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

[Tractorable]

I have an X590. It's pretty sweet, and can take a front mount belt-driven snowblower. When my wife first used it she said it was easier to use than her car.

 

[AxleHub]

Mg448,

To be honest, I read about 5 full pages of responses to your thread and then just skipped to here because there were way too many responses that acted like they didn't even read your initial post.

1. Let's start with cutting 2 acres of lawn. You said lawn, not pasture, and not field or farm lawn. And your picture you included shows lawn. So everyone who talks about small wheels or big holes or only cutting 1/2 an acre and no more. . . . either doesn't believe what you are saying or doesn't care. There are lots of good reasons to cut 2 acres and do it pleasantly and environmentally. Because others "don't want rondo it" doesn't mean it's wrong or a bad idea. Cutting a lawn is both calming and an excellent method of having time to think and plan. Don't ever believe it is dumb to choose a larger well kept lawn to look out on.

2. Pointv1 brings us to pointb2 which is the ever loving loving devotion many have to zero turn riding mowers. If you want to "race around a yard" then maybe cutting grass is just fast. . . But it isn't fun. Meanwhile the cost of gas and maintenance are higher on lawn mowers than a SCUT unless you spend a big pile on a ztr. The point is cutting 2 acres of lawn but not fertilizing it and just spraying for weeds can be a once a week or once every 10 days and with 4wd and the more comfort a SCUT offers on washboard spots etc. It's cheap cutting with diesel and it's 4 or 5 or 6 mph instead of 7 with a ZTE but more comfort and much safer footing.

3. Which brings us to your 1st post again because you don't need 2 machines when one can do. You'll have 7 months of lawn and 4 months of snow. And the fact your wife could learn to be on a SCUT (slowly) might be as far as she needs to go (lawn cutting) and no further with your dad's tractor etc.. Go for "the win . . not the super bowl" lol.

4. A couple posters were also wildly wrong when they said knots and yanked are Japanese and everything else is Korean. . . . wrong wrong wrong. Massey/Iseki is a 3 decade long Japanese engine and tractor builder. And some other brands are India built.

5. And a foot if snow by you and a for of snow by me are the same issues. And a 2 foot snow or drift is the same here and there. (rare but once in awhile). Having a SCUT is better for lawns as is turf tires. Having a 25 HP Diesel scut with the proper snow blower in front is not a wimpy machine. If I put a proper snow blower on my Massey gc1715 with loaded tires and my weight rack in back we're talking almost 2200 pounds plus me and is very maneuverable but it's not wimpy. I know someone with that setup and the snow flies 35 to 40 feet in 1 foot of snow.

6. Someone stated cut the lawn size to 1/2 an acre and then plant lots of trees. Yeah there's a idea and lack of understanding. . . Let's not see the 2 acres of beauty let's make it a monster to trim and leaf and dodge around tons of instructions.

My point is. . . Why are so many posters on your thread trying to change everything you want to do? You don't want to spend big money but you want to enjoy the country space but make it look nice. That isn't hard to agree with. And the idea that a SCUT is "tippy" on slopes is again. . . Not factual at all. . . It's just the opposite.

The one thing I would recommend though is to get a 25 HP sized SCUT with a nice seat and fel and mmm. Why? Because your wife is art of the plan and give her something pleasant to look at when you are trying to get her to try it. Comfort will be an advantage for years and years and a few extra horse power in a Diesel is benefit when the frame size is SCUT. 1 other thing. Your posts didn't talk about pasture or rough ground so SCUT ground clearance will be just fine. Then get a properly sized snow blower for your SCUT and 1 quality machine gives you years of future solutions.

Finally, whether your 2 acres has some slope or Motors lawn and a 700 foot driveway . . so you don't require bigger equipment or multiple equipment or backhoes and tree land clearances.

My recommendation will cost you about 14 or 15k in a Massey gc1715 plus snow blower or a bit more n a bx2680 or??? Unless you can find lightly used options. Yes that's more than 8,000 but financing is cheap now and 5 year warranties are your friend. Most importantly. . . such a plan gives you and your wife many years of use and economy and comfort.

If you want it only for you (and not her) . . then get the bx2200 used.

Jmho
AxleHub

 

[paulfun9]

The only question I have is about the wife being more nervous about driving it.

If you are talking about the possible intimidation factor before they actually learn then yes the bigger unit will sometimes be intimidating. Now my experience with all the Younger family moving back here as we split off the family property for them. Is that the lawn mower goes away real quick once they actually get on the tractor and drive it.

Do yourself and the wife a favor and find a way to get some seat time on both. Even if she is intimidated at first most will thank you in the long run.

 

[Egon]

""My point is. . . Why are so many posters on your thread trying to change everything you want to do? You don't want to spend big money but you want to enjoy the country space but make it look nice. That isn't hard to agree with. And the idea that a SCUT is "tippy" on slopes is again. . . Not factual at all. . . It's just the opposite. ""

No change???

 

[Erik M]

I would echo the poster that said to buy enough tractor the first time to do what you need to do, you will be happier and save money and time in the long run. I have a 550' driveway in an area that gets plenty of snow and lots of wind, so paying for snow clearing is not an option when some days I need to clear the lane twice.

