Lawn mower vs Lawn Tractor- Recommendations?

Friend just bought a McMansion.
1.3 acre lot to mow.
Fairly long, paved driveway.

Asked me what he should be looking for in terms of lawn
mower or lawn tractor.

He wants to blow snow with it too.

I have never blown snow with a lawn mower or lawn tractor.
We are in the northeast, can get 12-18? snow storms a couple
times a winter, in addition to regular snowfall.

What should he look for in terms of a lawn mower he can blow
snow with. Wheel weights? Particular horsepower? Particular
transmission?

I figure he would be good with a 46-50? deck.

I assume you guys will recommend he go with something from
a dealer as opposed to TSC or the Depot or Lowe?s. And I
definitely agree with you. I think his first shearpin will send
him into a panic. Not super handy or mechanical.

Brand? My dad picked up a Husqvarna a few years ago.
Been impressed with it. Don?t know if they do blower
attachments though.
 
We use a Kubota witha mower on the front. All wheel drive and rear wheel steering.
For the winter we take the mower off and put a blower on the front.
It's kinda nice because it also has a heated/ airconditioned cab.
Burns about a gallon an hour of diesel.
 
I agree with Switchflicker. Go to Tractorhouse.com. Check out ALL the listings on it, all depends on what he wants to spend.

Some of the old New Hollands have a cab and heat with loader. Don't dismiss the Steiner/Ventrac series. They are SUPER EASY to change attachments on. DOUG
 
So far all of the replys I agree with. Husqvarna made a manual shift machine in 2005 and I love mine. NLA. Has 54 inch deck. Your friend needs a GARDEN tractor or even a bit bigger. When you throw a blower on the front, you need a machine with some brass. Like 24hp or 26hp maybe a bit more. Husqvarna has fabricated mower decks and they cost more but WOW are they ever tough! For the winter blowing they have a very good snow blower. You will need chains on the rear. Personally I would fill the tires too. Will add about 125lbs. of weight but will also drastically lower the center of gravity on the machine. Far far less tippy on an embankment. Look around on the net also but I would go to a dealer and check out an estate type Husqvarna. Very good all around machine. Very well built. They are built bY AYP for Husqvarna. Get one with the Briggs Vtech engines. Picture of my beast from last summer cleaning the yard. See how small the seat looks. No, that is how big it is. Opps,,,picked a wrong file.
a273019.jpg

a273020.jpg
 
I would go along with what others have shared. Probably don't need the "tractor" for mowing, but need it for moving snow. I have 5.5 acres, of which I mow around 2.5 acres. The rest is gravel farmyard and buildings. I have a 425 John Deere lawn and garden tractor for mowing. It is an all wheel steer with a 54 inch mower deck. When I am in a hurry, I can mow every blade of grass in about 3 to 3.5 hours. I don't use it for snow removal, though. I have a 70 horsepower tractor with a front end loader and a rear mount snow blower, which is 7 feet wide. My 425 is 20 horsepower. Your friend would not necessary need that much machine for 1.3 acres, but what you describe for snow events, I feel he needs more than a 20 horsepower tractor, such as mine. I agree he would want something closer to 30 horsepower, versus 20 horsepower. He might want to get into the compact utility tractor class simply for the snow removal. Front end loader might also be desirable, too. If so, 4 wheel drive is going to be pretty important. As far as a snow blower, a 2 stage blower would be important, as the single stage throwers won't blow it far enough away, and those 12 to 18 inch events will be too much for a thrower. On this compact utility tractor, with the front end loader, the snow blower will need to be rear mount, versus front mount. Hydrostatic ground drive will also be a necessity in heavy snow conditions.
 
I have a kubota b8200. 20 horse, 4wd, diff lock, 3 pt. 60 inch belly mower. Bought used in very nice shape for 4000. No cab or blower. I do know you can put a front mount blower on them. There was a poster here called fatjay. He had built a custom cab for his. Looked nice. Tractor is extremely fuel efficient. I can mow for 2.5 hours on a gallon of fuel. Well built solid tractor for the money.
 
Definitely go with a purchase from a local dealer that gives good support. I would suggest a John Deere x500 series garden tractor. Or and older machine of similar size. An x700 series or the new 1025r series might be way overkill for the job but the 4x4 option would be nice to have for snow removal.
 
Is the property wooded or a lot of obstacles to mow around? If so a mower could do the job in a fraction of the time compared to a tractor. My property is heavily wooded and takes two full days to mow with a tractor. When I got a mower that was reduced to a half day.
 
