Fun Time Installing Tire Chains

   / Fun Time Installing Tire Chains #1  

Casco1

Gold Member
Joined
Aug 27, 2004
Messages
422
Location
New England
Tractor
Kubota L series
Installed my chains today L3710 Kubota, not a bad job but it sure tuckered me out. Of course looking at 60 and out of shape didn't help.

I have a question, when I bought the chains they told me not to put spring tighteners on the front tires, the chains should float. In the first turn I walked one off. I realize as I work them they will seat and I'll have to retighten them a few times, I already have once and they feel a lot better.

Does anyone agree with this or should I buy tighteners for the front?

PS: Those double ring rears are mighty heavy.
 
   / Fun Time Installing Tire Chains #2  
I put spring tighteners on the front chains. There may be very little extra clearance between the chains and tractor parts when making a tight turn. Having the chains securely fastened might well prevent damaging something.

Chains need to be securely tightened. I don't think it is possible to make them too tight.

Lou Braun
 
   / Fun Time Installing Tire Chains #3  
Gary,

I agree the chains should be nice and tight to prevent them from falling off or flying away from the tire due to centrifugal force.

Here is a tip for next time you find yourself having to put chains on:

Rears -
Lay the chain out flat behind the wheel, Using a short rope, feed the rope through the wheel rim, then tie each loose end of the rope to each loose ends of the chain, drive forward, the chain will be pulled up, over and around the tire. That should help save your back.

Fronts-
Lay the chains out in front of the wheel, tie them as above, then go back-wards, pulling the chains up, over and around the wheels.

Let the tractor do the work for you.

Larry
 
   / Fun Time Installing Tire Chains #4  
I'm glad you have fun putting them on. I always tried to avoid them when using my Gravely. Got dual wheels on it to avoid the chains. Worked fine for pushing the 4' plow.

You MUST secure any stray ends and have them tight. I had a loose end catch on the brack backer spring on the Gravely and almost tore a tire off. Luckily, the chain broke.

With my 4010 4wd now, I don't use chains with turf tires. Works fine pushing snow.

Ralph
 
   / Fun Time Installing Tire Chains
  • Thread Starter
#5  
Lou_B said:
I put spring tighteners on the front chains. There may be very little extra clearance between the chains and tractor parts when making a tight turn. Having the chains securely fastened might well prevent damaging something.
Chains need to be securely tightened. I don't think it is possible to make them too tight.
Lou Braun
I think you're right I'm going to pick up some tighteners for the fronts

GuglioLS said:
Rears -
Lay the chain out flat behind the wheel, Using a short rope, feed the rope through the wheel rim, then tie each loose end of the rope to each loose ends of the chain, drive forward, the chain will be pulled up, over and around the tire. That should help save your back.

Fronts-
Lay the chains out in front of the wheel, tie them as above, then go back-wards, pulling the chains up, over and around the wheels.

Let the tractor do the work for you.

I was able to use the FEL and BH outrigers to raise all four wheels off of the ground, this helped out a lot. It was just that these are BIG tires and the double link chains were heavy

RalphVa said:
You MUST secure any stray ends and have them tight. I had a loose end catch on the brack backer spring on the Gravely and almost tore a tire off. Luckily, the chain broke.

I didn't have anything handy to tie the loose ends with but I will do that this weekend They are definitely an accident waiting to happen

Thank you all for the feedback
 
   / Fun Time Installing Tire Chains #6  
Get some of those black rubber bungees (or tarp tie-downs they're sometimes called) in various sizes--10, 12 and 15 inches. They are very inexpensive--about a buck depending on size. They'll tighten up your chains and snug down the loose ends. I put three or four on the inside and outside of each wheel, and they really do the trick. That's the easy part after getting those monsters on....
Regards, Mike
 
   / Fun Time Installing Tire Chains #7  
If you air down the tire, then put on the chain and air up it helps make the chain tight.

jb
 
   / Fun Time Installing Tire Chains #8  
GuglioLS said:
Rears -
Lay the chain out flat behind the wheel, Using a short rope, feed the rope through the wheel rim, then tie each loose end of the rope to each loose ends of the chain, drive forward, the chain will be pulled up, over and around the tire. That should help save your back.

A refinement to the excellent technique described above: After passing the rope through the rim, instead of tieing it to the outside edges of the chain, tie it to the middle (or the middle third or so) of the end cross chain. This allows the chain to "seat" better on the tire, and makes the hookup go a bit smoother.

John Mc
 
   / Fun Time Installing Tire Chains #9  
Casco1 said:
Installed my chains today L3710 Kubota, not a bad job but it sure tuckered me out. Of course looking at 60 and out of shape didn't help.

I have a question, when I bought the chains they told me not to put spring tighteners on the front tires, the chains should float. In the first turn I walked one off. I realize as I work them they will seat and I'll have to retighten them a few times, I already have once and they feel a lot better.

Does anyone agree with this or should I buy tighteners for the front?

PS: Those double ring rears are mighty heavy.

I agree with the others, get tighteners for the front. I use the hard rubber type with five hooks per band.

A variation on the rope trick for installing the rear chains: I jack up the rear end in the garage, lay out a chain back of one wheel, tie a few feet of rope to the ends of the chain making a loop, hook the loop onto the tread and rotate the wheel around so the chain is pulled up and over and meets the other end.
 
   / Fun Time Installing Tire Chains #10  
In addition to all of the great ideas for hooking up chains, I have a couple pieces of short 2x4 that I lay on the ground between the chain links. I drive until the wheel is on top of the 2x4. That way, once the chain is on the tire, the tire isn't setting on the chain. This makes adjusting the chain go a bit easier.

Of course, this will only work with the traditional cross-type chains.

I really like the ideas of tying rope on the chains to the wheel. I'll have to remember that.
 
 
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