New homeowner lawn/ snow removal priorities

Submitted by Voyyagr t3_z6lbml in massachusetts

Hello everyone,

I’m new to snow and NE and also to home ownership. I’m kind of on my own out here and don’t have a lot of people to get advice from. Going into winter I find myself needing a snow blower for a 100ft ish driveway.

But I also need a tractor lawnmower to help manage a good sized yard. My attempt at a fall cleanup with a rake and leaf blower didn’t go that well today.

What should I prioritize here? What are your thoughts on buying a tractor mower and attaching a plow on the end instead of buying a separate snow blower?

Your advice is much appreciated.

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Theseus-Paradox t1_iy201yl wrote

I have a 1+ acre property with a small driveway and I bought a Craftsman lawn mower and also bought the snowblower attachment for it. I was sick of using the walk behind snowblower. We’ll see how it works this winter but it will be 100% better than the walk behind I had.

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Bos_lost_ton t1_iy3omch wrote

I just caution you to get out there often during the active snowfall, because I tried this and it was useless if there was more than a few inches on the ground (even with the super heavy suitcase weights on the back and tire chains on the rear wheels of the tractor).

Ended up putting a Fisher plow on my Tacoma, but the investment was much bigger to get that setup, unfortunately. But my driveway is about 500’ long, so it was an eventuality I guess.

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Theseus-Paradox t1_iy40tt1 wrote

My driveway is at best 20’ deep and 30’ wide, all gravel, with the skids adjusted accordingly. I also bought everything used and tuned it up myself so the investment I have into it is minimal compared to a plow setup. Future plans is a 3/4 ton with an 8’ plow, but for now it’ll do. The impeller has/will be modified to throw snow much easier and farther as well. I’ve done it to my other snowblowers in the past with 100% fantastic results. Considerably less clogging, and snow gets blown much farther.

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Graflex01867 t1_iy25x8h wrote

I’d look for a good walk behind snowblower right now, to get you through this winter. Get a decent one - I recommend Ariens snowblowers. They last forever. (No matter what brand you get, look at the snow chute controls - make sure they stay where you put them. A good blower will launch snow with considerable force. I also prefer metal chutes instead of plastic, because if it freezes, you can warm it up with a torch.)

If you want a good tractor for snow and mowing, don’t rush your purchase. A cheap one won’t last - do some research on different brands, and see what’s around you for dealers. Don’t necessarily buy one from the local big-box store. Buy a slightly better/fancier model

The type of snow, and the type of lot will have a lot to do with it too. You might be interested Kay with a snow blade for the tractor, and a walk behind blower for cleanup/pushback.

Unless you have really wide sidewalks/walkways, you might find that you need a walk behind anyways.

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NativeMasshole t1_iy37dnl wrote

The tractors from the big box stores may even be cheaper versions of the name brands too. Go to an actual dealership.

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Voyyagr OP t1_iy5psck wrote

That’s so annoying that they do this. Found that out with some Dewalt tools.

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danbyer t1_iy28py4 wrote

I’ve got about 3/4 acre of lawn to mow and a loooong driveway+parking to snow blow. I use an older John Deere D130 ride-on mower with a 4’ snowblower attachment in the Winter. It’s pretty damn dreamy.

Oh, and in the fall I blow the leaves onto the lawn and mulch in place. Hauling them away is just taking away nutrients.

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YourPlot t1_iy3t4ri wrote

An add on here. We have a heavily forested backyard with a lot of oaks. We do not mulch in place otherwise the leaf litter would not decompose in time for spring. And instead of grown ground cover, we would have rotting layer of leaves. We do two passes with the rake to clean off leaves (compost some, bag some), and then we do the last pass in November with the mower to mulch the remaining leaves.

So depending on your yard, you may not be able to do a pure mulch-in-place method.

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danbyer t1_iy4kspk wrote

In that case, my ideal setup would be a tow-behind Cyclone Rake. My neighbor has one and it looks incredible. I've only got 2 big oaks, so I just give those spots a few extra mulching passes and it breaks them down just fine. I can't justify buying the Cyclone Rake no matter how hard I try :/

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Buckwheatking67 t1_iy2y21m wrote

Removing leaves is for losers, if you have too many , make a pile in back of the yard and water them, they will stay and make great compost

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mullethunter111 t1_iy3ns3x wrote

Get an Ariens 24 Delux or better, preferably SHO / Platnum- you'll want the extra power and hand warmers.

Don't buy from a big box store unless you want a 16-year-old putting it together. Get it from a licensed Ariens dealer.

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bubalusarnee t1_iy4oeqp wrote

>Don't buy from a big box store unless you want a 16-year-old putting it together. Get it from a licensed Ariens dealer.

All this part

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closerocks t1_iy2aw5i wrote

My two tools of choice are the toro1800 electric snow blower, in the Ryobi 40 volt leaf mulcher.

I first bought the Toro 1800 electric snow blower somewhere in the mid-90s and it worked like a champ clearing 150 ft dirt driveway. They sound crazy but it really worked. Even the year of 100 in snow fall. It even clears slushy New England snow but you really need to get it when it's only a couple inches deep.

