Preferred Style Of Tire Chains?

[crazyal]

Nice. Which version of the Trygg chains did you get? It looks like they have the same sort of lineup as Tellesfdal. I used a 4 1/2" grinder with a thin cut off wheel to trim a couple of links off of them, it seamed to be the easiest way. Not sure if you'll need to, some of the Trygg chains used removable links. I found that the best way to install my chains were to jack the tire off the ground a few inches. From the rear of the tractor I just place the end of the chain on the tire then spin the tire so it drags the chain into the tire. I stop when the end of the chain is about half way up the back, 3/9 o'clock position. I then connect the center two chains, as snug as I can get them by hand without fighting with the chain. Then the sides, the sides will tighten the entire chain. My directions say leave them sort of loose but I run them snug and have never needed springs or anything like that.

 

[Green Acres Homestead]

Anybody have any trouble with sticks and branches getting caught in the chain then when the branch comes around busts up the fenders, cab etc...? I work my l4740 in the woods a fair amount and would like some chains but do not want the damage.

 

[94BULLITT]

Anybody have any trouble with sticks and branches getting caught in the chain then when the branch comes around busts up the fenders, cab etc...? I work my l4740 in the woods a fair amount and would like some chains but do not want the damage.

That can happen.

 

[jimainiac]

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.

 

[arrow]

Whenever discussions of chains come up, there is always talk about chains falling between lugs and becoming what? less effective? Basically I think this is an old wives tale for several reasons. 1. Chains are sometimes put on too tightly. As a result, they cannot "work" themselves into the largest benefit for traction when the tire comes around and the chains meet ground. 2. With looser chains, it does not matter a wit what they look like on top of the tire, its how they engage the ground on the bottom. 3. Even with tight chains which look like they are sitting between grooves, I have never failed to see the chain imprint on the ground whether it'd be snow or dirt. I've got the simplest type of chains on my ag tires (4 link ladder) and even these have turned my tractor into a different machine traction wise.

 

[arrow]

Anybody have any trouble with sticks and branches getting caught in the chain then when the branch comes around busts up the fenders, cab etc...? I work my l4740 in the woods a fair amount and would like some chains but do not want the damage.

Happens all the time to me. Not saying its impossible but nothing like this has ever harmed the tractor. I find the branch or twig gives way and disengages before any real damage can occur. Most of my damage has been because of running over stuff unavoidably when in the woods.

 

[kco]

Loose chains are not an option on my DK35 with R4's. The rims are one piece so the width is not adjustable. I had to pound the cross-hooks flatter to get clearance to the vertical fender support. My neighbour gave me a set of ordinary ladder chains that perhaps left a few marks on the ground. But most of the links were hidden between the lugs and there was little improvement in traction.

I purchased DUO's for the rear and converted thee free 4-link ladders to 2-link ladders for the front. The ladders work fine on the front because the lugs are not as deep as the rear tires.

 

[RedNeckRacin]

Whenever discussions of chains come up, there is always talk about chains falling between lugs and becoming what? less effective? Basically I think this is an old wives tale for several reasons. 1. Chains are sometimes put on too tightly. As a result, they cannot "work" themselves into the largest benefit for traction when the tire comes around and the chains meet ground. 2. With looser chains, it does not matter a wit what they look like on top of the tire, its how they engage the ground on the bottom. 3. Even with tight chains which look like they are sitting between grooves, I have never failed to see the chain imprint on the ground whether it'd be snow or dirt. I've got the simplest type of chains on my ag tires (4 link ladder) and even these have turned my tractor into a different machine traction wise.

No offense, but your chains are riding on top of your ag tires lugs. Heck, the chains look like they are taller than the lugs on your tires. I really dont think tight or loose would make a difference for your application. My R-1's are 11.2-24 on my fronts and the lugs are much deeper than yours (less than 300 hours on them) and if I had a standard 4 link set-up, I think the lugs would hide the chain the majority of the times. If I had them loose, there wouldn't be any pressure pushing the chain into the snow/ice and therefore no traction. Hence why I went with the Duo-grip V-bar style. They made a big improvement on the ice, but I think I can modify them to be closer spaced and get more links on the ground per rotation instead of the gaps that I have now. The V-bars also need to be somewhat tight to make sure that the "V" faces the ground and doesn't roll into the tired tread negating the grip.

