I have the a 1025r with both the 54” blade and the 54” blower ( I got the blade + angle cylinder for stupid cheap).
I run R4 tires and an Atlas ballast box ( Amazon, $198 + free shipping AND it has a hitch receiver on it). I filled the ballast box with large gravel I had laying around, I’m guessing it’s about 400 lbs overall. I only deal with asphalt or concrete surfaces, no gravel drives. I clear between 9 and 20 driveways depending on the severity of the storm (and if the neighbor’s plow guy decides to show or not). Our development is the last one to get plowed, so very frequently, I end up plowing the main road out.
With R4’s and the ballast box, I have no traction issues plowing or blowing in 4wd. In fact, most of the blowing I do is in 2wd except for a few of the steep driveways. I really only have to reach for the diff-lock sparingly.
I used to run chains on my x324 with 44” blower. They really marked-up the driveway surface; nothing that sealing it couldn’t hide, but I wouldn’t want to do a neighbor’s driveway with chains. Besides that, the second that a chain hits a hard surface, you completely lose all traction and the tire just spins. After spending time reading about tires, chains, and traction, I was deeply concerned about being able to clear snow with my R4’s. There was nothing to worry about, that rig is a beast.
I did get stuck once, I was traveling off-road in foot-deep snow to get to a local walking path ( to clear it ). I got hung-up because I wasn’t running the blower (duh) just trudging through a foot of snow. I got myself out, but it took some creative thinking

. I should point out, I wasn’t losing traction, I was almost stalling out because it was too much to trudge through. I had *excellent* traction, just too much crap in the way.
My plan, if I ever think I need them, will be to go with TerraGrips instead of chains. Chains were great for ice, but the second that you get back to blacktop / concrete, it marks it up. I don’t need any chains at this point and don’t plan on it.
Also- has anybody else used terragrips?
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