Back Saver! December 22, 2011

Ok, I bought the PYT9000 this fall with a 50 inch cut for my new house on 2.5 acres.  The "yard" is more of an open field with just natural wild grass (Colorado).  I used the tractor once and I was impressed with how well it did since my yard is very very uneven.  Changed the oil to Mobile 1 and purchased 5 gallons of super unleaded and got ready for the winter.  I also purchased the snowblower attachment for my 300 concrete driveway.  I live in an area that tends to get hit with a lot of snow (although the powder type - I live at 7500 feet above sea level).  Once all the parts are laid out, it is very intimidating.  In fact, I spent 2 hours on the project and only got to page 6.  I called in some assistance, and a mobile lawn care service that is very familiar with these came out and spent an additional 3 hours getting it all attached and adjusted.  We had a good storm last night 8-10 inches with 3-4 drifts (yes, every storm seems to come with 30 + mph winds up here).  The tractor fired right up and off I went.  I have to say this blower cut through the drifts like butter.  The snow this thing shoots into the air is something to see.  I completed the driveway and the landing area in about 30 minutes.  WIth a shovel, this would have been a 3 hour job and my back would have been toast.  Now, we do not get the heavy wet snow up here - ours is usually the champagne powder type.  I only put chains on the tractor and ordered the weights. However, the tractor had no issues with traction up my 300 foot driveway with a pretty decent incline.  I called and cancelled the weights today!

Pros - The PYT9000 and this attachment is a good combo - lots of power and never flintched.  I picked up the PYT9000 this fall on sale for $1699.  That was a good deal that I could not pass up.

Cons - Initial set up is not the simpliest thing I have ever done.  Find a handyman and drop a few bucks and save yourself a lot of frustration.  The headlights on the tractor sit slighly below the bucket height on the snowblower - limiting my visability while using in the dark - not a big issue just thought I would share it.

42" snow thrower attachment September 20, 2011

If you are planning to load the tractor & attachment on a trailer for various snow jobs, forget it !! The pickup chute only clears the ground by about 3", which barely clears the garage floor lip. I tried every way possible to load it onto the trailer, but the only way would be to remove the thrower and reattach on each job. Sorry, but I had to return it even before the snow started.

42 inch snow thrower works excellent February 19, 2011

I am very pleased with this snow thrower attachment for my tractor. I was plowing with a plow on the tractor. It took so much time to plow and if it snowed a lot i would have to plow several times to keep up with it. If it got to deep was hard to plow. Also it took longer. Now since i got the blower it takes less time and i have even moved the banks back farther. I wish i have bought this attachment sooner as now i can wait until the storm is over to do the clearing. I am not much on words. Thank You Lee Ackley

Choose the right tool for the job, and this blower works well. February 03, 2011

Select the right tool for the job. 500' gravel driveway ? probably not. 500' paved driveway and this will work well, assuming you are not an individual who believes everything can be fixed with a very large hammer, Vise Grips and a pry bar (don't expect this to blow through 18" of heavy snow at top speed).

I have a wide, paved 170' driveway. Any many neighbors with paved driveways. And we live on a private road, which I also sometimes clear.

I have heavily used mine in western Michigan for 4 seasons (approximately 200 hours on the blower; I installed an hour meter on the Lawn Tractor), and just broke the first belt. I have never sheared a pin.

Pros: With the 16.5 hp Kohler engine on my Craftsman lawn tractor, there is enough power for everything I have attempted, from the 18" of snow we just got in the Michigan "Blizzard of 2011," to 8" of heavy wet snow, to 3' of snow-plow muck at the end of the driveway. You just have to go at the appropriate speed. My smaller lawn tractor has the hydrostatic transmission, so you can always find the right speed.

What took 45 minutes with a 20" 2-Stage walk behind Ariens, takes 12 minutes with this blower.

It will throw most snow types at least 30', with the heaviest wet snow being thrown 20', so you never have to blow the same snow twice.

For the price, I believe it is a good value.

Cons: The chute is flimsy. I have had mine blow completely off twice when going through the very heavy snow plow snow at the end of the driveway. The heavy snow deformed the chute enough that it was able to come off.

The chute does not rotate far enough around in either direction. I believe you should be able to throw the snow at least slightly backwards to avoid throwing snow into the street when you are heading towards the street.

The controls (raise/lower handle and chute rotation handle) feel flimsy. Neither have broken, and both do what they are supposed to do, but they feel like something I would have built from an erector set.

I found that you can tighten the chute angle control lever enough to hold it in place. Prior to really tightening down the nuts in the center of the lever, if you are blowing a lot of snow, it always creeped quickly back up to the "straight up" position.

It astounds me that Sears doesn't stock the blower belts. The belt will only break when you are blowing snow, which means you need the blower, so you will most likely only go to Sears during a snow storm when you just broke your belt. They NEVER have one in stock, and have to order it. Really?!? I went to NAPA and bought a 112" belt (which is the shorter of the two that come with the tractor, and Sears refers to it as a 55" belt). It was $19 and worked fine. Yesterday I put it through 5 hours of the hardest continuous use I have ever done without any hint of a problem. BELT UPDATE: The NAPA belt lasted about 6.5 hours of heavy use and broke. When I finally got a SEARS belt, you could see it was much beefier. I keep a NAPA belt as a spare, knowing it will work for a while.

Observations: Does it take a while to assemble the first time? Sure, its a kit made to fit on a variety of different tractors. What did you expect? If you are handy, it is not a problem. If you aren't handy, this will be a tough project like they all are. Why is this a surprise?

It takes me about 30 minutes to remove the mower deck and install the blower attachments. The chains take another 15 - 20 minutes.

You absolutely need chains and 75 lbs of sand in the container on the back of the tractor, unless you live someplace like Kansas, where inclines seem to be illegal. And even then I would still get chains. I weigh 210 lbs, and without chains I could not get back up my very slightly inclined driveway with the blower down.

It is a lot of weight to put on the front of the smaller lawn tractors. Make sure your front tires are aired up. That way you won't have to be Popeye to be able to turn it.