# Decided to use the Craftsman



## gmtorque (Mar 14, 2005)

After reading several posts here about how well people's lawn mowers push snow I have decided to buy the 42" plow for my 18hp Craftsman lawn tractor. I also invested in the chains which are essential. 

Buying a truck with a plow for my own personal use simply did not make sense. I already own a 2wd GMC fullsize and almost went with the Bear plow from Lowes for $900. Since the Craftsman setup only cost me $250 with chains I really could not justify the extra $700 for the Bear. Plus I have two kids that can start doing the plowing with the mower in a couple years so I can stay inside and stay dry.


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## justme- (Dec 28, 2004)

You will want to add weights to the tractor's rear wheels too for traction in addition to the chains. They make bolt on "wheel Weights" that you can leave on all year, or add your own to the back of it.

I have seen alot of people use that setup. I hope it works for you.


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## jasf (Nov 7, 2004)

*Definitely get weights*

I think you will be surprised at how much snow that little Craftsman will push. I was! This was 1st my year using the tractor after years of a walk behind blower.The tractor is light enough to ride up over the banks after they freeze. My piles are only 3-4 ft tall,but they go out about 6 ft..One suggestion: Leave the nut loose (and double nut) on the angle lever so the cable pivots. I broke that stupid cable twice & had some very heated discussions with Sears warranty people. They eventually made things right & a Sears service tech actually gave me that tip. Maybe you'll get to practice a time or two this year. Got mine about the same time last year & used it for 1 snow event & to backblade all the gravel my blower spit into the yard. Cleanup will be much easier this spring.


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## gmtorque (Mar 14, 2005)

I am mounting the whole assembly up tonight or tomorrow. If I am not sure what you mean about the cable i will ask again. Thanks for the advice.


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## gmtorque (Mar 14, 2005)

mower

Sorry can't get the pictures to work on this site. 

Well I had time to put it on. Works pretty good. Better than I expected that is. Chains are not in yet but I was still able to try it out in a few places.

I think I understand what you meant about the cable and leaving things loose.


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## gmtorque (Mar 14, 2005)

Wow is all I have to say. I got the chains last night and put them on. I had a couple snow piles left that I decided to try and move and this little mower handled them no problem. I was surprised. I had no weights on yet but may add them since the tires spun a couple times. All in all it did great with no weight.

I think this link will work 
Craftsman with plow


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## danno (Sep 16, 2004)

I had the same setup with a 12 HP Sears. Did it for 13 years. The setup was good and bad. Good points- Always had plow on for the winter.
Easy to manuver in tight areas.
Very little gas used.

Bad points- Have to remove the setup for each season
Only can push so much wet/ dry snow
Had to shovel a path to get to the tractor to use
Sometimes it was friggin cold and wet!
Took longer to plow than a truck


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## gmtorque (Mar 14, 2005)

Well no problems today. I had a 80lb bag of concrete in the garage which I put a plastic garbage bag around so that it would not get wet or leak and tossed it on the floor in front of the seat. So with me and the concrete I added about 250lbs for traction. Since the concrete worked so well I am not even going to bother with the wheels weights.

So we had about 6" of heavy snow and it was no problem at all. I could push it easy and never spun the tires thanks to the chains and weight I added. In the past with just my snowblower it would take about 1 1/2 hours to do my whole place. Now with the lawn mower I did it all in about 30 minutes. What a change. I actually had time to eat breakfast with my kids before work today. That was the whole reason for finding a quicker way than using the snowblower. Plus it is fun pushing the snow as opposed to walking behind a snowblower.


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## danno (Sep 16, 2004)

What I also did was screwed threaded rod in the holes on top at either end of the blade, and stacked 10lbs of weights on both ends to put more weight down on the blade.


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## jasf (Nov 7, 2004)

Nice you got a chance to practice this season. You had the same conditions as I had last year & the same result. I was impressed the 1st time I ever used it & after 20+ times this year I still feel the same. Excluding the 2 cable failures(won't happen again) this was by far the easiest snow removal season yet.I almost put a Homesteader on my Ranger,but I'm glad I stuck with my tractor. It was worth being cold a few times vs the cost of a plow for the truck.


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## lawnandplow42 (Mar 22, 2005)

good idea. I have a 42'' plow for my 16 hp. lawn tractor. with chains and weights it does alright. I made a homemade rubber deflector for the plow. ONly problem is the plow doesn't trip, so i really need to know what i'm plowing over.


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