Gordon, thanks for sending those pictures. Your post came at about the time I was outside putting the chains on! My chains are very similar, and your method of installing is pretty much the same as Trygg recommends. They have a video on their website, too. They say, and I did, run a piece of rope around the rim and attach the hooks of the chain ends to it, then drive forward. An alternate method is to hang the rope over the upper tread lugs. I hung the chains on both tires at the same time, and had my wife pull forward while I helped arrange the chains on the tires. Worked great. I was going to jack up one wheel at a time and rotate the chain on, but driving them on was easier.
This particular style is what Trygg calls "Flexi", and by that they mean that it's easy to adjust the length and the side chains. The last two "sections" are attached with S hooks and shackles, making them easily removable. There are three places in the side chains where they have detachable links so you can shorten the diameter of the chains when they're on the tire. The whole idea is to be able to tailor the chains to fit the tire no matter whether the tire is brand new or worn down, or to handle size variations between tire manufacturers.
When they were rolled on they were longer than necessary, so I removed one section, then shortened the sidechains by one link in each of the three places, front and back. They seem pretty good now, but might need some fine tuning after driving around a bit. I didn't put tensioners on yet, but think I'll probably do something in that regard, maybe some rubber tiedown straps.
Crazyal, I didn't have to remove any of the links that weren't already detachable. Where I shortened by one link I left it dangle. On the cam-hooks that hook the sidechains together, you could gather the extra links and hitch them with the hook arm. If I had to cut them I would use that grinder cut-off wheel method. I saw that in a video. The great thing about having widened out the wheels is you don't have to worry about a link or two flopping. Now to go climb some snowy hills! Also, they're predicting a possible wintry mix, so I may get to crunch up some ice.
As far as getting roots or sticks caught in the chains in the summer, that's a definite possibility, something to watch out for, just like the possibility of getting a branch through the radiator, etc.