I just love front mount for snow blower; that's where they belong! Where I live, they are so many sharp turns, obstacles and curves... They are a breeze to work with... I was also looking for going hydro all the way, but with a 22 hp tractor, I decided to go with a mix set up: hydro for the rotation and angle of the tower, and run the snow blower from the mid pto. The extra cost of going full hydro was a bit steep for me, and with my tractor, it wouldn't throw the snow as far as a pto driven snow blower. So I got a mid pto, shaft, gear box, modified Martin 54 inches. Limiter for the FEL (you don't want to extend over the limit of your pto and hydro connections). So far, it's great set up! And I' m able to run my box blade from the rear, instead of having a huge hydro reserved.