Snowblower Attachment for Lawn Tractor

[ndbwhunter]

Thinking about picking up a blower attachment for my Husqvarna lawn tractor. Wondering if anyone can provide some input on this? Pros and cons? Seems like the cost is pretty comparable to the 30"+ walk behind blowers, and it would be one less engine to care for each year.

Obviously the additional use will result in some wear and tear, so is there anything that can be done to beef up the tractor to withstand the additional abuse?

 

[3Roosters]

What size lawn tractor? Is a mower or tractor. If its a mower I would say, do not do it! I had a JD lawn mower with blower attachment that I got a good??? deal on...meh.. Blower attachment was too heavy for the mower- tie rod issues(even though it was the recommended one, also needed wheel weights, chains. Didn't help that it didn't have hydrostatic transmission. Older JD..i think it was a 111. I got rid of that thing very quickly. Maybe others on here can chime in on there experiences with mowers.
Perhaps things have improved in the durability dept. Like I said, I had an old SOB mower.

 

[ndbwhunter]

It's a 48" Husqvarna lawn mower. That's my concern also. They aren't necessarily meant to carry that weight up front, so I just want to make sure I update components if I decide to go that route.

 

[Colonel Angus]

I have an old JD 400 with a 50in blower. Has hydraulic lift and spout. Front PTO, shaft has two belts (too much pressure for one) Wheel weights and chains are a must. I even chain on 100lb tractor weight on the back. Blows snow like a bugger, but no cab sucks in the wind.

 

[Jigaman]

I have a 2010 JD LA175. It is the cheap version of the JD garden tractors that I bought from Lowes. I have a 48" blower on it and it does ok. chains and weights are a must. I dont have hydraulics so I have to manually lift it which sucks. it was cheap and does the job well enough for now.

 

[Sawdust4j]

Has anyone put a blower on JD zeroturn mower? Wondering if it is option I should consider. Thanks

 

[3Roosters]

I think the main issue/problem with riding lawn mowers with blower attachments out front is that riding mowers are generally 2 wheel drive. Besides needing wheel weights and chains on the back tires, you pretty much need 5 large elephants and one small boy on each of the back tires to keep them from spinning when you are backing up..or going up even the slightest grade.
Use your money on a good walk behind snow blower IMHO.

 

[BrokenBackJack]

If you do go that route make sure it is a 2 stage blower as the 1 stage blowers don't blow it very far at all.

 

[ndbwhunter]

Thanks for the input, guys. Has anyone made any modifications to their smaller lawn tractors to minimize the wear and tear? Upgraded tie rods, etc.?

 

[remm]

Unfortunately, I think you are probably asking for trouble trying to add a blower to your lawn tractor. My guess is you'll most likely end up with a disappointing blower in the winter and once perfectly good lawn mower that suddenly develops problems it never had before. If the tractor wasn't designed with the proper HP and suspension in the first place, I'd put the money toward a separate snowblower.
Just my .02

 

[SupressYourself]

I have a 98 JD LX188 with 42in blower attachment. It's belt-driven where the belt hooks onto the same pulley as the mower deck.
As others have said, rear weights and chains are a must. My driveway is almost completely flat, so unless it's really icy or the now is really hard, I don't have trouble. I've been running the combo for 6 or 7 years and never had any problems with the front end.

My neighbor has a bigger and newer JD (forget what exactly) that is 4 wheel drive with big knobby tires and a front pto. That thing is the cats ass. He doesn't even use chains.

- - - Updated - - -

Has anyone put a blower on JD zeroturn mower? Wondering if it is option I should consider. Thanks

In general, zero turn + blower doesn't work well due to the way they turn. It's been a while, but when I looked into this, only some really spendy mowers even offered this and the reviews were so-so.

 

[Skeeter]

Has any one ever used the self contained snowblower on the front of a 4wheeler?? I looked into them and are $5000 to $6000. It would be very easy to make one from an old lawn tractor blower for about $1700. After the last two weeks of snow seriously considering it.

 

[deleted member]

Contribute to the local service based economy. Pay someone to do it if it's too deep to shovel. $50 each time x 10 times per year. At $500/year, it's gonna take a lot of years to pay off a $4-6000 "investment" that is used just to blow snow. That doesn't take into account upkeep and your time spent in the freezing cold. I've got a big yard with a 75 yard driveway. I also have a case 1370 with an 8ft blower on it that's worth about $6500. Makes clearing the yard about a 30 minute project. I decided to just sell the thing anyway. Without accounting for interest, i can pay someone $50 130 times to come push my snow with that $6500. Then I don't have to worry about fixing it if it breaks down, getting fuel, getting cold myself, having it take up space in the barn or the yard or have to actually waste my own time dealing with the whole situation. That's my take on this subject after 2.5 years of blowing out my own yard after letting someone else do it the first 6 years.