I bought a 1981 JD 1840 last fall that had been rebuilt with inframe overhaul and had a 6' PTO blower attached. With a 60 hp PTO and 5000 lbs it has been awesome at blowing snow, and 4WD was not at all required. I paid less than your budget and if we get another winter like 2015 with 17' of snow I know that I have all I need to keep my lane open all winter.

Lots of good tractors out there that don't have 4WD or a FEL but have the mass and power to manage snowblowing with ease. Don't feel the need to have something brand new that also mows grass as I use a Toro ride on mower that cuts 54" to keep 1.5 acres of grass under control.

I like the fact that my tractor has no chips or computer control modules to act up, just a straight forward German made Diesel that starts without any trouble and if I bought anything new it would be full of chips and other expensive sources of frustration.

Keep looking and don't feel the need to rush into any deals, you can always contract the first winter.

 

[dodge man]

Just based on my personal experience, don't go with a garden tractor unless you find a deal on a used one. I've been down that road, I almost bought a garden type tractor and lucky for me I talked to a Kubota sales man that knew what I really needed. My BX has about 650 hours on it and it doesn't take anymore time to maintain than if it was new. If its a short term solution thats great to go with what you can afford.

My daughter has sat on my Kubota BX and run it, they really aren't much bigger than a riding mower. If you wife can run a riding mower, she can run a SCUT. Like others have said, if I was on a budget, I'd get a rear mount blower. I think with your budget, you can get a solid used SCUT and set it up the way you need it. I'd look for a FEL and mower deck to be on it to start with. You could even get by one winter without a blower and use the FEL and a rear blade. Good luck in you search.

 

[airbiscuit]

The OP seems like a pretty smart guy, and has a sense of where he is today. He has a beautiful new home, an infant and a wife from Long Island - life is pretty good. I believe he will make the right decisions now and in the future for where he is at that point in time. Good Luck!

"When the Student is ready, the Teacher will appear."

 

[Egon]

Well said!

 

[dodge man]

I keep thinking of the money I spent on riding mowers, maybe $6000, that was more or less down the drain, and they never did what I needed. I maybe got $500 back when I sold them. If the OP does buy something like a JD X series it will at least hold some value.

 

[englishlarry]

Very similar situation to you. My wife and I moved about 30 mins out of Albany two years ago. Approx. 50 acres of land, 800ft very steep gravel driveway with drainage issues. 2 acres of pasture, 1 acre of lawn including a pond with steep banks. We purchased a NH Boomer 24, rear blower and 72" Woods rear finish mower to start off with. Ag tires and chains. Exchanged the rear blower for a front blower (NH 836GS) before the first snow even flew. Also added a 48" rear box blade.

What we like about the setup:

-Snowblower works very well. Have to add chains to the tires to get traction but otherwise I can't see a more efficient way of removing snow from the driveway. Driveway is cut into the side of a hill and I'm not sure that the plow banks would be manageable if we plowed. Takes us maybe 30 mins to blow the driveway and parking areas. The largest snowfall we dealt with in Mar 2017 was probably 24-30" in a single fall. Had to make several passes, wouldn't want to blow more than 24" with the blower.

-Box blade has been critical. Biggest winter problem we found with the driveway was ice. Used the shanks to break that up, we need to manage that better next winter to stop the ice forming and get the driveway properly crowned.

-Tractor is maneuverable, easy to maintain (so far!).

-Earth working has been OK with the tractor - used a 16" single bottom plow, that's hit and miss depending on how wet it is and took some modifications to get it to pull, but it plows OK. Reverse tine 48" tiller has been fantastic and chews through everything.

What we dislike about it:

-Gravel maintenance on the steep driveway is almost impossible with the size of tractor. Have to grade downhill which makes for an inefficient time circling back up to the top. Going uphill, tractor runs out of power straight away. I'm not sure that we could pull a rear blade to allow us to crown the driveway ourselves. The size of box blade also tends to cause issues with making sure that you get the angle of grading you want. That could well be operator error/ inexperience.

-Mowing. Ended up mowing with a push mower for most of the season as it has been too wet to take the tractor on the lawn. Not sure if you would do better with a ZTR or turf tires. Tractor also can't mow a lot of the property as it isn't flat. Have to use a push behind brush mower for the pasture. In hindsight I would have probably bought a brush mower for the tractor and a larger push behind or separate garden tractor. A MM mower would not have worked for us - would not have been able to get into the corners of the property and it would be pretty beat up going over a lot of our terrain (we have clearance issues on the bottom of the tractor even without the MM).

-For most of the tractor tasks I don't like how the size of tractor tends to follow all the small bumps and imperfections in the ground rather than having a more level ride. This has been a real pain for all earthworking/ grading.

-Have really missed having a 3pt hitch float function.

-Could do with a bigger loader.

Those are my experiences for what they are worth. If we had to do it again, I would have aimed for a second hand 40hp or so tractor that was a bit heavier and had a rear 3pt float solely for the driveway and a brush mower instead of a finish mower.

Larry.