Trying the tire grooving for next mod

High Compression · Feb 3, 2012

Hey all. Going down my list of mods. Grooving the tires for the winter traction was pretty important to me. All of my other tractors that I have owned in the past and used to push snow with had turf tires. They always gave me excellent traction even in icy conditions. Enough to push a full blade on ice. I learned that they would be difficult to get and a long wait for turf tires on the Grand L. So I decided to try grooving. I bought my groover on ebay with #4 (approx. 1/4") blades and gave it a shot. It was a lot easier than I expected. I did try something a little different than others that I had seen. Using the theory that more biting edges are beneficial in the snow and ice, then I decided to put 2 small grooves on the back lugs instead of one larger one. We'll see. Snow is missing us this year. Last year at this time we had over 40". This year .5" Anyway, here are some pix. Enjoy.:thumbsup:

V1Rotate · Feb 3, 2012

Nice looking tires, I like the double grooves.

Bilko · Feb 3, 2012

Very nice job, looks like it was done at the factory!

rsewill · Feb 3, 2012

Looks nice! I imagine that took more than a few hours.

High Compression · Feb 4, 2012

V1Rotate said:
Nice looking tires, I like the double grooves.

Thanks. I thought I'd give them a try.

Bilko said:
Very nice job, looks like it was done at the factory!

Thank you. That was my intention second to better traction.:laughing:

rsewill said:
Looks nice! I imagine that took more than a few hours.

Well I didn't really time myself. I know the fronts only took an hour. For the back, since I wanted to use the double grooves, and the the treads are asymmetrical I made a cardboard template. So if you include the making of the template and the grooving time, i would guess 1.5-2
hrs on the back. So not terrible. And I didn't do them at the same time. I did the fronts one evening and backs another day. In my opinion, well worth the time.

20 20 · Feb 4, 2012

High Compression: I posted on another thread about grooving, aren't you concerned with tearing up the tires? I own rubber tracked machines and have seen the damage that can happen with chunks ripping off. Seems like you'd be opening yourself up to a possible rubber chunker looser{

}, just a thought.
I also live where there is a lot of ice this time of year{especially this year} and will say I don't care how many grooves are in a rubber tire it aint going to make a lick of difference on traction. The only thing that will help would be chains cleats or studs.

4shorts · Feb 4, 2012

That looks pretty good. I haven't had a traction issue with mine but it gave me an idea for some other applications. Good job my friend :thumbsup:

Bilko · Feb 4, 2012

And I thought you did it free hand!!! Lol

Don87 · Feb 5, 2012

Great job. Looks good:thumbsup:

High Compression · Feb 6, 2012

20 20 said:
High Compression: I posted on another thread about grooving, aren't you concerned with tearing up the tires? I own rubber tracked machines and have seen the damage that can happen with chunks ripping off. Seems like you'd be opening yourself up to a possible rubber chunker looser{}, just a thought.
I also live where there is a lot of ice this time of year{especially this year} and will say I don't care how many grooves are in a rubber tire it aint going to make a lick of difference on traction. The only thing that will help would be chains cleats or studs.

I too have owned many pieces of equipment with rubber tracks. 4 mini excavators, 1 mid size excavator and 3 directional bore machines. I know what your saying. But tracks and tires are apples and oranges.
On the flip side, if a tire doesn't spin due to loss of traction, it can't rip it's self apart. There is another TBN'r that posted his tires after a year of use with the tires grooved and I would say that they were less worn after 400 hrs, than if they had not been grooved. I'm sure that if you groove too deep and also cut all the way through the ends of the lugs, that you would open yourself up to potential damage, but we'll see. I generally put about 250 hrs per machine per snow season, so I will post pix in a year or so. If it tears up my tires, I will be sure to let all the TBN'rs know that it is a potential risk. All I know is that I can not complain one bit about a loaded turf tire on snow and ice. All of those biting edges do make a difference, and they have been giving me enough traction on ice to push a plow full for years. They also wear well because I'm not spinning the whole time.

High Compression · Feb 6, 2012

4shorts said:
That looks pretty good. I haven't had a traction issue with mine but it gave me an idea for some other applications. Good job my friend :thumbsup:

Thanks Paul! I was less than impressed with mine on the first bit of snow that we had. Since then, I have added tire ballast and grooving and it hasn't snowed since.

:confused3::mur:

High Compression · Feb 6, 2012

Bilko said:
And I thought you did it free hand!!! Lol

:laughing: I did free hand the fronts, but the back was too difficult to make them look all uniform so I had to make the template.:thumbsup:

Don87 said:
Great job. Looks good:thumbsup:

Thanks Don! I'll be sure to let everyone know if they work as good as they look. Otherwise it's back to the grooving board.:laughing:

Chorob · Feb 6, 2012

Nice work! Can you share a picture of your template?

High Compression · Feb 6, 2012

Chorob said:
Nice work! Can you share a picture of your template?

Thank you!
I don't know... That's kinda top secret.:laughing:

I sure will. When I go to the shop today I'll get a pic of it real quick and post it this evening.

High Compression · Feb 6, 2012

Ok, here is my high tech, top secret template.:laughing:
I was able to just flip it over for right or left lug.

Chorob · Feb 6, 2012

You just saved me a lot of time and swearing. Thanks!

High Compression · Feb 7, 2012

Chorob said:
You just saved me a lot of time and swearing. Thanks!

:laughing: Anytime!

Low Bucket · Feb 7, 2012

High Compression said:
I bought my groover on ebay with #4 (approx. 1/4") blades and gave it a shot.

Nice job!- Looks great!:thumbsup:

Do you have a link from the seller that you bought yours from?

Bob77064 · Feb 7, 2012

High Compression said:
Ok, here is my high tech, top secret template.:laughing:
I was able to just flip it over for right or left lug.
View attachment 250323

View attachment 250324

View attachment 250325

Good job, those templates are a great idea.

smiley · Feb 7, 2012

High Compression;All I know is that I can not complain one bit about a loaded turf tire on snow and ice. All of those biting edges do make a difference said:
I'm rather surprised to hear about getting good traction in snow with turf tires. I bought a pair of 16.9 x 24's turfs on rims at auction for $90 and put them on my 580 Case backhoe and it would barely move and slid sideways on snow or mud (I have all sloping terrain). I had to put on chains to do anything. Of course it's 2wd and not loaded and that would certainly make a difference. But then again, my big Massey Ferguson 4wd with like new forestry tires needed chains front and rear to keep from sliding sideways on hard packed snow/ice under heavy load. Never ran my Cub lo boy mower with it's turfs in winter, but I know it does a lot of slipping, sliding and spinning on hills when it's wet or muddy.
It would be interesting to see if actual side by side traction tests have ever been done with identical tractors and loads.