Snowblower advice.

Need some help with selecting a new lawn tractor/snowblower. This will be used primarily as a snowblower. Where I live it looks like my options are pretty limited this year with the supply chain issues and low inventory. Own a Cub Cadet, but they no longer make a blower to fit their tractors.
Husqvarna has some features I like but reading some pretty bad reviews for the blower. Eating belts, difficult to assemble and no manuals. Tomorrow headed to check out J. Deeres.
I have only a small gravel driveway and about 1/4 mile of trails for walking the dogs that I need to clear so don’t need a full sub compact tractor.
Looking for something my wife can operate so will be putting electric lift, probably a soft cab and heater. Or maybe someone knows of a good used one that will fit those criteria. Looking for recommendations or things to watch out for. Thanks for any help.

Not really advice on the brand of machine, but if doing gravel, I put a piece of PVC pipe over the cutting edge so you don’t move all the gravel too.

I did own a John Deere with a 44 inch 2 stage blower for the front, not for long, I had it one season. I am sure I had a lemon, but I never had more trouble with a piece of equipment that I did with that. I had a repair to do every time I used it. Dealer claimed they were wear items. I went back to a blade and a walk behind snow ariens. I know a guy with a 4 wheeler with a front mount blower and it was about a 4K investment but he moves a ton of snow fast with it. He has a SxS now and put the same thing in front of that for this coming winter. It has its own motor and attaches like a plow, but has dolly wheels for when transporting from spot to spot. May be a good option. The entire thing runs off remote control from the cab of the SxS. May not be cost effective if you do not have a SXS or ATV already, however.

I have a Deere with blower attachment. I like it and have never had any issues. It blows the snow pretty good. I will say I use the wheeler with blade more often as it’s faster. But I have a 750 ft driveway.

jbg1219 wrote:

Not really advice on the brand of machine, but if doing gravel, I put a piece of PVC pipe over the cutting edge so you don’t move all the gravel too.

Sounds like a good idea. How do you get the PVC to stay in place?

I have a JD 738 with 47 inch blower. Works fine on gravel after you drive on the 1st couple light snowfalls and pack them down. I have my guide shoes up about an inch.

If you search here on IDO there is a thread from last year with a lot of advice and opinions.

Thank you all for the info. I did the search on here and everything I found was for walk-behind blowers.
I have a walk behind Ariens that works well on the gravel driveway. I should have put that info in the post. Sorry.
I should also add I have tried the ATV plow combo, but the snow gets too deep around here on most years I end up using the blower to make room for the next storm.
I think an ATV blower would be great, but only Bercomac seems to get the good reviews. Don’t think my little Honda 300 will handle the weight.
If the winter weather forecasts are anywhere close to right, I think the blower attachment is my best bet. Appreciate the help.

I bought a JD 738x with 54″ blower (and 54″ deck) in 2013. Zero issues. Best thing I have ever used for snow removal. I have a plow truck, plow on ATV and a tractor with blade. I have not used them in years. I have over 1200′ of driveway and 4 parking areas.

No gravel in the grass. No snow banks to look around or move. 5 passes up the driveway the first snowfall. 5 passed up the driveway the last one. Plowing I had to start with a 50′ wide drive hoping to have 20′ in April. I took awhile but I did learn that I don’t have to start so big. I figure I reduced my removal area by at least 1/3 compared to plowing.

My experience is that anything (JD, Cub Cadet etc) you buy from a box store is not the quality as the machine from a “real” dealer. They are made to fit a price point. It’s cost less since they use lesser quality components.

I am not rich enough to buy cheap stuff.

badger had a post on here about his a lady wanting to sell her tractor. that is the type of tractor you need. I have a wheel horse just for blowing snow and it works very well. In other words buy something built heavy enough to handle a snow blower.

Thanks all.

Just get on Dutch Boy’s schedule.