. Is 4WD standard on all ride-ons or just the high end ones? I've seen Kubota list 4wd on some of their machines but I can't find anything on the Toros.

Even with 4WD, are they good snowblowers or more trouble than they're worth? Do they slide all over the place...not have the HP push up the driveway??

Any experience, opinions appreciated. TIA

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[Pete C.]

Traction is much more of an issue when plowing than when blowing. Problem with blowing on a gravel driveway is picking up all the gravel. You have to get a solid snow / ice pack down initially to lock in the gravel and then only cut down to that point with the blower on future passes.

[hallerb]

note:(

snow may be blown 5 feet, a decent sized rock 30 feet.

you shou;ld only blow snow in gravel driveways if no one and nothing is around!

all it takes is one skidding tire to displace a little gravel into the snow and then blow the snow and gravel thru your neighbors car window.

dont ask how i know so much about this:(

[cloud dreamer]

lol....yeah...I live on ten acres surrounded by lots of trees, so taking out a neighbours car isn't a concern...unless I tried really really hard... ;)

I have a regular snowblower now and can see how the gravel shortens its life...as it's rusted where the inner auger turns, catching the rocks between the blades and painted surface.

Since I have to get a ride on mower anyway, I'd like to get the snowblower attached, rather than get a second machine. I can also use the ride on for some basic garden tasks too, which will help (I'm not getting any younger).

Any suggestions on the brand names? Toro, Kubota...any others? Good...bad...all the same...

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[hallerb]

always wear eye protection when blowing snow, i got hit bad in head once with a rock that bounced back somehow........ scary bloody mess........ head wounds bleed a lot:(

might check consumer reports for tractor info, dont buy a rider mower, they are too small for everything.

if you have acres to cut probably better off speed wise with a dedicated grass cutter. those sit on center with 2 arms for direction are so fast its unreal

if most is woods thats not a issue

[cloud dreamer]

Yeah, it's mostly woods. My lawn is small enough to do with a regular mower, but it's getting tough on my poor arthritic knees. That's why I'm looking at combining mower/snowblower...and looking for recommendations. In the end, I'm thinking a higher end ride-on might suffice...something

4wd. I have someone to clear the driveway for heavy snowfalls, so the ride-on would only be necessary for smaller snowfalls...under a foot type thing. Everything I've seen so far has me looking toward Kubota.

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[willshak]

on 12/30/2007 6:13 PM cloud dreamer said the following:

I have an old Murray garden tractor with an old Haban Snowblower attachment. My driveway is only about 100' long and is asphalt paved. I have had to replace a belt and a chain because of broken asphalt at the roadway edge of my driveway (asphalt road is deteriorating due to surface water). If I had to blow a gravel driveway, I would set the blower to be not more than 1" from the surface and go slow as to not allow the blower to bounce down below that 1". Any rock getting caught between the blower blade and blade housing is sure to do some damage. A 2 wheel drive tractor is sufficient when using a blower since the snow is thrown out of the path of the tractor, whereas a plow is pushing snow in front of the tractor and causing more resistance to tractor movement.

[Joe]

We have a 20HP Simplicity to use around our self storage on tightly packed gravel. Usually however, the snow last few years has been so light we've had the guy across the road in his pickup with blade just do it for us. Had a Simplicity with a blower back in 60's that worked just great in upstate NY snows. HTH

Joe

[cloud dreamer]

Yes, it helps. Lots of good advice here. I'm in Eastern Canada, so I imagine we get snow like they do in upstate NY. I'm not sure if Simplicity is available locally, but I haven't started seriously looking (no sense until the spring...when I called a couple places I got that "you're looking for a mower in December?" response :)

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[Jim Elbrecht]

Maybe I'm just used to the plain-jane SIMPLICITY of 30yr old Bolens blowers- 3 bolts & 10 minutes to change a belt; sparkplug on top where it can be checked in seconds; 4 screws bring the carb into plain sight.

My brother-in-law called one day last winter to ask if I'd come over with a 5/8? socket so he could change the plug in his 3yr old Simplicity. When I got there he had a pile of tools laid out- had removed one shroud, [some screws and 2 different size bolts] but couldn't get the next one. And the plug was still not visible.

He told me he had had it tuned up a couple months before- so I suspected ice in the gas-- but couldn't see any way of checking that without tearing a whole lot more of his snowblower apart.

Luckily- when he went in the house for something, I tried it 'one last time - and the beast started- so it was probably just flooded. But just looking at how difficult it was to perform the simplest of repair/diagnoses, convinced me I'd never own a Simplicity.

Jim

[EXT]

I have had good results with John Deere products, durable, easy to repair, easy to get parts for old equipment, good support from the dealer (not Big Boxes but an actual John Deere farm dealer). They will not question the purchase of a mower in the winter, especially if you are adding a snow blower for it.

[cloud dreamer]

Thanks. I didn't realize we had a John Deere dealer local, but apparently there is one. I'll check them out.

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[Mark Witczak]

Let's face it, your driveway is not that big. Either will do the job in a matter of minutes. And both will have to be set high to avoid picking up stones. So now you've got to look at other factors: cost, storage, maintenance.

A ride-on will be more expensive (ie. $1200 for the ride-on + $1200 for blower attachment), takes more space to store, and has more parts to maintain. You will be able to use it to cut grass in the summer. It's a

4 season tool.

A snow blower will be cheaper (ie $1200), take up less space in your garage/shed, and require less maintenance.

I used a ride-on for 3 years before I gave in and switched to the snowblower. I found it easier to use and faster than the ride-on.

Good Luck, Mark

cloud dreamer wrote:

[cloud dreamer]

I have both a regular snowblower and lawn mower - both stored in a spacious garage...I'm looking at the ride-on simply because I'm physically having difficulty doing both.

I'm trying to weigh the ride on and its abilities against hiring someone to do it all for me. Around here, that can run upwards of $1500 a year or more...so cost and storage isn't too much of a concern...I guess one thing I really need to know is that a ride on pushing a blower can climb the gradual slope of my driveway with hard snow/ice under the wheels while clearing 50 cm of snow.

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[do_see]

Yeah, but most of them are at least partly.....shudder... American made. blechhhhhh

[pheeh.zero]

To us Yanks down here...if you said half-a-meter, we would have a better idea of what you meant! 8^) (Don't call Southerners Yanks...they would get pi__ed!)

[cloud dreamer]

Or 20"

;)

[EXT]

OR to be more accurate: 19.68503937" --- I hate instructions that have been translated from inches to metric where they say to install something approximately 1" or 2.54 centimetres from something else. How can you have something measured approximately to two decimal places.