 

[Skeeter]

Contribute to the local service based economy. Pay someone to do it if it's too deep to shovel. $50 each time x 10 times per year. At $500/year, it's gonna take a lot of years to pay off a $4-6000 "investment" that is used just to blow snow. That doesn't take into account upkeep and your time spent in the freezing cold. I've got a big yard with a 75 yard driveway. I also have a case 1370 with an 8ft blower on it that's worth about $6500. Makes clearing the yard about a 30 minute project. I decided to just sell the thing anyway. Without accounting for interest, i can pay someone $50 130 times to come push my snow with that $6500. Then I don't have to worry about fixing it if it breaks down, getting fuel, getting cold myself, having it take up space in the barn or the yard or have to actually waste my own time dealing with the whole situation. That's my take on this subject after 2.5 years of blowing out my own yard after letting someone else do it the first 6 years.

Who will clean a 75 yard driveway for $50. Seem awful cheap.

 

[deleted member]

30 seconds on the drive in with the first pass, and 15-20 minutes pushing snow in the yards and around the buildings and 30 seconds to make the 2nd pass on the way out. Bout $50 for 30 minutes of work. Might only be 50 yards. But, that's splitting hairs when you consider the bulk of the time is spent in the yard. Mostly I have friends and neighbors that will do it for nothing a couple of times per year. But, on the worst years when I fear I am over using my friendship dues, that's what I've paid each time to the locals that due it as a service... $50

 

[sierra1995]

At my mom's house we have a 12 yr old JD 345 garden tractor, 48" mower deck. Engine is a 18HP kawasaki. tractor has hydraulic lift, hydrostatic transmision. The belt driven single stage snow blower for that machine is great. I do put wheel weights and chains on, but it's no big deal. I wouldn't change anything about the set up. as mentioned, tractor is 12 years old, snow blower used every winter. Has almost 1000 hours, no issues.

I personally have a 1993 craftsman tractor, 42" mower deck, 15HP briggs engine. The belt driven two stage snow blower works fairly well. I'm sure a walk behind would throw more snow than mine, but it beats shoveling and it came with the tractor. I have issues with the belt jumping off the pullies. It is kind of cumbersome to operate because to engage the blower is a foot pedal, to raise/lower is a lever that requires about 50lbs of pulling force, and the transmission is a 6 speed with clutch. I also have wheels weights and chains for it. Needless to to say, not like the john deere. However, I would much rather have a snow blower for my tractor than have another engine sitting all summer that requires maintenance of some kind. I know people that have put blades on their garden tractors.. worthless in my opinion.

The only thing i do to "beef up" mine is over-inflate the tires in the front of the mower. Change the oil to 5-30, rather than 0-30.

 

[Captain Ahab]

Contribute to the local service based economy. Pay someone to do it if it's too deep to shovel. $50 each time x 10 times per year. At $500/year, it's gonna take a lot of years to pay off a $4-6000 "investment" that is used just to blow snow. That doesn't take into account upkeep and your time spent in the freezing cold. I've got a big yard with a 75 yard driveway. I also have a case 1370 with an 8ft blower on it that's worth about $6500. Makes clearing the yard about a 30 minute project. I decided to just sell the thing anyway. Without accounting for interest, i can pay someone $50 130 times to come push my snow with that $6500. Then I don't have to worry about fixing it if it breaks down, getting fuel, getting cold myself, having it take up space in the barn or the yard or have to actually waste my own time dealing with the whole situation. That's my take on this subject after 2.5 years of blowing out my own yard after letting someone else do it the first 6 years.

I'm squarely in your camp. I don't want to do it if I can dish out 40-50 bucks a crack. The walk behind I would get is about $3500. That's like 7-10 years of hiring it done. After that period of time, I would probably have buy another one. Not only that, I would have to fuss with the stupid thing, store it, and walk around like an idiot in the snow.

 

[Kasey]

Several years ago I put a blower attachment on a small cub cadet. 1310 model I think it was. Anyway , yes it needed wheel weights and chains, and it did work okay I guess. The thing i didn't like the most was swapping out the mower deck and blower each spring and fall. PITA. Ended up getting rid of it and bought a good walk behind.

 

[sierra1995]

The JD I mentioned in my post, to swap the mower for the snow blower is a 20 minute job. It is very simple. Almost takes longer to put the chains and wheel weights on. My craftsman is a pain. It probably took me 2 hours to swap out the mower for the snow blower. But again, I could be shoveling.

 

[BrokenBackJack]

Has any one ever used the self contained snowblower on the front of a 4wheeler?? I looked into them and are $5000 to $6000. It would be very easy to make one from an old lawn tractor blower for about $1700. After the last two weeks of snow seriously considering it.

Had a couple friends that had them 10 years ago and worked well. Also our rural water supplier in Wells County had one on a 4 wheeler for blowing out there stations and that worked well too. Really blew the snow. Had the Honda motors on them and a winch on the front of the 4 wheeler raised them up.