Buying Advice My first lawn tractor for my 2 acre yard

[drivadesl]

I had a similar situation as yours with plowing the driveway, and mowing an acre or so in NYS. My first machine was a wheel horse that I bought new with MMM and plow/chains/weights. It was a nice machine, and got the job done, but with 2wd, even with chains, it would slip and slide on our unpaved driveway. I ended up after one season selling it off and getting a lightly used Ford 1520 CUT diesel with 4wd/bucket loader and mower for $10K. OK thats more than you want to spend, but you may want to consider buying used for your first machine. That way, you don't take to big a hit on depreciation if you decide to trade up, and as stated before, there's plenty of good machines out there right now if you have some time and patience to look. Also in the rochester area, I would suggest a blower vs a plow for pushing snow, since regardless of recent trends, you will be getting significant snows up that way at some point. I think with most machines people buy, particulary your first one, they seem to be so big and powerful, until you tackle your first snow storm, and you soon realize you are undergunned. Best of luck in your search.