Snowblowing w/ turf tires - chains needed?

[owitiw]

I live in SS Marie and I have Turf tires on my BX2380 and I’ve had no issue with traction even in deep snow. My moms driveway has a good slope and I have no problem running backwards back up the driveway in 4wd. When I had a John Deere X310 I had chains on the tires and they marked up the pavement pretty bad. When I bought the tractor I specified Turf Tires because they have better traction than the heavy lugged tires! I do have extra weight in a Tektite Cab and rear blade and that helps. I went with the Commercial blower because it was built heavier duty than the residential blower. When the plow goes by my moms driveway it often leaves a pile easily 3-4’ high as it’s the first driveway around a corner. The BX with Turf tires has no trouble cutting through pile. I take it easy on the blower and tractor by taking half cuts and driving slow after all why rush great tractor time. For the past few weeks I’ve been blowing out 5 driveways often twice a day. Today pouring rain! The only thing I may do is add weight to my rear blade as the UHMW cutting blade doesn’t scrape as good as the steel cutting blade but it sure is quieter and less damage to the driveway. Turf tires are the way to go for sure in the winter!

 

[DustyRusty]

Damn you guys!
I'm going to go back and read all this, and convince myself I need chains....and it's gonna be more $$$
You guys are costing me money, I need to stop reading this board.

STOP READING! I have been moving snow with turf tires for 17 + years and have never found the need for chains, even though I do have them, but only put them on once, and immediately took them off. If you want to use chains, you will need wheel spacers before installing the chains. Kaching, Kaching, more money! I have a weight box on the 3 point hitch and it is filled with 600 pounds of 1 1/4 pound lead ingots. Got them when I bought a Bolens tractor with a loader. Sold the tractor and kept the weights. I looked into putting studs into a set of ag tires but quickly dismissed that thought because of costs. If you look under the rear fender where your loader controls are located, you will see the real reason that you don't want chains. If you break a chain cross-link, and it spins around once and hits those controls and/or lines, the expense of the repair is going to give you that sinking feeling in your gut. If the snow ever got that overwhelming like the blizzard of 1978 (remember that one?) you would be better off to pay a plow truck to just open your driveway and then clean it up with your tractor than to risk the damage of what chains can do. I would like chains if I had a bigger tractor with more clearance, but with the BX it is just too much of a gamble.