Having bought a house recently I just purchased my latest iteration of the 1800. We'll see how well it works this year and if the quality is still there.

Also don't cheat on the extension cord. 12 gauge 100 ft is what you'll need.

The Ryobi leaf mulcher was a surprise purchase. I knew it would be okay based on reviews but I was really surprised to see how well it worked. The mulcher shrinks the volume of leaves down by 4X and one charge on the battery is good for about 2 and 1/2 to 3 leaf bags full of mulched leaves. Nowhere near enough for a big yard but with a couple batteries and a quick charger you'll clear your yard relatively easily.

Lawn mower, I have no idea. We are trying to stick with reel mower from Craig's list

This year I'm not picking up leaves. I'm leaving them for the insect habitat over winter and I'll get them in the I know some people say it'll kill the grass but it hasn't been a problem for me.

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Kodiak01 t1_iy4ivx0 wrote

Just went electric this year for the snowthrower. I'm already invested in the Kobalt 80v line (lawnmower, leaf blower, weed whacker, hedge trimmer) so added the single stage thrower to the stable for $350 since I already have a few batteries. With only about a 60' driveway and a short front walk, I fully expect to do a full clear with the smaller 2.5AH battery.

One surprising thing about this one is how light and maneuverable it is; My 4'10" wife was shocked at how easy it is to move around and wants to try it even before I do!

One item I decided NOT to go 80v was the chainsaw; I heard stories about the 80v one letting the chain jump a lot more than it should, so instead I started down the 24v rabbit hole as that saw has gotten top marks in comparison reviews and it lets me start building up a hand power tool collection.

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mGreeneLantern t1_iy215s9 wrote

You’ll get more use out of the tractor and you can pay a plow guy to do the driveway. But honestly, buying the snow blower and putting decent mulching blades on your mower is probably the right choice if you plan to for sure get either the tractor or blower in the near future.

If you do get the tractor, unless it’s a proper farm tractor (the kind of tractor you step UP to get on the seat), any decent-sized snowfall will laugh at a plow on the end of that.

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lifehackloser t1_iy3h1fj wrote

Some of this depends on where you live and how you feel is important to look with the neighbors (not that wanting or not wanting to impress the neighbors is good or bad).

When I bought my first house, it was really important for me to feel like our yard “fit in” so we raked up all our leaves and made it look as picturesque as possible in our budget.

When we moved out into the country, I realized that I wanted a more natural, less manicured yard. I mow pretty infrequently, especially with the recent droughts. I never rake except for a fun leaf pile. I only snowblow the minimum to clear my driveway and path to the propane tank.

TLDR: snow removal for safety, leaves if you want to

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richg0404 t1_iy3jevy wrote

First thing first. A lawn tractor with a plow will be a huge disappointment. Small storms wouldn't be a problem but anything over a 6 inch accumulation (which can be quite common) will be a struggle. If there is slushy snow it will struggle.

A good sized tractor with a snow thrower attachment will be ok but will be very pricey.

Spend the money on a good sized (larger than you think you'll need) snow blower. Someone mentioned Ariens and I've had a good experience with mine. It'll deal with a foot of snow and blow it quite a distance.

I can see both side of the leaf mulching/collecting/blowing issue. I am lucky enough to live in a rural area and can just blow my leaves into the woods on the edges of my lawn. The trick is to make multiple passes over days/weeks. Don't wait until all of the trees are bare and think you'll get by with just one day of leaf clean up.

EDITED TO ADD:

A few months ago I posted THIS to a thread asking about snow clearing strategies.

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funkygrrl t1_iy3kiip wrote

My late husband used a lawn tractor with a plow out here in Western Mass and it worked well. We have a difficult driveway too - it is steep with a 45 degree curve. The secret was that he started plowing well before the snow accumulated. He'd plow a few times before the snow was over with. Personally, I think it was overkill. He loved that lawn tractor, it was his toy.

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richg0404 t1_iy3l1ho wrote

You are right. Making multiple passes during a storm will make things much more doable.

My point was that a powerful snow blower will handle a 1 ft snowfall fairly easily (unless it is slushy) whereas a 1 ft snowfall will cause problems for a lawn tractor with a plow is you try it with 1 pass.

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Voyyagr OP t1_iy3kep0 wrote

I think that’s where I went wrong. I thought I would be clever and wait until all the leaves had fallen before I did anything. I have a ton of leaves now and there are many areas where the grass is completely covered.

My plan to get a leaf blower and do it all in a day didn’t go very well. I’ll have to continue next weekend!

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richg0404 t1_iy3li8y wrote

Your best bet would be to spread the leaves out a little with a rake first to let them dry a bit and then blow them.

Leaving a pile of leaves or even mulched leaves will kill your lawn. If you had started mulching early (which would have spread the mulch more) would probably have been ok but piles don't.

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bubalusarnee t1_iy4ojvx wrote

>A good sized tractor with a snow thrower attachment will be ok but will be very pricey.

more than okay, a ton of fun!

