your snow thrower feedback, please

[50th Anniversary Cub]

Hello, I have a 2001 Cub Cadet 3240 50th Anniversary Edition. I bought it new in 01, and it has been an excellent tractor. When I bought it, I chose this machine because I knew that, some day, I would want to buy the snow thrower attachment. Well, 11 years later and I'm finally ready to buy that snow thrower for my Cub.

But, at this point, I'm not sure it makes a lot of sense. Here are the pros and cons, as I see them. I would appreciate receiving some feedback from those of you who are familiar with this equipment.

Pros
* Everyone tells me this thrower will handle anything Mother Nature sends to Pennsylvania. I have a driveway and two-car parking area of 3,100 square feet. Along the edge of this area, I have a 75' stretch that gets tightly plowed in by township snow plows. Again, I've been told this cub blower on my tractor will have this job done in short order.

Cons
* It's expensive. To buy the blower, hitch, hydraulic line hardware, tire chains, load the tires and install all this gear, the cost is about $2,600. And, yes, my dealer has all of this brand new gear in stock for my 3240, even though Cub stopped making 3000 series tractors and their attachments two years ago. But here's the thing, I could buy the best walk-behind snow thrower on the market and not spend this much. *Plus, wouldn't I be spending all this money on antiquated technology? My tractor is great, but it is 11 years old. Does it make sense to spend $2,600 on a blower system that was designed years ago for a tractor that is now outdated, as well?

* Do I need this much power and equipment? As noted above, I've been told this blower-tractor combination will easily handle my property. But, I also had someone tell me it's overkill; I could easily do this job with one of the new Cub Cadet walk-behind snow blowers.

**Size and storage. I won't be able to move this tractor blower around in my garage by myself. It requires two people. So, it's inconvenient compared to a walk behind. And during Spring, Summer and Fall, it will take up premium space in my garage--way more than a walk behind.

* Switching out the mower deck for the blower, tire chains, etc. is a big job. I don't see myself having the time to deal with this job every fall, so that means I will have to pay my dealer to do the change over each fall. With a walk-behind snow thrower, I wouldn't have to deal with this.

So, I've always wanted a snow thrower for my Cub Cadet tractor. Now I can do it, but I'm questioning whether it's practical.*

What do you think? Any experience with the thrower-tractor combination I'm talking about? Any experience with the new Cub Cadet walk-behind snow throwers?*

Thanks for any thoughts/perspectives you can share.