Educate me on plowing snow with garden tractor

[FADEC]

Moving into a new house next spring with a LONG driveway. I have a decent hydro Craftsman 22hp. garden tractor, that I'm thinking of getting a front snow plow for for next winter. Do these things work??? I already have chains on the tires. I would get a used plow, I see them on craigslist for under $200 used. Would love a used 4x4 atv and plow, but that's just too much money for now. Tom

 

[lexus114]

not much to it really,except common sense. Dont need to go real fast,wheel weights are a plus,if your gas tank is in the back, (over the rear wheels) a full tank also helps for traction. I plow with my 2006 CC LT-1046,and it works great! Also note,DO NOT RAM SNOW PILES with your machine! thats a no no. these units are not built like the old ones,but with proper care and a little finesse you will be fine.

 

[Bluestream]

Chains are a must, wheel weight I found do nothing. I would get a blower if you can, works much better than a plow

 

[Colt45ws]

Plows are next to useless on these things. No traction. Even with chains and another person standing on the hitch all ours wanted to do was spin one tire. Now, if yours has a snow blower attachment, that will probably work much better.

 

[Panzerman]

I have to agree with the two statements on they are pretty much worthless on a rider tractor. My Dad was into Wheelhorses(the old ones) and if there was more than 6 inchs of snow, it was about sensless. Chains help, but not as much as you would think, they just make nasty holes. He had a blower attachment on the one and it could really move snow. That is the way to go on a lawn tractor for snow removal. I had a 4x4 atv at my house and you are right on them about moving snow, they are like mini-pickups and will push alot of snow in four wheel, the two wheel atvs arent much better than the lawn tractor, you can just hit the snow harder.They still spin out too though when you get alot of snow.

 

[cronk]

Chains are a must, wheels weights help alot and are a must as well.
If you are in an area that gets alot of snow fall the plow might not be good enough. A garden tractor can only push a limited amount of snow. If you get more than 4-5 inches at a time you might find it difficult to move. If you regularly get heavy snowfalls you would be better off finding a snow blower attachment for the tractor or buying a walk behind blower.

 

[boraticus]

if you're in for a big dump of snow, you're pretty much going to be living on the machine. If the snow is heavy, you'll be lucky to move it when it's 2" deep unless you take very short runs and push it to the sides. If you allow the snow to get too deep, you won't be moving anything. A blower attachment will be much better provided you're running fairly long stretches and have lots of room to maneuver the machine. However, blowers aren't a walk in the park either. They have a tendency to ride up onto the snow and can be very frustrating to learn to use.

I had a plough on my 4 wheel drive ATV. Used it one season and bought a snow thrower the next year. Ploughing is pretty hard on small equipment. You need big machines to move large amounts of snow on large roads/driveways. Remember, when ploughing, you need someplace to shove the snow to. If you don't allow for enough space at the beginning of the season, you'll soon run out of places to put it. You'll end up with a garden path for a driveway by the end of February if you lived where I do.

 

[lexus114]

wow,I dont have any problems with mine!

 

[JTK]

If your driveway is flat and you have room to push the snow, a lawn/garden tractor with a blade, weights and chains will work fine for you. Any type of incline, super deep/heavy amounts of snow, or no room to push it and you're going to have problems. You need a blower for those conditions. My ~120ft blacktop driveway is on such an incline that anything with wheel chains scratches/digs the heck out of it. I snowblow from top down.

Joel

 

[JimPghPA]

If you driveway is not flat always plow from the top of hill downward. Then take a non-plowing run up the hill, and plow going down hill again and again until it is done. If you try to plow going up hill it will only go a few feet and get stuck. With a steep slope gravity helps you more and you can plow deeper snow.

 

[FADEC]

Thanks for all the replies. Seems they work good for some folks and not worth a darn for others. How would they work on a little 4x4 tractor like a JD or a Kubota?? Might be able to convince the wife to let me upgrade the tractor this year!!

 

[boraticus]

Originally Posted By: daddi
Thanks for all the replies. Seems they work good for some folks and not worth a darn for others. How would they work on a little 4x4 tractor like a JD or a Kubota?? Might be able to convince the wife to let me upgrade the tractor this year!!


That would be the way to go. More weight and the right kind of power (particularly if it's a diesel). And remember, these tractors are designed for heavy duty use.

 

[JTK]

No doubt about it. A 4x4 compact utility tractor with a front end loader will push snow like crazy. I've used a neighbor's Kubota, FILs Kioti, etc.. Lots of manufacturers are offering 0% for 60mo on them. They go from $12K on up, so for the price of an econo car, you can have a pc of equipment that will last you decades.

 

[Bror Jace]

Had a little Wheel Horse tractor years ago ... had real digger-type tires with wheel weights and ran really well. With a plow, it would do a BEAUTIFUL job plowing as long as the snow was light ... 6" of powder or 4" of the wet stuff.

With the little plow, you could scrape smooth pavement 99% clean ... and with a little sunshine that follows most storms, the driveway would be immaculately clean an hour or so after you plowed.

I thought I had found the perfect machine for clearing the driveway.

That illusion was dispelled weeks later when we got a foot of snow. The tractor wouldn't go 10 feet in the heavy stuff and I had to break out the messy, but more effective snowblower.

