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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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