blade on lawn tractor

[brettliddicoat]

i was wondering what people think of putting a blade on a lawn tractor i am not shure if it would do a lot of good it is a craftsman with 18.5 hp engine 2 wheel drive as most lawn tractors are just wondering before i waste a bunch of money


thanks guys and gals

 

[joe48]

I wouldn't waste the money unless your pushing light materials only.
Here's my personal experience; my new neighbor tried to use his Craftsman with blade to move/spread some old hard packed dirt piles about 10 yds each. I watched this with a great deal of amusement as he tried to bulldoze the dirt, NG.
Next he put on his tire chains, same results, NG.
Next he started adding weight to get traction, he really was quite creative in finding ways to hang concrete blocks on the tractor. Well this was much more successful but the blade frame started to bend and then he burned up the clutch belt, end of project.
Thats when I took my 35+ yr old 7hp Allis Chalmers(same as Simplicity) over with my blade ,no weights or chains. Took about 1/2 hr per pile and 1 six pack. Job done!!! New friend. Good afternoons work.
Point is the machine needs to be built heavy enough to begin with to tackle work like that. That old Allis is all steel and cast iron, only sheet metal is the hood and seat pan and weighs about 750 lbs w/o add ons.

 

[brettliddicoat]

i only planned on using it for snow no dirt moving lawn tractors are not for dirt i would atleast want a sub compact utility i have operated dozers before and know the stress of pushing dirt all to well

brett

 

[DreaminGreen]

I've got an 18hp 15yr old hydro Craftsman GT (bought new)with a snow blower and blade for the front and a rear blade on a sleave hitch rear wheel weight and chains. If you have a choice go with a snow blower. Imo the machines arent really heavy enough in the front too handle an angled blade full (even half full) of snow it just slides to the side. If your plowing with the blade straight the machine (in my case) is lacking torque(single speed hydro). With the blower its really pretty good with all types of snow. If you've got a gear drive tractor with good low gearing and maybe put chains or ice screws in/on the front tires maybe it would be resonable and if you aveage a lot of snow and clear a large area (more than a 100 ft drive way 10 ft wide) I'd try for something else. Hope I am some help.

 

[skidoo]

If you get a lot of snow, there may be times where you get the urge to use momentum to get some bigger piles to move a little. I did that with a 12.5HP Craftsman. It worked for me, and after more hours than desired, got the job done. But, it didn't take long to crack the frame... With the bigger tractors I now have, it is easy to move the snow...

 

[Gittyup]

Get a heavier tractor first.

 

[LBrown59]

I wouldn't waste the money unless your pushing light materials only.
Here's my personal experience; my new neighbor tried to use his Craftsman with blade to move/spread some old hard packed dirt piles about 10 yds each. I watched this with a great deal of amusement as he tried to bulldoze the dirt, NG.
Next he put on his tire chains, same results, NG.
Next he started adding weight to get traction, he really was quite creative in finding ways to hang concrete blocks on the tractor. Well this was much more successful but the blade frame started to bend and then he burned up the clutch belt, end of project.
Thats when I took my 35+ yr old 7hp Allis Chalmers(same as Simplicity) over with my blade ,no weights or chains. Took about 1/2 hr per pile and 1 six pack. Job done!!! New friend. Good afternoons work.
Point is the machine needs to be built heavy enough to begin with to tackle work like that. That old Allis is all steel and cast iron, only sheet metal is the hood and seat pan and weighs about 750 lbs w/o add ons.

I've done a lot of that kind of stuff in the last 42 years with my old 1966 Bolens 850 garden tractor.

 

[RobS]

My first snow-pusher was my grand-dads' Wheelhorse circa 1966. Had a front blade, chains and a few bricks under the seat. It worked fine in lighter snows but struggled in heavier/deeper stuff. Was fun though. At the same time, a neighbor had a garden tractor with more heft. He did pretty well with that thing.

Before the CUT, I had (still have) a Craftsman lawn tractor with front blower. Chains and a five gallon pail of concrete on the back and it still spun in heavier snow. Of course, my CUT spins a lot too but I have a lot more blade than either of the previous.

I just noticed you are in WI. I would say if you only have a little snow to deal with, go for it but you get quite a bit don't you? If so, you may be disappointed.

 

[brettliddicoat]

well this year we have had the most snow ever and that was before the 10 inches or so we got today

my brother does a lot of small in town driveways and also has a smaller blower he uses i was just thinking to save him some time in the lighter snows it would be good

brett

 

[OhioSUPERSPORT]

I have a 2003 Craftsman GT5000. GT is supposed to be a heavier duty Garden Tractor. 25 HP Kohler with hydro drive. They sell 2 blades, or they did back then. I bought the heavy duty one.

I have chains but never got wheel weights. Everytime I needed them they were sold out. When there's no snow I forget about getting them. I have a tube of sand strapped on the back. I've plowed more snow so far this year than any other year I've been here. Yesterday I finally got wheel weights.

