Couple questions about tires

[Alan7s]

Some time ago, a member of this forum sent a 3 word piece of advice for my T5C question about tire chains "Get the chains." So I did and he was right, so my thanks for good advice. Lots of snow this year, so I put them on front and rear, and they're doing the job. I'd like to leave them on until spring, but I'm wondering, Will sitting on concrete garage floor harm the tires or should I use some blocks to take the weight off the wheels? Also, I had a heck of a job getting them on . . . Does anyone have any tips on the best way to do this? I feel like 3 or 4 hands would be a help.

 

[JJT]

Sitting on concrete is not going to hurt your tires.

As for putting chains on, I jack up the rear of my tractor and rotate the tire by hand, pulling the chains onto the tire as the tire rotates. I then bungee the chains, inside and out, getting the chains tight, with no slop. I find this easier than driving over the chains and struggling to get them tight. My way takes less than 20 minutes per tire. I've been running double ring chains on the rear of a 37 hp Kubota for 20+ years.

 

[pmsmechanic]

I had a set of chains for the rear tires of the JD400 garden tractor I owned. I'd jack up the rear of the tractor and let the air out of the tires to install the chains. When I aired the tires back up the chains were tight. No bungees needed.

I also had a set of chains for my JD955 but never used them so I don't know if just airing up the tires was enough to tighten the chains after installation.

 

[Thomas]

Won't hurt the cement,but if think chain will chips the cement etc. couple wide strips of plywood will help.

 

[Alan7s]

Won't hurt the cement,but if think chain will chips the cement etc. couple wide strips of plywood will help.

Note to self: Get a couple short bungees . . . Let some air out before putting on the chains . . . Get those foot wide plywood strips out of the shed!

Great to have a forum like this; Thanks

BTW. not worried about the cement being chipped; just want to be sure all that weight sitting on chain links for a week or two won't damage the tires.

 

[toadman]

Use the Hydraulics to pick the wheels of the machine up...throw the chains over the top of the tire.... use a rubber bungie cord to connect the ends loosely.... hit the go pedal until the ends are easily accessable at the back of the machine.... work the chains around tight and hook them together, then add a tensioner. I can swap my tires left to right and put both chains on in 20 minutes by myself, but I have been practicing for 10 years on my machine.