# Walk behind or lawn tractor with snow blower attachment



## bennett226 (Jun 3, 2012)

Hello people,

I need some experienced advice as to which is better for snow blowing my driveway. I don't want to plow or have it plowed. I want to use a snow blower. THE QUESTION, A LARGE SNOW BLOWER (ARIENS, CUB CADET, ) 36-45" WITH 14- 16" IMPELLER, OR A 42-50" LAWN TRACTOR (ARIENS, HUSQVARNA) WITH A LARGE SNOW BLOWER ATTACHMENT ON THE FRONT. WHICH WILL GET THE JOB DONE THE BEST AND THE FASTEST? I'm tired of the 20 year old 24" Toro walk behind snow blower taking far too long and want to get the job done faster without reducing the quality of the cleanup. 

I've heard of belts coming off on Craftsman mowers with attachments on the front, not sure of the others.


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## framer52 (Jul 17, 2009)

I have used a Craftsman 9 hp for the last 10 years, no problems.

I think they are made by Toro.

Now as to whether to buy a walk behind or one to attach to your lawnmower, that is a question as to how big the driveway is.

I have a friend with a house with a 1/4mile driveway with the same blower I have.....


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## firehawkmph (Dec 12, 2009)

Bennett,
How big is your driveway, and how much snow do you get? A blower mounted on a lawn tractor doesn't necessarily go faster than a large walk behind unit. There's only so much snow that can get through the blower at any given time, if its a heavy snowfall. The main difference is you get to sit down with the tractor. And if you don't need the tractor to cut your grass, then you have the added expense of a tractor in addition to the blower. 
Mike Hawkins


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## bennett226 (Jun 3, 2012)

My driveway is about 150 ft long and flares out to double width in front of the house. It has a slight incline of about 5 degrees.


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## bennett226 (Jun 3, 2012)

Has anyone heard of the drive belt coming off the lawn mower front/snow blower attachment in heavy snow. Someone told me about that happening, or could it have just been that it was out of adjustment.


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## bennett226 (Jun 3, 2012)

I live in New England so anything goes as far as snowfall.


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## firehawkmph (Dec 12, 2009)

I guess its up to you then. If you don't need a lawn tractor, I would go take a look at a couple of the larger two stage blowers. John Deere has a nice big one, so does Ariens. I live in northeast Ohio, where sometimes (not last year) our winters get a good amount of snow. I have a polaris 700 atv with a 4' plow on it. I have three driveways that I do, along with our cul de sac and sometimes the whole street, which is about a 1/4 mile long. Depends when the city trucks come by. The plow works well and its kinda fun with the atv pushing it.
Mike Hawkins


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