Z725 snow plow

[aeronutt]

Looks like the green machines have a factory option and some aftermarket support to put a snow blade on a ZTR mower. Haven't had much luck finding such a device for my orange machine.

Being a 1200 lb machine, it's doing just fine pulling (or technically pushing) a 4x8 utility trailer that acts like a giant wheelbarrow for hauling firewood. I used a few square U-bolts to clamp an oak 2x4 across the front wheel support arms and drilled a 1" hole through that to hold a hitch ball right in front of my feet while I drive. I'm thinking I might do some more fabrication to hang a lightweight blade off of the hitch ball with a frame of some sort tied back into the mower deck. I'm picturing using the mower deck height adjustment as the raise/lower force for the snow blade. I'd love to hear and see any ideas on how to make this work before I start fab work. This will be used mostly for light snow falls as I also have a Bobcat skid loader and a pickup truck mounted snow plow that handle the big stuff. They normally live 25 miles away so hauling them home becomes a bit of a chore for only a few inches of snow.

I am concerned about traction with the turf tires. Using snow chains just isn't an option due to the rear wheels only clearing the fenders by less than an inch. Screw-in traction studs would punch clear through and cause flat tires. The 24x12-12 tires look almost too narrow for the rims they are mounted on so dropping down to a 23x10.5-12 in high traction ATV or R1 lug tire may or may not work without going to a narrower rim. If I end up needing a narrower rim, the bolt pattern looks to be 5 x 4.5 based on a quick tape measurement. I'll have to measure more carefully to be sure it's not a metric spacing before I go shopping. It seems that ATV rims are pretty much 4-lug only so I'm not sure how hard it will be to find some smaller wheels that will bolt onto my hubs. Again, any suggestions from others who have been there would be appreciated.

 

[sheepfarmer]

I have an old Ingersoll, small riding mower, with a mower deck for lawn mowing, and it came with a snow blower that mounts on the front. The problem was it got stuck with wheels spinning in anything more than 6 inches of snow. I put some old truck tire chains on it, and that helped some, the tires look like regular car tires, not ag and not turf, but last year I got the idea of loading the rear tires. It was amazingly helpful. They flatten the grass when mowing in the summer but by the next day the grass has straightened up and looks fine. I am thinking if you load your turf tires you might do ok without chains.

 

[Grouse Feathers]

I have a BX2730 with turf tires that I blow snow up a 40' hill at a 7% grade without chains. I do have loaded tires and carry a light weight rear blade. Turf tires will give you the best tractor tire traction on snow because they have more cutting edges to grip the snow. On ice or plowing 12" of wet heavy snow you may need chains, but your lawnmower isn't going to move 12" of heavy snow anyway unless your are going downhill on a 20% grade. I had a Grasshopper zero turn and I suspect traction will always be a problem pushing anything more then light snow.