rockandroller
New member
Hi all, new to rural living, and tractors!
We've just moved from apartment living in a European megalopolis into a small log home on 8 acres of "mostly treed" property. It comes with about 100 feet of gravel driveway plus another 500 feet of gravel private lane that we'll need to keep cleared in the winter. Winters here (New Brunswick, Canada) promise to be SNOWY, apparently they had 3+ feet of snow last year...
Anyway, around the house there is maybe a quarter-acre of lawn altogether and we'll want to keep this nicely mowed, along with some of the lane frontage. A good portion of this lawn is of course right over the septic tank and field, and I'm wondering how big a lawn tractor is safe to drive over this?
Parts of the yard are a little tight, with some shrubberies here and there, so I'm imagining we want a small "garden tractor" to maneuver easily. But one that can have a pretty hefty snow-blower attached in winter, and preferably a winter-cab as well, as it gets very windy here (I don't relish being out there exposed to the minus 30 wind-chill while snow-blowing for an hour!)
To be honest, I have no idea how long it takes to snow-blow 100 feet of lane. Any hints about this would be appreciated!
Finally, next year we're going to have a half acre or so of the forest cleared for some substantial home gardening. So it would be great to be able to use a tractor for some tilling and such. Again, I have no idea if a power roto-tiller attachment is really worthwhile compared to the ordinary tiller blades or discs that you just drag along behind the tractor. I don't expect we'd ever want or need to cultivate more than an acre of gardens all told... but available choice of attachments will certainly factor into the purchase - very open to advice about whats most useful for small gardening (vegetables, mostly).
Right now, I'm imagining one of the moderately heavy-duty garden tractors (with mower deck) plus a big snow-blower plus a tiller (of some kind) plus maybe a box scraper and a utility trailer (for hauling firewood, of which there is lots to harvest here!) is probably a worthwhile investment for a property like this....
Any and all advice is gratefully received!
We've just moved from apartment living in a European megalopolis into a small log home on 8 acres of "mostly treed" property. It comes with about 100 feet of gravel driveway plus another 500 feet of gravel private lane that we'll need to keep cleared in the winter. Winters here (New Brunswick, Canada) promise to be SNOWY, apparently they had 3+ feet of snow last year...
Anyway, around the house there is maybe a quarter-acre of lawn altogether and we'll want to keep this nicely mowed, along with some of the lane frontage. A good portion of this lawn is of course right over the septic tank and field, and I'm wondering how big a lawn tractor is safe to drive over this?
Parts of the yard are a little tight, with some shrubberies here and there, so I'm imagining we want a small "garden tractor" to maneuver easily. But one that can have a pretty hefty snow-blower attached in winter, and preferably a winter-cab as well, as it gets very windy here (I don't relish being out there exposed to the minus 30 wind-chill while snow-blowing for an hour!)
To be honest, I have no idea how long it takes to snow-blow 100 feet of lane. Any hints about this would be appreciated!
Finally, next year we're going to have a half acre or so of the forest cleared for some substantial home gardening. So it would be great to be able to use a tractor for some tilling and such. Again, I have no idea if a power roto-tiller attachment is really worthwhile compared to the ordinary tiller blades or discs that you just drag along behind the tractor. I don't expect we'd ever want or need to cultivate more than an acre of gardens all told... but available choice of attachments will certainly factor into the purchase - very open to advice about whats most useful for small gardening (vegetables, mostly).
Right now, I'm imagining one of the moderately heavy-duty garden tractors (with mower deck) plus a big snow-blower plus a tiller (of some kind) plus maybe a box scraper and a utility trailer (for hauling firewood, of which there is lots to harvest here!) is probably a worthwhile investment for a property like this....
Any and all advice is gratefully received!
