Wrong season, But plow vs, blower?

[work sucks]

We are moving to a 5 acre parcel from city life. I am buying a garden tractor for the lawn and possibly for a mounted blower. The driveway is about 400 ft and kind of in the open. I do have a 4wd truck, but was wondering on witch way to go? The driveway is gravel also...What are your thoughts?

[Tom7227]

My drive is about 80 feet long and leads to a three car garage. Sometimes the blade on the garden tractor is good enough, sometimes I have to use the walk behind blower. Wet snow and snow of less than 5-6 inches the blade works OK. Deeper snow the blower is required. If I was doing it over again I would buy a blower for the garden tractor. Neighbor has one and it kicks the stuff a mile. Not sure how things work on gravel.

[work sucks]

Thanks Tom,

I guess I was thinking more a blade for the truck or blower for the tractor.

[Esox_Magnum]

One thing to keep in mind is if your trucks under warrenty yet, installing a snow blade may void it. A big garden tractor with a blower will make easy work of the drive...

[landscaper]

since you probaby are buying a nice size garden tractor i would recommend a blower.

I would have to say FRONT mount blower is the way to go!! But it costs a little more so i dont know if the garden tractor has a 3 point in the back or not?

What size tractor??

Also if you decide on the plow.....get a V-plow i dont know what i liked better this winter my new tractor with front mount or the v plow.. its all fun tho!!

[huntnfish]

One thing to think about with a plow is if you're going to have the room to push the snow to pile it. A blower chops it up and spreads it out better where a plow is going to leave some good sized piles. If you do go with a plow make sure you leave room to pile it up for the next time you have to push.

[MJ1657]

Depends on how much time you want to spend each time it snows. Blower is nice and will do a clean job and not leave any piles but the truck will make it a much faster job.

I have an 8 foot pick up snow plow mounted on the front and an 8 foot back blade on the back of a 53 horse farm tractor and love it. I don't have a whole lot more in this set up than you would in buying a plow for a truck. Plus you get to use the tractor for all kinds of other chores.

[Tom7227]

Well if you are going with a garden tractor/blower setup a couple more points.

First is to go for quality. I don't think the average low end tractor that costs $1,000 - $1,500 would stand up very well to the amount of work you're going to expect from it. Go with one of the big names, shop around and try to learn from the good salesmen you talk to and learn about things like the quality of the engine, bearings and zerks on the wheels/front end. Things like that.

Second is if you buy a rig get the blower right away. I tried to buy one for my 8 year old Simplicity and was told that they don't make the parts anymore.

[ryan p]

Blowers work great but they are slow and you still have to set it a inch or two off the ground or it will suck up your little rocks. Plows are fast but where ever you put the pile of snow it will leave a bunch of little rocks when it melts in the spring. If the rocks dont bother you a plow is the way to go very quick not to mention warm in the cab.

[MinnesotaMike]

I have a plow mounted to the truck to do mine drive,the neighbors and sometimes up at the lake. While the house drive is paved the lake is not.

If I were to do it again I would get a blower. One reason is the gravel will be pushed into a pile and will require extra work to clean up in the spring. You will also make a mess of the driveway in the fall and spring if you plow before the ground is frozen.

All though it is nice to sit in a warm truck and clear the driveway.

Good Luck,

Mike

[gregg52]

not sure where up north you are moving to

but i 'll pave it for you then you wont have to worry bout the rocks and personally i'd go with a blower

plows tear up lawn and leave a mess

the key is the blacktop though!!!!!!!

[chad austin]

If money isn't an issue I would go with the plow for the simple fact that the faster you get the drive cleaned off the quicker you can get out on the lake (assuming you ice fish), you'll stay warmer and if you own (or plan to own) a permanent fish house you can plow your way on and/or off the lake and bank your house. It was said earlier that rocks will be an issue with the plow but they actually come with "skids", kind of like a blower has the runners on each side to hold the front up off the ground a little.

I've been plowing snow for the same landscaping company for the past 16 years (since I was 18) and have ran every plow under the sun except Meyer (no regrets) and I've been using a Blizzard 8-10 for the past 5 years and wouldn't trade it for anything but a brand new 8-10. If you have any questions about which plows hold up and which ones don't feel free to email me and I will give you an unbiased opinion based on how extensive you will be using the plow. I've seen a lot of people buy the BEEFY plows just to do their 20 ft residential drive. My contact is: chad at ccronline dot us