New vs Old vs 4 wheeler!! Considering throwing snow with my LTX 1046M

[Riverhen]

Winter of many firsts!!! Lots of questions and many options. Please help

I am a recent first time home owner. Bought my house back in February. I live in rural Wisconsin just of the outside of the edge of town. I own 1.5 acres on a river and mow almost all of it. So this summer I bought a cub LTX 1046 partly because I manufacturer the Kohler crank cases but also for the reliability and power. Anyways last winter I wasn't prepared for snow removal and hired my neighbor to come down every snow fall and plow the drive with his four wheeler. Well needless to say since it wasn't his driveway I ended up with most of the fresh top layer of gravel in my yard come spring. I would like to do my own snow removal this winter and I'm don't know which route to go. My drive is about 240' long with a 50'+ diameter turnaround. I guess I am stuck between the following three options.
Option 1. Buy the thrower attachment for my brand new mower. I've read on here that I might not want to put that stress on my new mower due to robustness of newer products (they don't make 'em like they used to). Will it do a fine job for the $1400.00 price tag?
Option 2. Buy an expensive four wheeler and plow the driveway. I personally don't have a trailer to haul one for recreational purposes. I might find joy in having one in later years when I have the means to haul one. For right now the four wheeler would be to plow the drive and ripe around the yard I guess.
Option 3. Buy an old mower. Maybe find a package deal, thrower, plow, chains, and weights. I should be able to find one for about the price I would pay for the attachment for the new mower. It seems like they made the engines small back in the day. Would I struggle with power issues if I buy old?

So in summary I am just looking for any advice really on my situation. Am I leaning in the right direction at all? For my size driveway am I over thinking this? Do you have any model recommendations for older units? Would I stress my new mower to much throwing snow with it? All you comments are appreciated. Thanks for reading!!!

28yr old first time homeowner

[Sam Mac]

Welcome to OCC

I think you have come up with 3 good options. Just my 2 cents but I would look for a 1995 or older Cub with a blower or plow. Don't get excited about the HP thing the old girls can Git Er Done, trust me. They will also be running long after the new mower has gone to the scraper. I do admire you for buying what you make though.

[ssechrist]

Welcome to OCC Riverhen,

You can find the older Cubs as a package deal pretty reasonable that'll do the job very well. Don't let the horsepower thing bother you, the older ones are heavier & will amaze you at what they can do. A big plus is parts & attachments are easy to find.

Good luck in your decision....

[zippy1]

I think Sam hit the nail on the head. HP is not an issue with the older tractors. My two cents are you will be throwing money out the door buying an ATV if you won't use it for more than removing snow.
As for your "new" tractor, keep it as a grass cutter, not a snow removal machine.
IF you purchase an older tractor you'll have something you could get attachments for down the road, and who knows you might like it enough to use it as your grass cutter.
Where about are you in WI?
Welcome to OCC

[DoubleO7]

Welcome to the cult!
I would not get an ATV/4-wheeler to plow snow.
Unless you have written permission to ride off of your owned property, there are not many legal places to ride recreationally.
Please do not ad to the problem of illegal use of ATV's.

Go old and be bold!

[Cubcrazy]

Originally Posted by Riverhen

Winter of many firsts!!! Lots of questions and many options. Please help

I am a recent first time home owner. Bought my house back in February. I live in rural Wisconsin just of the outside of the edge of town. I own 1.5 acres on a river and mow almost all of it. So this summer I bought a cub LTX 1046 partly because I manufacturer the Kohler crank cases but also for the reliability and power. Anyways last winter I wasn't prepared for snow removal and hired my neighbor to come down every snow fall and plow the drive with his four wheeler. Well needless to say since it wasn't his driveway I ended up with most of the fresh top layer of gravel in my yard come spring. I would like to do my own snow removal this winter and I'm don't know which route to go. My drive is about 240' long with a 50'+ diameter turnaround. I guess I am stuck between the following three options.
Option 1. Buy the thrower attachment for my brand new mower. I've read on here that I might not want to put that stress on my new mower due to robustness of newer products (they don't make 'em like they used to). Will it do a fine job for the $1400.00 price tag?
Option 2. Buy an expensive four wheeler and plow the driveway. I personally don't have a trailer to haul one for recreational purposes. I might find joy in having one in later years when I have the means to haul one. For right now the four wheeler would be to plow the drive and ripe around the yard I guess.
Option 3. Buy an old mower. Maybe find a package deal, thrower, plow, chains, and weights. I should be able to find one for about the price I would pay for the attachment for the new mower. It seems like they made the engines small back in the day. Would I struggle with power issues if I buy old?

