X749 With new 54" Snow Blower

[Dutch445]

i hear what you are saying, but it is true, they don't sell the blade or blower less
the hitch like they do on the "quick hitch" machines on the X7 and up into the CUTS.
realistically you will duplicate that hitch component and the lift items, but i'm pretty sure
that if you were to try to price out the blade components separately they will quickly
exceed the price of the complete blade as a package. That hitch you have is expensive,
175ish, and then you have it's hardware, and the lift linkage. That's about all you will
have for duplicates.

 

[sparc]

Thanks for the reply. I thought I saw a price in the neighborhood of $800 for the blade kit.

Wow, its just a stinking blade, seems high to me. Not worth 800 bucks to me to have the
blade as an option. I'll fashion my own from a blade I find on CL for $150 and make it mount
to the quick hitch I have now.

$300 to 400 for a blade with angling kit and no duplicate parts I could go for, but not this.

 

[Gittyup]

Thanks for the reply. I thought I saw a price in the neighborhood of $800 for the blade kit.

Wow, its just a stinking blade, seems high to me. Not worth 800 bucks to me to have the
blade as an option. I'll fashion my own from a blade I find on CL for $150 and make it mount
to the quick hitch I have now.


$300 to 400 for a blade with angling kit and no duplicate parts I could go for, but not this.

Pricey, sure. But, worth every penny. Mine is 19 years old. I've used the heck out it and have only had to change the cutting edge and shoes once at year 17. The blade is also so much faster than a blower. Of course, for really deep snows, the blower has a big advantage. Might want to keep an eye out for a used one. The one from the 400 series fits the X-series just fine with two short hose extensions. That's what I'm using on my X739. I've seen practically new ones, with the hitch for as little as $500.

I have seen an alternative offered by someone that looks to be a bit better built. I might consider that one instead of JD's. It's about the same price, as I recall. I just can't remember who makes it. It was really nice.

 

[Gittyup]

I found it. It's from arthur randall corporation, and costs more!
Arthur Randall Corporation

 

[Kubotafan]

I found it. It's from arthur randall corporation, and costs more!
Arthur Randall Corporation

Would they sell just the blade and would it fit the JD mount?

 

[Gittyup]

Would they sell just the blade and would it fit the JD mount?

I can't figure out if the one that is for the JD quick hitch includes the hitch. It doesn't look like it does. So, for just under $1300 you can have one of those babies, and still have to provide the hitch. Or for just a few hundred more you can get it with ARC's quick hitch. I'm not a fan of how it connects at the vertical pivot point though. Maybe it's stronger than it looks at that point. Overall the ARC's are nice, but it kind of puts the JD cost more in perspective, I think. These attachments are always more than we think they are worth.

 

[sparc]

I've seen the ARC blade before, and its nice yes, but does not use the same hitch as the JD.

I had a blade for my previous lawn tractor, and it worked well but when the 6 inch plus snows come I have no where to push it all to so I opted for the snowblower this time.

Ideally I'd like to have both and beable to switch quickly from one to the other. My snowblower is belt drive and fairly easy to hookup. I can drop the snowblower in about 5 minutes. Having a blade that could connect in a couple minutes with no tools required would be great.

The option is there just a bunch of duplicate parts that I don't need cluttering up the garage.

If JD offered both as a kit or the blade could be ordered as an add-on to the snowblower without the duplicate parts at a reasonable price I bet they would sell a bunch of them.