Chains Tire Chains on M59

[BobSWcolorado]

I have a M59 with a 7.5' skid steer type hydraulic angle snow blade on the front end loader. On the steeper parts of my 1/2 mile long driveway it slides badly, especially if it is at all icy.

The owners manual and the local dealer both say you cannot chain up the front wheels, they say it will ruin the front drive. Does anyone have any experience or knowledge with this on a M59?

There does not appear to be room for chains on the rear without the $500+ Kubota rear wheel spacers. There is only about 1" between factory R4 tires and the fenders/fender bolts. Low profile cable type tire chains might fit. Does any one have any experience using chains on the rear of a M59 without the spacer kit?

I would appreciate hearing about any related experinces. Thanks much.

 

[LarryRB]

I won't say for the M 59 specifically, however, I will say for the last 50-60 years, around this AO, that all contractors and local, county and state highway dept, use St Pierre "rollers" on the fronts only. I have never heard and I have asked others and they have never once heard of ruining a front end component using the St Pierre roller system,, As stated, the chains are constantly rolling around the tire tread and are actually loose,, They work awesome and you get much more power with the front drive axle pulling rather than pushing from the rear,,,, I've run thousands of hours, over more than 30 years of winters on JD 710 TLB's with this system, and ocassionally the JD 544 and 744;s also,,

 

[rScotty]

Bob, that sounds like a nice rig. I didn't know that bit about chains on our M59s....and I must have missed the bit in the manual about not chaining up the front tires because I bought chains for mine.

Even though it would be possible, I confess that I haven't looked at the strengths of the various front drive components. Reason is real basic: I simply don't believe that a M59 hydro rated to pull a tractor through wet dirt while carrying a loaded front bucket is ever going to see anything close to the same resistance in snow and ice....chains or no chains. And that's partly why I've justified using front chains on my last three 4WD tractors. That, and the convenience factor. Front chains are wonderfully easy to get on and off.

But there's also no reason to be dumb about chains. I use a cross link configuration to get that lateral traction you are looking for, and I make mine fit the tires real well to make sure of enough clearance when turning sharply. BTW, turning interference is my guess as to why Kubota is worried about front chains.

To farther limit torque on the front drive, don't use chains with claws or bars and don't force things with the chains on.

Finally, think about the mechanical consequences. Turns out it's not too bad. The front drive should be designed to be "fused" via the front drive shaft. And the rest of the systems are independent.
Good luck with it,
rScotty - colorado

 

[IdahoTractor]

I've run chains on 4WD tractors for 25+ years and have never had a problem. I know lots farmers and small scale loggers that have used chains on 4WD tractors for years and have never heard them have a problem because of it. And I don't recall ever seeing someone post a message on TractorByNet indicating that their front drive was damaged by the use of chains (though your question has been raised many, many times on TractorByNet). That said, I think you'll probably be okay using chains on front.

 

[KubotaSam]

I won't say for the M 59 specifically, however, I will say for the last 50-60 years, around this AO, that all contractors and local, county and state highway dept, use St Pierre "rollers" on the fronts only. I have never heard and I have asked others and they have never once heard of ruining a front end component using the St Pierre roller system,, As stated, the chains are constantly rolling around the tire tread and are actually loose,, ,,

So I am interested. Can you post a picture of the St Pierre "rollers". I have never heard of them.
Also I run chains on all 4 tires.

 

[curtisfarmer]

Search my threads about chains on L48s. Not impossible, but pain i the arse. Here is one of mine chained up:

 

[Dirtball]

I chain my front tires on my New Holland hydro TC33D for 10 years now. I have V-Bar's for bad ice , down to the woodpile trips and regular links for other nasty conditions. No problems after 1100 hard hours. The professors here know , there is some % slip built in to these things between the axles, before they are pulling on one another. My solution of chaining only the fronts has been great. Easy on / off using loader to get em off the ground. Frt chains Much lighter to handle than rears due to size difference. My machine has climbed out of very nasty icy grades with frt chains only. Fronts are easy to put on in the field too, on an incline, when the machine is stuck .

 

[bravo5]

Welllll, unfortunately I did not read this thread before I bought a set of rears chains for my M59. I installed them today and realized theres not much room between the chain in the wheel well/fender, in fact it hits some links when spinning. (( Anyone have any suggestions on the remedy or am I stuck buying the spacers which I didn't even know existed. Any input would be greatly appreciated

 

[George2615]

Welllll, unfortunately I did not read this thread before I bought a set of rears chains for my M59. I installed them today and realized theres not much room between the chain in the wheel well/fender, in fact it hits some links when spinning. (( Anyone have any suggestions on the remedy or am I stuck buying the spacers which I didn't even know existed. Any input would be greatly appreciated

Here's one place that makes spacers for your M series tractors.
Kubota John Deere Compact Tractor Utility Vehicle Wheel Spacers
I believe this company also has spacers. Just need to know your lug count and spacing or give them a call.
https://www.motorsport-tech.com/tractor.html

 

[bravo5]

will do thanks. I just saw inner wheel weights might be a option also so it adds weight and moves the wheel track outwards Thanks again