Chains Tire Chains on industrial tires?

[mcd176]

I just installed my 4 link ladder chains from tirechains.com this afternoon and ventured out to play urrr I mean work where I had been spinning and sliding around the last few weeks in our 18"+ of snow, The chains made a HUGE difference, its like I have a new machine!


Mike

[varmint]

Diamondback,

Yes I used tirechain.com. I'm ashamed to admit it but the total installation of all 4 chains took around 4 hours...by myself. From what I understand, the first installation is always the longest. I had to remove links from all 4 chains to custom fit them for each tire. The chains always ship a little long because tirechain.com doesn't know the wear condition of the "end user's" tires. Better too long than too short! It also took me awhile to figure out the proper tension for each chain. A second set of hands would have been useful.

No I didn't buy their "hand dandy tool" but wished I had when I had trouble with the tensioners. Those springs are tougher than I gave them credit for! I went to my local farm store and bought a small Koch Industries load binder with a working load limit of 375 lbs. The tightener made all the difference in the world for getting good tension.

Yes I work around steep inclines. My driveway is about 1,300' long, gravel and mostly uphill. I think rear chains alone would have been fine if lateral traction wasn't an issue. Before the chains, I've had trouble with a simple 3 point turn under slick conditions. The rear tires would push me forward even when the front tires were turned as far as possible.

Hope this lengthy response made sense and helps with your decision.

I too got my chains from Tirechain.com... and I think that anyone with deeply lugged tires would love the type I wound up with: Euro net chains, photo attached so you can see what I am trying to describe. I am told that this type of chain is very smooth riding, lasts a long time, and gives excellant traction- lots of fire trucks have them. I think this is all true, but I don't have any experience with other types. (I took the pic. before shortening the too-long chains, so don't jump on me for a messy installation). A friend who has experience told me to jack up the tractor's rear end, and use bungees to hold the chain ends in place while I installed them, and I found that worked like a charm! I think next fall I should be able to install the chains in about 15 min. each, once I get everything ready. Just straightening out the links takes longer than actually installing them.

[dave1949]

I too got my chains from Tirechain.com... and I think that anyone with deeply lugged tires would love the type I wound up with: Euro net chains, photo attached so you can see what I am trying to describe. I am told that this type of chain is very smooth riding, lasts a long time, and gives excellant traction- lots of fire trucks have them. I think this is all true, but I don't have any experience with other types. (I took the pic. before shortening the too-long chains, so don't jump on me for a messy installation). A friend who has experience told me to jack up the tractor's rear end, and use bungees to hold the chain ends in place while I installed them, and I found that worked like a charm! I think next fall I should be able to install the chains in about 15 min. each, once I get everything ready. Just straightening out the links takes longer than actually installing them.

That looks like a dream catcher done in chains LOL Just raggin on ya.

It took me a long time to mount and fit my chains the first time too. It was my first experience with chains and sort of felt my way through it.

I would think the alternating bare and chain sections in the middle of the tire would produce a noticeable hop when rolling. Probably don't feel it on anything but hard surfaces. I'm always glad to get my chains off in the Spring, I get tired of the 'waddle' feel.
Dave.

[RedDog]

Just think, before long we will all be taking the chains off!

[Dave M7040]

I would like to offer a couple of suggestions on how to keep chains tight. Look at the photo in the post by Lungdoc which shows a center ring and springs going out from the center ring to the chains at several points around the tire. This technique causes the tension forces to all pull to the center of the wheel which avoids any unevenness. Springs are more reliable than bungee cords. The rubber in the bungee absorbs water and this affects its ability to keep tight. Rings and springs are available at TSC stores in general hardware.
Dave M7040