I'm going to go against the tide here but I wonder if he shouldn't get a zero turn for mowing and then put a plow on the pickup for the "fairly long driveway"
 
(quoted from post at 20:42:07 07/10/18) I'm going to go against the tide here but I wonder if he shouldn't get a zero turn for mowing and then put a plow on the pickup for the "fairly long driveway"

I can't comment on the zero-turn, as I've never used one. However, I agree that if looking to do multiple things, it is MUCH(!!!!!) easier to clear that snow with a full-size vehicle rather than a small lightweight garden tractor, or even an 8N.

Our driveway isn't paved and is about 1/2-mile long. 1/4 of that is actually ours, the other half is minimum maintenance road. All grass/gravel. Used to have a 4010 with FEL and a JD 2-stage snow thrower, and I thought that was really nice....even though the tractor had no cab.

Now I have a plow on my 1/2-ton Dodge 4x4 and I'll never go back to moving snow with a tractor, OR a snow blower!

Our snows are usually drier, which means easier to move. Many other parts of the country get heavy, wet snow, and you simply cannot beat a plow in "most" instances. The automobile will have heat, protect from snow/wind, and get the job done much faster than a small machine. My truck does ALL of the plowing, but uses only a fraction of the fuel the JD 4010 used with the snow thrower.
 
(quoted from post at 21:33:46 07/10/18)
(quoted from post at 20:42:07 07/10/18) I'm going to go against the tide here but I wonder if he shouldn't get a zero turn for mowing and then put a plow on the pickup for the "fairly long driveway"

I can't comment on the zero-turn, as I've never used one. However, I agree that if looking to do multiple things, it is MUCH(!!!!!) easier to clear that snow with a full-size vehicle rather than a small lightweight garden tractor, or even an 8N.

Our driveway isn't paved and is about 1/2-mile long. 1/4 of that is actually ours, the other half is minimum maintenance road. All grass/gravel. Used to have a 4010 with FEL and a JD 2-stage snow thrower, and I thought that was really nice....even though the tractor had no cab.

Now I have a plow on my 1/2-ton Dodge 4x4 and I'll never go back to moving snow with a tractor, OR a snow blower!

Our snows are usually drier, which means easier to move. Many other parts of the country get heavy, wet snow, and you simply cannot beat a plow in "most" instances. The automobile will have heat, protect from snow/wind, and get the job done much faster than a small machine. My truck does ALL of the plowing, but uses only a fraction of the fuel the JD 4010 used with the snow thrower.


LOL now that's funny! I had a truck and plow. Now I have a Farmall 1206 and 8' blower. Tractor has a heated cab. I will never go back to pushing snow with a truck! The biggest complaint was the number of people who thought I should just be a good guy and plow snow for them too without being compensated. Once I went with a blower people stopped bugging me. Few other reasons too. But each to their own!

For the OP. For a few years before the truck with a plow I had an older 12HP Wheel Horse Garden Tractor with a blower and a canvas cab. Long farm drive. NEVER AGAIN! With any snow to make it practical I'd have to blow when 6 inches were on the ground. It took about 1 hour 45 minutes too. I did have loaded tires, weights and chains.

Rick
 
Grasshopper ZT mowers (some can) take attachments.....need deep pockets but those that have them swear by them.
 
Lol. I think I am going to convince him to get a regular lawn mower and a walk behind snow blower. Unless the misses comes through with a bigger budget than I think she will.
 
Tell your friend to buy a Zero turn mower, a Bad Boyz, Gravely, I love my Cub Cadet Tank, 27 hp Kawasaki, 54 inch deck. Much faster than a tractor type lawn mower or garden tractor. Does a much nicer looking job of mowing too.
Have him hire somebody with a 4wd pickup to plow his paved driveway. They will clean the light dustings of snow, and the 18 inch blizzards. In a year or two if he wants to buy his own truck to plow snow with that's fine. Any snow blower on a lawn mower or garden tractor, even a $20,000 compact utility tractor will struggle with an 18 inch snow storm. If the snow piles up too deep along his drive the guy/company he hires needs to get in there with an endloader and push the drifts and windrows back.
Without a cab or canvas enclosure ANY snow blower/snow thrower gets miserable to run with snow blowing back all over the machine and operator. I bought a snow blower for my garden tractor 35 years ago, used it about 4-5 years and use a full size farm tractor and loader with an 80 inch blade on it now, chains and weights on rear tires. Would like a heat-houser on the tractor, maybe someday.
 
Separate machines might work much better than changing attachments, and cost about the same. In many areas it's easier to hire someone to clear snow than it is to hire someone to mow lawns.
 
. Anything that does not have the fragile , light weight and short lived Tuff Torq K46 transaxle
In the Deere line this means the X380 or larger .
 
(quoted from post at 10:42:06 07/11/18) . Anything that does not have the fragile , light weight and short lived Tuff Torq K46 transaxle
In the Deere line this means the medium duty line starts at the X380 or larger .

The heavy duty equipped tractors use a five bolt rim on the rear axles .
 

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