Snow Removal

mshea69 said:

I have a lake cabin in Minnesota that I am trying to figure out snow removal for. The drive way is long, about 350ft and is gravel. Over the 350 ft, it rises about 20 ft, so there is a bit of a grade there. It is also a narrow driveway, so a blade is not an option, I need a snow blower. I talked to my local John Deere dealer and have narrowed my choices down to two, the X739 with four wheel drive and the X584 with four wheel steering. The X739 is about $8500 more expensive but I get four wheel drive. Do you think it is worth it? Any advise is welcome!

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I also live in Minnesota, small town, rural. I have an X720 with the 47" blower, chains and 300 lbs of suitcase weights. It's great for snowblowing my 60' x 60' apron plus a 100ft driveway. I do wish I had 4WD, never wish I had 4-wheel steering. I mow a few of our 12 acres plus walking trails with this rig also using a 60" 7-Iron mower (where I also wish I had 4WD sometimes). I would go with the X7xx machine (gas, not diesel, here in cold country where it is stored in my unheated pole barn. 3 passes with the blower on the driveway section is all it takes, but I usually do the edge sections a second time. I also have followed the numerous comparison chats comparing the 1 series and the X7xx series, and I would still vote for the X7xx series for the snowblowing. I have a JD4720 with 400X FEL (turf tires and no chains, works great) that I use to scrape down the crusty snow on my apron and driveway and which I alternate with the blower rig. Summary: X7xx=yes, 4WD=yes, chains=yes, weights=yes, 4-wheel steering=no. Good Luck!