My gravel drive is over 200 feet. The only problem I've had was low traction sometimes but that is taken care of now. As long as you have chains and weights I see no problem plowing snow.

A couple years ago I let it get deep over the weekend because I didn't feel like plowing. It froze over on the top. It was like ice. Without wheel weights I couldn't get enough traction to break the solid top and push the deeper snow. I lifted the blade and plowed the top off then lowered it and finished it off. Took twice as long but I got it cleared. I don't know if the weights would have made a difference or not.

 

[simplicityguy92]

i have a dozerblade i made which i put on my simplicity 3416h tractor(16hp)
(abit bigger than a lawntractor or garden tractor) even with turf tires it pushes a lot of dirt so depending on the hp and the pitch of the road to plow you could probly do it if you chained up , filled ur tires and put a counter weight on light snow could probly pushed with a lawn tractor with the blade angled quite sharp.

 

[doc_cottom]

i was wondering what people think of putting a blade on a lawn tractor i am not shure if it would do a lot of good it is a craftsman with 18.5 hp engine 2 wheel drive as most lawn tractors are just wondering before i waste a bunch of money


thanks guys and gals

I built my own small tractor snow and dirt pusher from a old 124 Cub Cadet. I bought it as a basket case with a dozer blade running, but smoking (badly) for $200. Stripping, sandblasting, repainting to original colors then took the original 12 HP K-241 Engine, bored it .030 over, decked the top of the block, and to .050 off the cylinder head. I used the cam shaft, lifters and carburetor from a K-341 16HP engine. (24HP @ 3600RPM) The 16.5 X 12 Ag tread tires are filled with RV Antifreeze which I leave in year around, with a single 42 pound suitcase weight on the rear. With dual chrome straight stacks it is a lot of fun pushing snow around at 6AM in my subdivision. Except for the engine overhaul kit, every thing else on the tractor, including the Ford 8N metal seat was purchased used.

And if it breaks, I'll just put it back together again. My CC 2042 is reserved for hauling my yard trailer and mowing.

 

[brettliddicoat]

we now have a cub lt1042 i purchased the 46 inch blade for it a set of chains and filled the rear tires with 5 gal of window wash in each tire it does a prety good job the only mods ive done is replace the cheap small hair pins with decent ones and thats been it the only thing i dont like is the lack of ground clerance with the plow or bracket on theres only like 3 in of ground clerance and also how you cant push it in very tall piles because there isnt enough lift it only lifts like 6 in off the ground but hey for bein a lawn tractor its not bad at alll plus it was a grand cheaper than the blower

 

[doc_cottom]

I now have the same setup, but have put a pair of cast iron caster wheels on the bottom edge of the blade giving me a constant 1/2 inch of clearance, and no longer have to lift the blade in 90% of the turns.

NOW IF I ONLY HAD SNOW! Just joking, I'm in Indiana and it was 67 degrees today (Dec 27th). Started raining about 4PM, and have 2 inches of rain expected by Sunday AM

 

[LBrown59]

I now have the same setup, but have put a pair of cast iron caster wheels on the bottom edge of the blade giving me a constant 1/2 inch of clearance, and no longer have to lift the blade in 90% of the turns.

NOW IF I ONLY HAD SNOW! Just joking, I'm in Indiana and it was 67 degrees today (Dec 27th). Started raining about 4PM, and have 2 inches of rain expected by Sunday AM

about 75 here today.

 

[doc_cottom]

This latest snow we had in Indiana was to much for my 22hp Kohler twin power Cub Cadet, hydro. So, I pushed my REAL Cub out, a 1966 124 with a slightly modified K-310 dyno tested to 28 hp. NO PROBLEM!

My drive is 28 ft wide, 75 long with concrete curbs and #10 (dime size) white rock. In the past I have had trouble pushing the rock up and having to wait until spring to put it back. This year I went the local farm store and bought a pair of cast iron 4" caster wheels, and put them on the snowplow in place of the "pads" that was there. I set them so they held the plow off the driveway 1 inch. It worked great. The sun melted the less than one inch in a couple hours.

I have a 2003 Craftsman GT5000. GT is supposed to be a heavier duty Garden Tractor. 25 HP Kohler with hydro drive. They sell 2 blades, or they did back then. I bought the heavy duty one.

I have chains but never got wheel weights. Everytime I needed them they were sold out. When there's no snow I forget about getting them. I have a tube of sand strapped on the back. I've plowed more snow so far this year than any other year I've been here. Yesterday I finally got wheel weights.

My gravel drive is over 200 feet. The only problem I've had was low traction sometimes but that is taken care of now. As long as you have chains and weights I see no problem plowing snow.

A couple years ago I let it get deep over the weekend because I didn't feel like plowing. It froze over on the top. It was like ice. Without wheel weights I couldn't get enough traction to break the solid top and push the deeper snow. I lifted the blade and plowed the top off then lowered it and finished it off. Took twice as long but I got it cleared. I don't know if the weights would have made a difference or not.