So in summary I am just looking for any advice really on my situation. Am I leaning in the right direction at all? For my size driveway am I over thinking this? Do you have any model recommendations for older units? Would I stress my new mower to much throwing snow with it? All you comments are appreciated. Thanks for reading!!!

28yr old first time homeowner

Welcome to OCC!
Good luck in your decision!

[Riverhen]

Thanks for all the advice. I'm located 30 miles east of Madison in Waterloo. I wish I would have started this venture a little earlier, but I have some resources I may contact for some help. Next set of questions, what should I be looking for in an older model if I plan to tackle a Wisconsin winter. Is there any specific issues that plague older cubs or snow throwers that I might want to ask about? Any general advice for buying a used model would be helpful as well. Thanks again.

Are there any resources I can use to mix and match tractor models to attachments or attachments to models?

[Jeff in Pa]

The older snow throwers are single stage and work best with the throttle wide open ( 3600 rpm ).

I prefer a hydrostatic drive over a gear drive so I can vary the tractor speed to keep the auger loaded.

Turf tires with chains get better traction that ags with chains ( better footprint). You will need wheel weights and / or tires loaded with fluid.

Here's my 125 ( 12 hp hydro drive ) with my QA-42 snow thrower

[Sam Mac]

This is going to get ugly and fast. Every Cub owner has his favorite model. So I'll list the ones I like the best and it's just my 2 cents. so you other guys don't hate OK? The ones in red because the engines are hard to get parts for would not be at the top of my list unless they are in very good condition.

1572 Kubota D 600 diesel
1772 Kubota D 640 diesel
1872 Kohler Mag18
2072 Kohler M20
Cyclops
1782 Kubota D 640 diesel
1882 Kohler Mag18
2082 Kohler Mag20
2182 Kubota WG-600 gas
2084 Kohler CH20
2284 Kohler CH22 last of the best as far as I'm concerned.

I'm sure others will chime in with what they like. Most of pre 97 stuff is pretty good. After that some good some not so much. Holler with what you find and we will do our best to help.

[Cub Cadet 123]

Originally Posted by Riverhen

Thanks for all the advice. I'm located 30 miles east of Madison in Waterloo. I wish I would have started this venture a little earlier, but I have some resources I may contact for some help. Next set of questions, what should I be looking for in an older model if I plan to tackle a Wisconsin winter. Is there any specific issues that plague older cubs or snow throwers that I might want to ask about? Any general advice for buying a used model would be helpful as well. Thanks again.

As far as models, you will want to locate an IH cub cadet 123, since it was the BEST model that was ever produced .....Well, that is subject to one's own opinion. Seriously, you shouldn't have too much problem locating one and as for hp, I believe the hp was underrated for the IH cubs. I have plowed snow with my 73 (7 hp Kohler) that was so tall that it was over the height of my blade. Seems like the 12hp cubs are easiest to find, so the first two numbers on the older cubs give the horsepower of the engine (ie. the model 123, 126, 129, 1200, etc....all came out with a 12 hp engine). If you have a gravel drive, then you will probably want a 42" blade--whether it is a WF (wide frame) or NF (narrow frame) depends upon which type of tractor you get. Prices vary on items, depending on your geographic location, condition, and model/rarity. A snowthrower will throw your gravel, besides, a blade has other utility in moving/leveling gravel, moving mulch/dirt/sand, etc. You might also want a good pair of tire chains and since you are young buck, you won't need any type of lift assistance in the form of a spring assist/electric lift/hydraulic lift......but you might find them handy to have someday!

I'm sure I missed other relevant points and other members will offer you better advice than I have.

Cub Cadet 123