Published: November 13, 2026
Updated: November 13, 2026
|
Both of our Winter Packages put you in a factory heated cab behind a front blade, so the choice between them comes down to what happens at the end of the pass. Pick the 1M 25 Winter Package if you clear your own drive and need to lift snow and stack it out of the way. Pick the Gator XUV 845M Winter Package if you have a long lane, outbuildings or animals to check, and you want to plow, haul and cross the property fast. Either way, you buy one complete setup instead of piecing it together an attachment at a time.
Who these packages fit, and who should keep what they have
Picture the morning that decides it: eight inches of snow on a 600-foot driveway, a barn lot that has to be open, and a cold walk to the outbuildings. Either package clears that driveway from a warm seat. What separates them is which problem costs you more on that morning: where to put the snow, or how much ground you have to cover.
Both are built for the acreage owner who handles their own snow and wants a machine that works the other three seasons too. If your drive is short and the equipment you already own clears it without wearing you out, keep what you have. A package starts to make sense when the job is long enough, or cold enough, that you have begun putting it off.
The 1M 25 Winter Package: a heated cab, a loader, and a blade that rides on it
The 1M is John Deere's newest sub-compact tractor, and this package sets it up for snow. You get a 24 hp 3-cylinder Yanmar diesel, 4WD, and a 2-range hydrostatic transmission, so there is no clutch to work while you plow. The factory cab has full heat and air conditioning, plus a front wiper and washer to keep the windshield clear.
The Frontier AF10F 60-inch front blade mounts on the 120R loader and clears that 600-foot drive in long passes. Trade the blade for the 53-inch bucket and the loader lifts and stacks snow where the drive meets the road, at the garage apron, and in the barn lot corners where piles have nowhere else to go. That matters most after the second or third storm, when pushed snow has built banks that narrow the lane. A loader is what moves them back.
The same loader moves gravel, mulch and feed in spring, and the air conditioning keeps the cab useful in July. The trade-off is pace. A tractor crosses the property at tractor speed, so if your winter is more about reaching three buildings than moving piles, read the next section before you decide. The full equipment list is on the 1M 25 Winter Package page.
The Gator XUV 845M Winter Package: plow the lane, haul the salt, check the barn in one warm trip
This package is a John Deere Gator XUV 845M with a factory HVAC cab (heat and air) and a 6-foot Western Impact Heavy Duty Blade. It seats three, carries 1,000 lb in the cargo box, tows 4,000 lb and runs up to 45 mph. The blade is a foot wider than the 60-inch blade in the 1M 25 package, so a long lane takes fewer passes. The speed is for crossing the property, not for plowing. On an open lane with room to push snow off to the side, pushing is all the job requires.
On a snow morning, you plow the lane, load salt or feed in the box, and drive to the barn or the animals from a heated cab. Three seats mean a helper can ride along. The rest of the year, the 845M earns its keep hauling and towing, which makes it the machine you will use most days, not only when it snows.
The limit is simple: a Gator pushes snow, but it cannot lift or stack it. If your drive has tight spots, a dead-end turnaround or nowhere to push snow to, the banks build up with every storm. In that case the 1M 25 Winter Package and its loader are the better fit.
What comes with the Gator is listed on the XUV 845M Winter Package page.
How to choose: three questions, then a quote
Three questions settle this for most properties. Do you have room to push snow off to the side, or does it have to be stacked? Is your winter mostly one driveway, or a lot of ground and buildings to cover? And what does the machine need to do the rest of the year: loader work, or hauling and getting around? Stacking and loader work point to the 1M 25. Ground to cover and hauling point to the Gator.
If your answers split, let the first question decide. A drive with nowhere to push snow needs a loader no matter what else is on the property, while a lane with open ground beside it leaves you free to choose on speed and hauling.
We leave prices out of this post because they change. The current package price and financing are on the 1M 25 Winter Package page and the XUV 845M Winter Package page. Financing is through John Deere Financial on approved credit, and tax, freight and setup are not included.
Get set up before the first real snow, not after it. You can look through our 1M 25 inventory and XUV 845M inventory, but inventory moves, so the Get a Quote button on each package page is the reliable way to ask for the exact setup. Or bring your driveway length, your surface (gravel or paved) and your worst snow day to a Koenig store in Ohio or Indiana, and we will tell you straight which one fits.