# Hydraulic vs Spring assist



## Tadd (Mar 1, 2019)

I am looking to upgrade my X300. I run a blade on the front for snow removal and other miscellaneous dirt work. The lifting over and over this winter is taking a toll on my knee. There is no lift assist on the older model and I have at time spent near an hour just to get the sidewalk cleared. I know a blower would fix it but there a many other uses for a blade. My question is how effective is the lift assist spring? How much weight is removed from the lever? How easy is it to operate the attachments with it? My only concern with the hydraulic is that I may loose the instant reaction time you get when pushing up piles and lifting the blade quickly. I may end up with both a blade and a blower but need to decide if I am going with a x350 or x370. The x390 may get a little steep in price but could be another option.


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## RC Wells (Dec 26, 2008)

To assist you in the tractor sizing decision you need to compare the maximum torque the lawn tractor is capable of transmitting through the transaxle. For instance if the tractor is equipped with the Kanzaki K-46 transaxle it is roughly capable of exerting total torque load of approximately 170 lb. Which means the transaxle is only capable of pushing a total of 170 lb of weight before something breaks. This includes the inertia it must overcome to move the weight of the tractor and the operator, plus whatever weight is in amount of snow you intend to push. 
It is a fairly complex process for engineers to sort relative to each tractor. Your dealer can assist you in determining the loading capacity of the tractor based on the size blade, tractor size, your size, expected weight of the snow, etc. That will get you to the ideal tractor.

As for the spring assist versus hydraulic lift, that will be included in the documentation that comes with the blade. Usually hydraulic assist is significantly more powerful than the spring assisted units, so it will likely be a matter of how much force you wish to exert to accomplish the task. Spring assist is all we had for years, and as long as one is not pushing a load when trying to raise the blade it works quite well. Lifting and pushing at the same time is not usually advisable, too much force on the linkage and operator control.
On the higher end of the scale, JD 390 with Kansaki K-58 transaxle, you are looking at at approximately 217 ft lb. of torque before something breaks. Winter use generally means the drive tires are chained, and exerting greater stress in the transaxle than operating where the wheels lose traction and spin as the tractor nears its maximum limit.

The reason I posted this response is that you need to have this discussion with your lawn tractor dealer so you do not seriously under-size for your need, then end up less than pleased.
My experience is that for blade work you want a compact or sub-compact tractor engineered for the stress and loading required. A lawn tractor will handle a reasonably decent sized snow blower that can throw snow that is quite deep, but be a total disaster on more than four inches of snow when trying to push a blade. The reason being there is a lot less force on the transaxle required to cut the small amounts of snow the blower handles as it eats through, than is required to push even a small amount of snow that piles and offers increasing resistance as it pushes the blade.


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## Tadd (Mar 1, 2019)

My question is less about what size of unit and more about hydraulic vs lift 
assist. I have been pushing snow for about 15 years with my x300 and blade. If the snow is deep you can not push a full load but rather half the width. There is just not enough power and weight. I did not go blower because we typically only get about 30-35 inches of snow each season. This year is the exception we are close to the record in the area at about 45 (50 is the record). With that said the dealer said they have an add on sift spring they do not sell the manual lifts without if your going to put an attachment on it. They did not have one there so I am trying to understand how much of the lift load does it relieve weather it is a blade or a blower? I do not have a giant yard so a 300 series is plenty for 9 months. From there I am looking at Hydraulic lift vs manual lift. 

https://www.johndeerestore.com/jdb2...Select-Series-Riding-Lawn-Tractors/p/BM25887#


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## Tadd (Mar 1, 2019)

Anyone have experience comparing with or without a spring kit?


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