Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

Hi - I'm looking for advice on a tractor purchase with a snow thrower attachment. I have a long steep driveway: max incline is about 25 degrees, but probably average is about 10-15 degrees or so.  It's about 300 yards long and black-topped (smooth).

I was looking at getting a 26HP tractor with a 2 stage 46" snow thrower on the front, with chains/wheel weights and a sand spreader on the back.  But would that be enough power to be getting back up the driveway, even if I just used the thrower going downhill?  Any risk of it tipping at that angle?

Apologies if this is a basic question - I'm new to this business having just bought a new house.  I will also want to use the same tractor to do general yard work - mowing, vacuuming, etc.

Thanks in advance

James

Considering that you will laying out a fair amount of cash (particularly if buying new), approach the dealers to bring their products out to test them on your driveway.  That's the way I'd do it.   It will also tell you a bit about what your dealer will might be like. 

For snow clearing on a slope the problem is not normally power but traction. Chains tend to scratch the driveway while large, wide tires with aggressive tread are supposed to give adequate traction so you may not need chains, They tend to be a pain to put on and take off.

You don't mention where you are located, how wide the driveway is nor how much snow you normally get so its a bit hard to know what size is appropriate.

I've never used a tractor mounted blower so I can only comment on what I've read previously on this message board. As I understand it the main concern with a lawn/garden tractor snow blower combination is balance. The tractor is designed and balanced for mowing and pulling small trailers and stuff, a big blower out front can be a problem since it tends to take weight off the back wheels which are where you need traction.

I tend to lean towards a dedicated snow blower since its optimized for what your are doing and can allow you to clear walkways and other more confined areas. If you are set on a tractor setup then so be it. If you want to compare the options try looking at ground speed and swath size. That will help you figure out how long each option take to clear your driveway.

thanks everyone for the advice.  I live in CT so normally get a few storms a year - nothing too dramatic - but I was just looking for a solution in case I wanted to do it myself.  Understood about traction - I actually have a snow blower now but don't fancy spending 4 hours clearing the drive! drive width is really about 15 feet or so and like I said, at least 300 yards but we have a large turning circle at the top of the drive plus then additional drive down into the garages.  This being our first winter - this ought to be fun!!

Given the incline I think your best bet would be one of the larger tracked snowblowers rather than a tractor. For example the Honda HMS1336 has a 13hp 390cc engine solely dedicated to snow blowing, its tracks are powered by separate electric motors powered by an on-board generator. It has a 36-inch auger so it wouldn't take you 4 hours to clear your driveway, in fact it'd probably take you less time than with a tractor because on such a steep grade your tractor's wheels would likely skid (I know mine would) even with light loads which means a lot of reverse-forward thrusts, time and a fair amount of cussing in the process. A heavy tracked machine would be much less prone to skid due to better weigh distribution over the traction surface and rubber tracks won't leave marks on the blacktop as chained tractor wheels would. Believe it or not you can use that Honda to pull a car out of a snowbank, beats pushing by hand. The downside is that these machines cost as much as a large yard tractor and you still have to walk behind it even though little effort is required as it has computer-controlled differential traction for turning, unlike smaller tracked Hondas which work great but require considerable physical effort and a fair amount of practice to turn. I imagine a small bulldozer would not skid either and require even less effort than the big Honda but you would have little blacktop left comes spring.