700' gravel driveway with 2 acres of lawn in snow country

[woolyAcres]

@mg448-

I get where you're coming from. I was/am in the same boat. In the process of building a house, young kids, lots of things that demand money and time. On this particular issue I went with the Wheel Horse because it has a snow plow. The mowing deck (which has turned out to be the most useful aspect) was an afterthought. That first year it was kinda tricky keeping up with the snow only because we've got some steep banks and there isn't a lot of room to push snow. The second year I got the 48" blower. Makes getting rid of snow much easier and faster, though the kids miss the piles.

The forums are a great place for information but it's too easy to spend other peoples money so the recommendations aren't always a fit for one's budget. I think these older, well built garden tractors are looked down on by some SCUT owners. They don't have all the features (4WD and FEL come to mind), but they also cost a whole lot less, are easy to work on, and in the case of my WH, parts are pretty easy to get. I'm not bashing SCUTs (wish I had a nice one myself), I'm just saying before SCUTs were a segment, these garden tractors filled that roll pretty well.

If you need some encouragement that these older units can blow snow have a look at these videos:
wheel horse snow blowing - YouTube

I wish my driveway were paved more than I wish I had a cabbed SCUT. My setup does fine, it just doesn't like the gravel.

Best of luck with the mower tomorrow. If that unit is in good shape and well built, I'm sure it will get you by for a few years while you get things in order and figure out what would best fit your needs.

 

[airbiscuit]

The OP seems to have a pretty good idea about his situation. That Craftsman Garden tractor would take care of his mowing and generally his snowblowing needs (although I predict he will get stuck). It that's what my budget dictated, then that could be tractor 1.0. If I had the $10k, I would keep looking for a used SCUT with a loader and maybe a mower. It is hard to underestimate how much a person uses a loader, and how much you appreciate 4wd in snow. Something like this if the hours are low enough.

Otherwise here is a video of that Craftsman in action (check out traction at 1:30) -

 

[Garandman]

We have a 700' gravel driveway on the side of Mount Sunapee, with average snowfall of 120".

We hire a local contractor to plow, as his very heavy duty pickup with sander on the back is much faster than anything we could buy. With a $12K budget I'd definitely contract out.

We wanted the ability to dig ourselves out if necessary, so we have an L3200 with bucket and edge tamers (they're awesome! R2 Manufacturing - Home Of The Edge Tamer), and an Ariens Pro walk-behind for cleanup and backup. Plowing with a bucket is not ideal, but can handle any amount of snow. A BX strikes me as being on the small side if you also have trees to tend to. But you could certainly make do, and the worst that would happen is you'd resell it.

The L series costs less than B series but doesn't support a front mount snow thrower. A rear mount PTO thrower is cheaper but less convenient.

Mowing we use a Land Pride 60" brush mower and a 30" walk behind DR Power brush mower. We don't really do any finish mowing, just knock down the jungle here and there.

11yo operator in training.

 

[paulfun9]

Going back and looking at the first post and study the pic

I still would not recommend the craftsman. Honestly I think it will turn to junk rather quickly and if staying with this size/type of mower I agree the Toro would be a much better choice.

Took a look at some local for sale adds. Based on that I would most likely be looking at used compact tractors many priced between 3800 to 6000 that would do wonders on his drive. All with loaders some were 4x4 some a little larger with only 2x but all much more able to handle his driveway more effectively. With prices like that I would not worry about the snow and lawn being taken care of the same machine and would still be able to buy a brand new 26HP box store mower for the grass provided I was patient with looking for the right buy on both.
Get a lower cost or used 3PT blower and he still with most could afford a box store mower for the grass that should last till its time to upgrade.

 

[TheMadOne]

I honestly don't think we'll be able to help much. You have a solid budget and no delusions of grandeur. It's just going to be a matter of checking Craig's list/tractor house/local dealers until you find something.

 

[crazyal]

Do you have a truck? If so and can borrow a trailer I wouldn't hesitate expanding the area you are looking in. The tractor you are talking about is not going to be too heavy for even something like an SUV or Toyota Tacoma to tow. I would think that a used BX in good shape (or a B series) and a rear mount blower shouldn't be hard to find for the price range you are talking about. The difference between the Craftsman and the BX is in 5 years the BX will still be worth most of what you paid for it while the Craftsman, who knows. I might take the wife down to your local Kubota dealer and have her sit on a BX and a B series just to see what she might be comfortable with. If your wife likes to garden and do other stuff around the house you will be amazed how quickly she realizes how much of a work saver a tractor with a loader is.

 

[mg448]

The craftsman didn't pan out. Too much money for a machine I knew I would have to replace in a couple of years. I can be patient, we don't close until October and we want to do some renovations before we move in so we probably won't be in until early November.

This is also up on local craigslist, but it's got a lot of hours and it's 20 years old. Anybody think this is worth close to the $$ they're asking?

1998 New Holland TC21d Tractor - farm & garden - by owner - sale

I don't really know anything about New Hollands. All of my experience has been on Deere's, Kubota's, Wheel Horse and a couple of old Fords(8n and an old 1320) and farmall's. The Kubota's, deere and wheel horse were good experiences. Fords and farmalls not so good, but they were all very old machines. I never want to do another job like splitting a '52 farmall m.

Thanks
Mike

 

[airbiscuit]

I had a New Holland TC21D - my son has it now. It was a good machine - made by Shibaura. Either that or the Kubota I referenced earlier would do the trick. Nice that this has a front mount snowblower. I'd consider buying it if it looks and runs good and they would take $8k

 

[BoylermanCT]

I think you are on the right path on the New Holland, but at 2100 hours, I would be hesitant. If you keep a lookout, and are willing to travel a bit, you can find a good deal. I bought my Montana R2844 for $9000 a couple of years ago. It had 175 hours. Tractors in CT are very expensive, including used ones. I bought mine in PA and drove 5 hours each way to go get it. PA seemed to have better deals,so check there too.

 

[airbiscuit]

When I was looking for CUTs, my preference was that they have fewer than 1500 hours, but I didn't really worry much as long as it was less than 4,000 hours. They should go that long with out any repairs other than routine maintenance if they are taken care of. In this case the 2100 hours warrants the price reduction to $8k. Use it for 2-4 years, learn what features you like, use the time to find an awesome deal on your next tractor 2.0, and sell this one for $7,750. There are lots of us on TBN that are on our second or third or ... tractors.