Tire Chains

[fixin40]

Hi fellas,
I just bought a new tractor, a massey gc2410, with some attatchments. I was reading some of the other threads and became a little concerned about my r-4 tires in the winter. A big reason for buying the machine was to not get stuck any more while moving snow and people have said that the r-4 tires do not do very well in the snow. So, I was wondering about a good source for chains (the diagonal variety, so I do not loose the chains in between the tire treads) and if I could or should use chains on all 4 tires. The dealership said that if I put chains on all 4 tires the front to back differentiation would not be there and the tractor would be damaged, this does not make sense to me. You would want differentiation between the tires for turning the tractor but front to rear wheel turning speed to be the same, right? or am just confused. Any thoughts would be welcome.
thanks -
fixin40

 

[JoeL4330]

if there is any concern, it is not differential side-to-side, it is the (often) slight difference in front-to-rear ratio. That's why part-time 4wd systems caution against using 4wd if the traction is good--i.e., clean, dry blacktop.

I am not familiar with your tractor but if it is 4wd I would chain all four wheels ...being careful with the chain clearances.

I have turfs which actually do quite well in the snow; nonetheless, I use chains on all 4 wheels as I have a very steep driveway and we have been getting ice storms as much as snow, in recent winters.

Incidentally, the turfs take chains quite nicely, they don't get lost in the treads as some tend to on R1's and sometimes industrials ...there are, however, chains specifically designed for those aggressive-tread tires that have diagonals down the centerline.

you can find many such threads, if you search ...and support for whatever you want to do

 

[Mike058]

Hi fellas,
The dealership said that if I put chains on all 4 tires the front to back differentiation would not be there and the tractor would be damaged, this does not make sense to me. You would want differentiation between the tires for turning the tractor but front to rear wheel turning speed to be the same, right? or am just confused. Any thoughts would be welcome.
thanks -
fixin40

Remember when you turn, the front tires travel farther than the rear. If they're locked together they have to be able to slip while turning. The harder it is for them to slip, the more force there will be on all the parts from the engine to the wheels. But the big question would be, how much do the front chains prevent the tires from slipping? If it's so slick you need chains front and back, they probably won't keep them from slipping too much. Hit a patch with decent traction though, then there might be an issue. A lot of people run chains front and back without problems. If something breaks while you're running chains on the front, does that void your warranty? Just something to think about. If it was me, I'd see how just running chains on the back went first. Because I've noticed that those chains are expensive and for those "wear and tear" issues. You could always buy a front set if you needed them.

 

[JoeL4330]

with or without chains, if you have good traction you save a lot of wear and tear if you disengage 4wd.

 

[GreenWannabe]

I think the dealer's concern is that adding chains will change the relationship (ratio) between the front and rear wheels. The ratio is determined by dividing the rolling radius of the front timres by the rolling radius of the rear tires, and it should be within a fairly limited range. Since adding chains alters the rolling radius, it can alter the ratio as well.

If you google "tractor tire chains" you should come up with several vendors. One that comes to mind is Tire Chains by TireChains.com as it was mentioned in another post today. Good luck in your search.

P.S. If you look at the little ads at the top and bottom of this page, there are a number of ads for tire chains.

 

[daTeacha]

I, too would be cautious about putting them on front and rear. Even in slick conditions, the fronts without chains will add some motive force to the tractor. If you find yourself getting bogged down without them, then you can get them.

Alternately, it might make you feel better and give you a better deal if you buy all 4 chains at the same time and just keep the ones for the fronts off the tractor until you really need them. Then you'll have them handy instead of having to wait until you can get to the dealer or whereever to pick them up.

 

[PILOON]

On my 4WD Mitsubishi I use cross (ladder) chains on rear only, however I have added extra cross bars (every 3 link) so that I am in constant contact with the ground at all times.
They are true 'ice chains' in as they have 2 welded studs per link.
I have found them so effective that I very rarely use 4WD any more and my drive is fairly steep.
The added cross links keep you in constant contact with the roadbed rather than sorta going hoppity hop all the time.(and slip/grab)
Note that I am equipped with rear blower and a front snow blade and can push a fair load of snow without slippage.
The main reason for my using the 4WD would be on a hard icy surface (freezing rain) in order to maintain steering on hills, otherwise most of my snow work is in 2WD, blowing and pushing.

 

[sperry]

I have used v-bar chains on all four tires for 20+ years when pushing snow without any problems, I do take it out of 4wd at times when not needed. Bought my newest set of chains at Tirechains.com, found them to be a great source for chains.

 

[fixin40]

Thanks for the responses, the comment about the front wheels traveling further than the rears got me thinking, as did the not using the 4wd unless I needed it. As long as I am not on asphalt the 4wd could probably be used with chains the whole way around because there would be constant slippage of the tires. I could always put chains on the front and only use 4wd when needed. I put chains on the front of my simplicity garden tractor to see if it would improve my steering, I have a front mounted snow blower, and it was a night and day difference. The tractor would actually steer. I just don't feel like getting stuck any more, I snow blow some pretty big paths on the side and back of the house to get access to the shed and wood pile and the paths are not flat. Digging anything out of the snow is not a lot of fun.

 

[Opti-Mist]

For a tractor equipped with front wheel assist, which is not 4WD, in normal straight ahead travel with the front axle engaged, the front wheels will be about 15% more aggressive than the rears. This provides additional traction and steering control.

With R-3s on a front wheel assist tractor I use no chains for snow plowing on flat ground and have no slippage issues. With turf I used chains on the rear only for snow plowing on hills. For your R-4s I'd go with chains on the rears only until you prove that you need them on the fronts. As long as the fronts can slip a bit (due to the aggressive nature described above) on the surface your on you'll be fine.