Tire Chains, Home Made Anyone done it?

[SensibleNick]

Kim... don't carry them, Drag them around and save yourself unnecessary strain. :thumbsup:

David: My blade came with the little (removable) wing as standard. without the wing, It's a 7footer (2.1m) and I run it angled and at an offset so the leading side of it doesn't stick out past the rear (left) wheel. The right side (the one with the wing) sticks out half a meter past the line of the tractor.

With it set up like that I know that when I drive with my right hand wheels on the edge of the ploughed snow, I'm cutting half a meter or so into the bank.

I suggest that If you're going to make a wing, make it removable: When the blade is straight (90 degrees to the direction of travel) it is a seriously wide thing to deal with, and there are many applications where you'll be cursing yourself for not making it removable.

It does make nice stable banks though...

ooh.. we're getting off topic. sorry..

 

[rScotty]

the "new" tractor has 18.4x38s Them suckers are heavy! Should be somewhere around 200 lbs. when extended. I'll probably have to move the wheels out to get cab clearance too. Fun fun! Kim

Just musing about chains this morning. I must be getting old....instead of jumping up and doing the deed I tend to think it through first....

It's probably worth brainstorming on what a proper workbench for chains would look like. No point in wrestling those chains while building them. Particularly not in Ag size. On the workbench some sort of stop or moveable pin is handy to keep the chains from constantly slithering off and heading for the floor. A couple of half inch bolts sticking out of the middle of my workbench were real useful, but crude.

On all the pairs of chains I've built I don't think I've made more than a couple of welds all total. I build by bending the connecting links made for that purpose. It does cost more that way. In the field - and even for new sets - I have used bailing wire quite often to stand in for a missing link. It holds up in use very well. Surprising.

On the Ag tractor it always bothered me when traveling in road gear with the rear chains on. That's something you do when feeding. What if one of those links came loose and tagged me on the elbow? So I mounted a set of really heavy big steel fenders. That did require setting the wheels out an inch or two.

Snow cleans and polishes chains nicely. When I remember to hang them up they stay that way, too.
rScotty

 

[SensibleNick]

Just musing about chains this morning. I must be getting old....instead of jumping up and doing the deed I tend to think it through first....

It's probably worth brainstorming on what a proper workbench for chains would look like.

My welding table has an overhang. As my chains are continuous loops (with removable links) I just draped them over the end of it with the rest piled on the floor. When I shoved a load off the back of the table more was pulled up in front of me: the most I lifted while welding on them was the 2-foot of chain that's between floor and table.

I shudder to think what a set of chains for a "real" tractor would weigh though.. A right pain in the erm... things.

 

[smiley]

Kim...

David: My blade came with the little (removable) wing as standard. without the wing, It's a 7footer (2.1m) and I run it angled and at an offset so the leading side of it doesn't stick out past the rear (left) wheel. The right side (the one with the wing) sticks out half a meter past the line of the tractor.

With it set up like that I know that when I drive with my right hand wheels on the edge of the ploughed snow, I'm cutting half a meter or so into the bank.

I suggest that If you're going to make a wing, make it removable: When the blade is straight (90 degrees to the direction of travel) it is a seriously wide thing to deal with, and there are many applications where you'll be cursing yourself for not making it removable.

It does make nice stable banks though...

ooh.. we're getting off topic. sorry..

If anyone is interested in the side wings for moving the banks back, There is a real good older thread on here at;
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/john-deere-owning-operating/159770-wing-plow.html

 

[KWentling]

I can assure you I have never carried those chains! Thats what tractors are for. Those are tough enough to just drag around. I'll just lay them out on the shop floor to add to them. They are too heavy and awkward to try to get up on a table. Actually I could build the extensions on my weld table or bench and then add them to the originals on the floor.

Kim

 

[SensibleNick]

I can assure you I have never carried those chains! Thats what tractors are for. Kim

I know what you mean... There's a couple of wheelbarrows in one of my garages. They've not seen any work since I got the tractor.