 

[arrow]

No offense, but your chains are riding on top of your ag tires lugs. Heck, the chains look like they are taller than the lugs on your tires. I really dont think tight or loose would make a difference for your application. My R-1's are 11.2-24 on my fronts and the lugs are much deeper than yours (less than 300 hours on them) and if I had a standard 4 link set-up, I think the lugs would hide the chain the majority of the times. If I had them loose, there wouldn't be any pressure pushing the chain into the snow/ice and therefore no traction. Hence why I went with the Duo-grip V-bar style. They made a big improvement on the ice, but I think I can modify them to be closer spaced and get more links on the ground per rotation instead of the gaps that I have now. The V-bars also need to be somewhat tight to make sure that the "V" faces the ground and doesn't roll into the tired tread negating the grip.

No offense taken. I don't mind a good discussion with opposing view points delivered as gentlemen; that's how people learn. Now I'm going to oppose you. Here are pictures of same tractor with new tires with not 3 hrs on them. The fronts do not have 10 hrs on them. My chains are loose and are able to sort of seek their own level. They are what strike the earth first and whether they are here or there, loose or tight, they will always provide more traction. I cannot agree on your theory about chains needing to be tight to provide optimum traction because chains will only go so far before they dig in even if they are loose. What helped you on ice was the v-bars. If you cannot run your chains a little loose for clearance problems, then you may run into the trouble you are describing but it is not a standard,be all axiom for chains to always attempt to state: "these chains are no good because they ride between the lugs" in my experience. If I believed that, I would not have bought the simplest chains which have aided my traction immensely and have cost under $300. So now we are at a point of disagreement based on our own experiences. What might be the differential as to why this happens sometimes and not all the time? My fronts are small and in comparison ratio, so is the chain yet the same thing is happening with them as what's going on with the rears so I am not certain tire size and lug depth are what provides this differential. I'm thinking tight fitment is the culprit. Lug angle may be another but my old tires were a lesser angle and the chain still came to rest on top of lugs at traction point. It seems no matter what the tire there appears to always be the ability of chain traction even with simple ladder chain. As a matter of fact, ladder chain may be the better solution than duo grips.

 

[kco]

No offense, but your chains are riding on top of your ag tires lugs. Heck, the chains look like they are taller than the lugs on your tires. I really dont think tight or loose would make a difference for your application. My R-1's are 11.2-24 on my fronts and the lugs are much deeper than yours (less than 300 hours on them) and if I had a standard 4 link set-up, I think the lugs would hide the chain the majority of the times. If I had them loose, there wouldn't be any pressure pushing the chain into the snow/ice and therefore no traction. Hence why I went with the Duo-grip V-bar style. They made a big improvement on the ice, but I think I can modify them to be closer spaced and get more links on the ground per rotation instead of the gaps that I have now. The V-bars also need to be somewhat tight to make sure that the "V" faces the ground and doesn't roll into the tired tread negating the grip.

I'm doing the same thing with my DUO's (i.e. reducing gaps) RedNeckRacin. Here's a link to a thread I started about modifying them:

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/268885-duo-chains-planned-modifications.html

I ordered the eight DUO patterns Monday and they should arrive next week.

EDIT: ADDED THIS AFTER LOOKING AT THE FIRST PHOTO IN THE REFERENCED LINK:

Arrow, the first photo in the referenced thread shows a couple of plain cross chains I added to try to fill in the gap of my DUO's. Although the plain cross chains are sitting on the lugs you can see how they will thread themselves into the lugs once used. However, I agree that if mounting the chains loosely on my tractor was an option they would not fall in the lugs and would be effective.