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Your_Fave_Librarian t1_iy2023b wrote

Leave the leaves. They are good for the environment. Prioritize a snow blower.

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Borner791 t1_iy22shx wrote

Mow / mulch the leaves. It's the laziest and best approach.

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Shemsuni t1_iy22bkm wrote

100% will kill lawn

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somegridplayer t1_iy37ljq wrote

100% will not

https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/to-bag-or-not-to-bag

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bubalusarnee t1_iy4oppi wrote

Will kill a fragile monocrop lawn, sure. But those are an abomination.

We have yards, not putting greens.

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Shemsuni t1_iy4rla7 wrote

In what planet do matted down fall leaves 🍁 help turf management?

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Voyyagr OP t1_iy2axc2 wrote

I’m concerned I have too many for that. I’m not against mulching but I suspect I’d have to remove at least some first.

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warwithinabreath3 t1_iy320j2 wrote

Yea, the whole mulching the leaves thing is very situational. I suspect all the people saying it, have no more than a few trees. I tried it one year and it was a complete disaster. My lawn mower absolutely could not handle the sheer amount of leaves. Spent more time doing that then just bucking up and blowing them. Got an early snow and in the spring large patches of my yard were dead and turned to mud. And the remaining leaves were half rotted, soaked, and matted together. Removing those leaves was ten times harder than if I had done it right in the fall.

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icwhatudiddere t1_iy38icc wrote

Do it twice. I started doing this recently and I have ~1 foot drifts of leaves. This summer during the height of the drought, my lawn was still green. The leaf mulch helps so much with water absorption and nutrition.

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Humburgur28 t1_iy26ei9 wrote

Definitely pick up the leaves. When it snows, the leaves will be trapped under and will kill the grass

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somegridplayer t1_iy37ezt wrote

Separate snowblower. Lawn tractors unless you go full blown Kubota suck ass with snow, and if its heavy wet snow, you'll break things.

Ariens is awesome for snowblowers.

How big a yard are we talking for mowing/leaves? John Deere you really can't go wrong, and from someone with over an acre, buy the bagging unit.

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Quirky_Butterfly_946 t1_iy494p6 wrote

I had the same issue when I moved into my first home 2 years ago. I ended up getting a John Deere tractor with an addon snow blower attachment. It does both jobs mower during summer and snow blower in winter. If you do not feel comfortable changing it out for the seasons, my JD dealer sends someone out to change it over for me. The whole setup cost about $6K

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CJsopinion t1_iy2f9vz wrote

We have a husquavana (spelled wrong) tractor. By summer it’s a lawn mower. By winter it’s a ride on snowblower. It was pricey as hell. It’s been a battle getting it to not spin it’s wheels in the snow but am hoping with buying a weight for the back and deflating the tires a bit we’ll get it right this time around. But my point is you can get one that will do both.

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DDups2 t1_iy2me2l wrote

Rent yourself a walk behind leaf blower from sunbelt for a couple days on the cheap then buy a Honda Snow blower. Don’t buy anything from Lowe’s/Home Depot.

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Valuable-Leather-914 t1_iy34mry wrote

I’ve got a good airens snow blower in Worcester for sale for 650

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prelanguage t1_iy36njk wrote

Just finished my leaves this weekend. Here are steps for doing leaves with a lawn tractor:

  • Get a big ass tractor leaf bag
  • Blow all the hard to reach leaves into your lawn
  • Avoid piles. Even out larger piles of leaves with a rake
  • Suck them up with the lawn tractor and bag. Go super slow when you get to the “deeper” spots. It’s tempting to just keep going fast, but your chute will clog.

Look on CL for a lawn tractor. I got one for $600 a few years ago and it’s been working great.

I’d recommend a push snowblower rather than a tractor attachment. My dad had a tractor snowblower attachment and they become a pain to maintain. Most snowblowers are assisted push these days anyway.

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logaruski73 t1_iy3odf8 wrote

This is a good chance to introduce yourself to your neighbors. Find out who does the the plowing in the neighborhood. Find out who does the lawns in the in the summer. You’ll get great recommendations and you’ll have a chance to chat with your neighbors and get advice about all kinds of stuff that you need.

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therapeutic-distance t1_iy58ruv wrote

If you do nothing else rake the leaves and get them away from the foundation of your house, shed, and around your car. Next try to clear leaves away from shrubs and plants that you like and hope will thrive.

Running the lawn mower over the rest of it to mulch as much as you can is a good idea.

The thing is, is that ticks and mice burrow under leaf litter, hibernate and multiply, so if you have pets or children this is something to consider. Get rid of leaf litter the best that you can. Priorities: Clear leaf litter away from the foundation of your house.

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therapeutic-distance t1_iy5bmfy wrote

Get a roof rake, mid-winter you will not be able to find one anywhere. Clear the snow off your roof at 1 foot in front of all gutters. Clear snow off of flat and semi-flat roofs (very important). Don't forget to clean your gutters, now before winter begins.

Otherwise do the best you can to clear your driveway and walkway.

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