My apologies if this is a topic that's been discussed on here already. My teenage brother is wanting to make a few bucks clearing snow with his zero turn, and I'm thinking about what would best suit his needs. He's on a Cub Cadet Ultima ZT1 (I know, wrong colour, but we can't all afford Orange right off the bat, so don't hold it against him).
Cub Cadet sells a front mounted trip blade (no down pressure that I can tell beyond the weight of the blade). My thought is (particularly after watching a couple videos of it in use) that it won't be capable of digging very hard for packed snow. Would wiser minds than my own consider mounting a trip blade underneath somehow, maybe utilizing the mower mounts? A person could make it so the blade has operator and machine weight bearing down, and by having the blade underneath the whole unit would be shorter to mitigate problems in tight spaces.
It occurs to me that the hydrostatic drives are made for light duty mowing applications, and he might just burn them out in a hurry if he turns the unit into a proper snow pusher. We're 6 or 7 hrs north of Minot, ND, so not the wet heavy snow usually that many of you Americans see, but still plenty enough weight I would think to strain a transmission.
I'd appreciate photos and any tips from anyone who has actually attempted something similar, but also any thoughts from any older codgers who've put some thought into the idea and went another route. What route did you end up choosing instead, and why? Thanks in advance!
Cub Cadet sells a front mounted trip blade (no down pressure that I can tell beyond the weight of the blade). My thought is (particularly after watching a couple videos of it in use) that it won't be capable of digging very hard for packed snow. Would wiser minds than my own consider mounting a trip blade underneath somehow, maybe utilizing the mower mounts? A person could make it so the blade has operator and machine weight bearing down, and by having the blade underneath the whole unit would be shorter to mitigate problems in tight spaces.
It occurs to me that the hydrostatic drives are made for light duty mowing applications, and he might just burn them out in a hurry if he turns the unit into a proper snow pusher. We're 6 or 7 hrs north of Minot, ND, so not the wet heavy snow usually that many of you Americans see, but still plenty enough weight I would think to strain a transmission.
I'd appreciate photos and any tips from anyone who has actually attempted something similar, but also any thoughts from any older codgers who've put some thought into the idea and went another route. What route did you end up choosing instead, and why? Thanks in advance!
