Small lawn tractor recommendations

[Z71]

I am looking to purchase (new) a 20-22 hp gas riding mower, mostly used for snow blower.
I have less the 1 acre
Grass = 25%
snowblower = 75%

I have been to several dealers and get a different sales pitch from all. What one recomends the other says won't be good enough and so forth. I have prices from 3500 to over 10g.

I am trying to stay unde 5g so if any of you have a 22-22 hp JD 100 series (just for example), I would be interested in your opinion about them. I have several makes available in my area, John Deere, Club Cadet, Huskqvarna.

I need to stay at 42" deck and blower attachment to be useful for my applications.

 

[keltonkrew]

for the money, look at the cub cadet lines.....2500 to 3000 series. If 75% is for snow blowing, you definitely want a shaft driven GT. I don't know if you can get a JD shaft for under 5K.....

Hope this helps.

 

[bontai_Joe]

I'm not familiar with the winters you get in your part of Michigan, but from your post I assume you get a large amount of snow. The Simplicity Conquest (also available as a Massey Ferguson 2700 or AGCO 1700 clone, pick the color you like) would be a decent choice listing just over $4800 without the snowblower. And the Cub Cadet 2500 series is a little cheaper with a list under $4000 without the snow blower. And the Cub 3000 series is $4800 with no mower or snowblower so that probably busts the budget. I haven't mentioned Deere because I think for serious snow removal, you would be looking at the X500 series and that's over budget. And frankly the Craftsman/Husqvarna clones, and the rest of MTDs lineup doesn't have as heavy a duty tranny as the ones I mentioned above, needed for serious snow removal. The Toro 400 series and the Wheelhorse Classic 300 series are worth considering as well. I'm not familiar with Kubotas or other imports. As for my experience in snow removal, I've lived in north NJ and now the northeast part of PA (Poconos) and have used an old Deere 316 with a 54" plow for over 25 years, bought a 48" wide snowblower for it 2 years ago as it snows more in the Poconos. At least it did until I bought it, not much snow the last 3 years.

 

[bontai_Joe]

There is also the option of moving up the "food chain" by buying a gently used model thats 2 to 4 years old, but that means no warantee and the uncertainty of what the previous owner did and didn't do.

 

[knute_m]

Z71,

If you live where I think you live, I think I might seriously look at two machines -- a reasonable lawn tractor for mowing, and a walk-behind snow blower. I think you'd be dollars ahead and probably have better performance. From your profile I see that you have a truck to move the reasonably big stuff.

I grew up on the other end of the lake where I thought it snowed a lot. I've spent a lot of time on the UP -- mostly when the roads are open. I really thought I wanted to go to college in Houghton. I changed my mind when I visited Yooper friends at Thanksgiving, Chirstmas, and Easter in the winter of 1965-66. I'd never seen so much snow fall from the sky day after day.

The new walk-behind snow blowers are really nice and they've done some incredible engineering on them in the past 10 years or so. They are light, but they have great traction. They start immediately! And they come in virtually every width from about 18 to 48 inches.

May Heiki Lunta be kind to you this season,

Knute

 

[Z71]

I have a 13hp 36-in cut Ariens but I hurt my shoulder and it hard to handle that. Lots of snow and I am hurting for days, that why I thinking of the lawn tractor/blower attachment.

Looked at some club cadets today, dealer is going to price one out and get back to me with total pkg. The exact model # sliped my mind but 35 or 45 sounds about right, 20hp hydrostatic drive. Rought est. would be under $4500 for complete pkg. Has sale on tractor in stock.

200 + inches of snow here near Lake Superior.

Will check into the models recommended.

Thanks for the tips so far...

 

[Z71]

CC model was LT1046

I have lead on a used JD with blower, metal cab but ?? yrs old. 3 cyl diesel for $4500

Don't have any other info on it, said it sitting in a packing lot in town 10 miles away.

 

[knute_m]

Mike,

Definitely price in chains and rear wheel weights. If it's got turf tires, you won't even be able to get the thing back in the garage without chains.

I don't know if they do anything special to the Cub Cadets that get sold way up north, but my southern-bred Cub Cadet is a little sluggish starting in the winter. So, I think I'd also ask the dealer about winter starting.

Knute

 

[aesanders]

I'd look for one with a hydraulic attachment lift if you have a sore shoulder. You'd have to step up from a Simplicity Conquest to Prestige to get this. I'm not sure what the Cub Cadet or Deere equivelent would be off the top of my head. Probably an X540 or something for Deere. This type of machine with smaller deck will probably be around $6500 with a snowblower, but if I lived in the UP I'd seriously consider it. My wifes family is from the Petosky Mi area in the LP. I have driven up to the UP in the middle of Summer over the Mackinac bridge and it felt like winter to me, so I'm sure your winters are brutal.

 

[bontai_Joe]

The Cub Cadet LT1046 isn't gonna do what you want. It's an entry level Cub lawn tractor, and you would be better off with a garden tractor (more robust drive train). And you DEFINITELY want to add chains and wheel weights. The turf tires that come standard on these machines are terrible in snow, and useless on ice.