Snow chains on yet?

[Chilly807]

Mine are pretty loose anyway, the boomer goes through the same link every year. As the tires wear down I'll eventually have to go a link or two shorter.

Sean

 

[crazyal]

I put the chains on last weekend, glad I did. Had a tree get blown down across the driveway when I got home from work. Sucks dealing with them in the rain. One quick cut with the chainsaw and I dragged it up the driveway to a place it'll sit until I cut it up for firewood in the spring.

I've never run springs or tensioners on my chains. Just jack the tires up using the fel frame and put them on. That's as tight as they get, never had a problem.

 

[vtsnowedin]

By Jacking it up, you can tighten them up right away. Saves so much time. Jack it up on level ground under the drawbar mount. no heated shop here.

I hear you but over the years I have had more then one jack kick out on me and those events were always dangerous but thankfully never squashed anybody. I have a shortage of level ground and even less that will support a jack uniformly under load. All it takes is the ground on one side of the jack to be weaker then the other for the jack to tip and kick out just as you are getting close to high enough to get the job done. Jacking from anything less then a level concrete firm floor is a hazard that if I can avoid it by simply driving onto the chains I will avoid.

 

[dave1949]

I have the same problem with the fender clearance and I think the ag tires make it harder. (NH Boomer 35hp) Some people tell me they jack up the tractor so the wheel is off the ground but I don't have a jack that tall. It's a process. I've got all four side links tight but still need to connect the links in the middle over the tread.
Any tips or tricks out there?

I connect the end-to-end links over the treads first, then cinch up the sides.

 

[whistlepig]

If you are trying to pull them tight before connecting you can use a nylon ratchet strap.

 

[Wyobuckaroo]

I put the chains (2 link ladder on loaded turfs) on a week or a little more ago.
Had about 6" of snow to move and could have done it without chains, but decided to do it then while the temp was 30* instead of 0* like it is now.

To those worried about asphalt drives, I have left no marks on what little asphalt I have had to work on.
But like said my turfs are loaded, so I think that helps a lot.

Good luck

 

[Chilly807]

I hear you but over the years I have had more then one jack kick out on me and those events were always dangerous but thankfully never squashed anybody. I have a shortage of level ground and even less that will support a jack uniformly under load. All it takes is the ground on one side of the jack to be weaker then the other for the jack to tip and kick out just as you are getting close to high enough to get the job done. Jacking from anything less then a level concrete firm floor is a hazard that if I can avoid it by simply driving onto the chains I will avoid.

If I have to jack outside I always put a block of at least 2x6 or bigger material under the jack to distribute the weight over a larger area. I use a bottle jack for the tractor, my trolley jack doesn't lift high enough.

Sean

 

[WilliamBos]

If I have to jack outside I always put a block of at least 2x6 or bigger material under the jack to distribute the weight over a larger area. I use a bottle jack for the tractor, my trolley jack doesn't lift high enough.

Sean

I agree. I do not jack up in the mud anyway, but the jack is supported. Also, I never mentioned laying under the tractor. Block the front wheels, put it in neutral, hook the outer chains first, then roll it so you can hook the inner chains while standing by the three point hitch.

Not rocket science.

 

[Green Acres Homestead]

I use a L4740. Never thought I would need chains for snow removal until the other day a person approached me to do their driveway as i was fuelling up. Man was the upper part steep. They had the upper part shovelled and I slipped and slid my way to do the lower part. Chains required but it would take 1/2 hour or so to put them on. Bad business to be doing snow removal on a steep and slanted icy driveway without chains. Wasn't sure where I was going to land.

 

[vtsnowedin]

If I have to jack outside I always put a block of at least 2x6 or bigger material under the jack to distribute the weight over a larger area. I use a bottle jack for the tractor, my trolley jack doesn't lift high enough.

Sean

Some of my bad jacking experience was in freeing stuck vehicles and changing flat tires. Both of these you don't get to choose what ground to jack up from or what tools or blocking you have at hand or can use. I'm older and more patent now and will wait until I can get the right cribbing and jack and do it right. But of course today I don't get stuck anywhere near as often as I used to and the tires I'm running seldom go flat.