 

[kbowley]

Hi Daddi

I live on 2k acres of land. My driveway is 900 feet long with a very large area to park cars, I could easily park 15 cars in an area about 150x75 that is my parking lot. I also plow out a path the length of my house for the oil delivery man. These people saying you cant plow snow with a tractor are dead wrong. However, i qualify that with the fact that the tractor you use makes a big difference. First I have a 1972 wheelHorse raider 12 with a 12 HP all cast iron Kohler that in nearly forty years has never had a wrench on it and will out work any of these new 25 hp tin cans. everything on it is cast iron, the frame is 1/4" boxed cast, the tranny is a dual range 8 speed solid cast...it is essentially unbreakable and you cannot buy a tractor built like that today in its size class anywhere near as well. it weighs around 900 Lbs. I can assure you it will plow at least as well as a 4x4 truck, it is unstoppable. However, you MUST have weight as weight provides traction. The WheelHorse will climb a snowbank before you would stop it. I have two blades, a 54" and a 42" the 54 will go through anything powdery and up to 1 foot of heavy stuff, if its real messy and heavy ill hook the 42 up which takes less than 5 minutes to switch um. Some said "get a blower", well i also have a 42" blower for it but i have to go much slower with the blower and it takes twice as long. with the plow i put it in third gear high range and fly. It does take some practice to become efficient at it so you don't keep having to go over the same areas but once you get it down for your yard it's much faster than blowing. Now i mentioned dependency on the tractor...you ill not get this kind of work down with a 12oo dollar mtd/craftsman/Murry etc...you will tear them apart as they have no frame and you will have a hard time pushing heavy snow because of weak tranny's, light weight, small tires (you need to have 23" rears minimum). The light duty ones will be fine for 8 inches or less of regular snow...what the heck, it's only 200...give it a shot

 

[lars11]

You can plow but most folks here are right: If you get lots of heavy snow you tractor will be too light. You would have to plow often and your driveway will be narrower for each time. Same would go for a quad. It is not the horsepower, it is weight and traction.
But for ligther duty it would work fine and it will save you lots of work anyway. If the snow is too deep you would need a real tractor or a two stage snow blower. Real snow is tough and heavy. We have an old Canadiana blower with a 12.5 hp Tecumseh. I would not go smaller than that. It almost bogs down when snow is wet.

 

[Silber Igel]

Originally Posted By: Bluestream
Chains are a must, wheel weight I found do nothing. I would get a blower if you can, works much better than a plow


This is your best advice, my friend......

I had a farmette in middle Maryland for 20+ years. It had a longish drive and a parking pad. I also had horses and need to clear a path to the stables, the loafing shed and a 'highway' to the muckings pile. A blade just doesn't gitter' done....

You can push about 2-3" of snow with it but once you start getting it about blade high in your 'disposal' pile you are flat up a creek... chains, wheel weights, silicone spray, PAM and wax on the blade don't do squat. My 18hp Sears w/ blade probably topped 500lbs and it was no match for piled or deep snow. I eventually bought the snow thrower attachment for it.

The snow thrower would take the the heaviest, deepest snow and toss it about 25'- 40' at full power getting it well clear of the driveway. True enough, you had to put her in Granny-Low gear but it would chew its way through deep snow and drifts higher than the tractor hood like a termite going through balsa wood.

The only disadvantage to the tractor blower set up is this.... because of their weight they don't do hills and grades very well as most of the weight is up front. Get'm sideways, or on a steepish grade, or in a rut and you have a 700 lb boat anchor. (Yes, I'll admit to having to tow mine out of the pasture a couple times with my Wrangler until I got the hang of operating it.) Also, if they don't have a 'locker' differential you just like a car... one wheel spinning and the one with traction looking at you.

The second thing is that the tractor blade/blower set ups are long and wide .... and that's a problem trying to maneuver in tight places. I'd have to 'back and fill' a large space to be able to turn around. Third, although they can take a full width cut (I think mine was 42")you really don't want to do about 20, or less, in really heavy snow. Fourth, the belt drives are great and the work like a champ... but they have a habit of breaking in 20F weather in deep snow. They are a b@a$t@rd to replace when you're laying on your back with snow and water running down your neck and your hands are frozen....

But,I used this set up every winter to do my place and my neighbor's farmettes for 20 years. I finally had to replace it.

NOW... if you want a hot tip... considering all the money you are going to blow on wheel weights, blade, chains, etc., etc.... I'd hop down to the Ariens dealer (Home Depot!) and get a snow thrower... spring in the 110V electric starter and heated hand grips ... http://www.ariens.com/products_snow/s_deluxe_platinum_group/s_deluxe_platinum_30/Pages/default.aspx

This is really the ticket as it's much more maneuverable, gets into small spaces (you can even do between the cars)and stores in a small space. (And you will never go hungry!!! The neighbor ladies will be delighted to ply you with brownies, cookies, hot chocholate, toddies, or what ever!!)

 

[Silber Igel]

Originally Posted By: daddi
Thanks for all the replies. Seems they work good for some folks and not worth a darn for others. How would they work on a little 4x4 tractor like a JD or a Kubota?? Might be able to convince the wife to let me upgrade the tractor this year!!


Daddi... see my previous post. Garden machines are simply not heavy enough. You need all wheel drive and locking diffs and WEIGHT. Unless the wife lets you get a JD 4000 series..
http://www.deere.com/en_US/ProductCatalog/GC/series/utility_tractors/gc_cut_4000_series.html

My neighbor had one about this size and it did fine... 8' blade mounted on the 3 point hitch... but he couldn't get into small spaces.

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: Silber Igel
..Daddi... see my previous post. Garden machines are simply not heavy enough. You need all wheel drive and locking diffs and WEIGHT. Unless the wife lets you get a JD 4000 series..


Somehow I'm thinking a ~$30-40K JD 4K series might be a bit out of range for someone asking about pushing snow with a garden tractor. If a CUT is an option, these can be had for more like $12-14K:

Joel

 

[Silber Igel]

Prefer Green myself.... but these would do....

Still, 12 to 14 large??? When you can buy an Ariens for a grand and change???