Garden Tractor Attachments?

[L_Nicholson]

Are the garden tractor attachments really worth it? I broke down and bought a 52" mower and started looking at the "garden attachments" you can get.

I was looking at the snow/dirt blade (for my drive way) and the seed spreader. I also was looking at producing a small garden and was wondering about the disc harrow and cultivator.

I know these garden tractors don't have a lot of power compared to a larger tractor but if the attachments get the job done on a small scale I figured it was worth looking into.

 

[CarlGlas]

I started out that way and quickly discovered that the
sleeve hitch, attachments, AG tires, etc. are expensive and often difficult to find. I went from a lawn tractor to a garden tractor and finally bought a sub-compact, which is what I should have bought to begin with. Unless you use an electric sleeve hitch you'll find lifting some of the implements too hard to kift wth one hand and too heavy for the tractor's lift system.

 

[5030tinkerer]

Before buying my CUT, I used my 52" garden tractor to do snowblowing, aerating, dethatching, fertilizing, boxblading, spraying, and, oh yeah, mowing. It worked well, I thought, until I saw what could be done with a bigger tool. There is no reason to think that you can't do what you want so long as you keep it in perspective.

 

[Dk45_Jeff]

Garden tractors can do a lot of work but they have their limits. As you've pointed out sleeve hitch implements are only made by a couple of manufacturers (Brinley and Agri-fab) and cost almost as much as their light duty CAT 1 equivalents. On the plus side you can buy these implements second hand very cheaply from people who expected too much from these light weight implements. For example the sleeve hitch disc will not even scratch unbroken ground, but if a moldboard plow is used first to turn the soil it will do a good job preparing the seed bed. They are much more effective if pulled in tandem, but a single will do the job in multiple passes. And the cultivator works well if you either plant the rows far enough apart for the tractor to fit between them, or stop using it once the crops get too tall to drive over.

I've been using my Craftsman garden tractor to do all the work in my 3/4 acre vegetable garden and flowerbeds for the last 3 years, and I've been happy with the performance. I did need to add wheel weights and tire chains to get enough traction to pull the moldboard plow, and the mower deck has to come off to get the ground clearance for the garden work.

The front blade does a fair job of snow clearing on my walkways and near the house, provided I don't try to handle more then 6" at a time. The other thing the GT is good at is the lawn maintenance; it does all the finish mowing, core aeration, soil amendments and over seeding. Things my big tractor is too heavy to do without damaging the turf.

All that said, I don't plan on using my garden tractor to work my newly larger garden areas. For a weekend farmer like me, the GT can handle maybe an acre of ground, after that it takes too much seat time to do the tillage tasks in the limited time available.

 

[L_Nicholson]

Anyone have any experience with the pull behind tiller??

 

[century3045]

I use my garden tractor, 16hp. to cultivate my corn, about an acre. I also use it with the box blade to get under my sheds and barn for cleaning out purposes and I use the smooth disc harrows for covering seed when I sew a turnip patch or planting food plots. It does have its limits but by being small has its advantages.

 

[LBrown59]

<font color="blue"> 1*Are the garden tractor attachments really worth it?
2*I broke down and bought a 52" mower and started looking at the "garden attachments" you can get.
I was looking at the snow/dirt blade (for my drive way) and the seed spreader. I also was looking at
3*producing a small garden and was wondering about the disc harrow and cultivator.
4*I know these garden tractors don't have a lot of power compared to a larger tractor but if the attachments get the job done on a small scale I figured it was worth looking into.
</font>
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1*Depends a lot on the specs of the garden tractor.
2*Depends on what you bought.
3*
4*Power is not the issue with a garden tractor as some of them have as much or more power than some sub compacts.
With what you're talking about it's more a matter of weight beef strength and muscle.
Case in point: I have a wards 18 horse power MTD that wouldn't begin to handle the implements you listed but a little ole 15 horse power Kubota BX 1500 Sub Compact would.
I was offered The BX 1500 tractor only for $5700 which is less money than for some of the better Garden tractors.
I heard of another Dealer selling the BX1500 with a 54'' mmm for $6050 which is a steal. So why bother with a garden tractor?



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[LBrown59]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I started out that way and quickly discovered that the
sleeve hitch, attachments, AG tires, etc. are expensive and often difficult to find. I went from a lawn tractor to a garden tractor and
*finally bought a sub-compact, which is what I should have bought to begin with. Unless you use an electric sleeve hitch you'll find lifting some of the implements too hard to lift wth one hand and too heavy for the tractor's lift system. )</font>
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*If I was the original poster This is where I would start and avoid the frustrations that you went through.