318 Traction Problems

[monster318]

Hello, This issue has had me stumped for a few years now and I am gonna run this past you guys and see if you have any ideas for me..

I myself own a 1986 318 w/ 43G engine...have both a 54'' blade and snow blower attachment for it for the winter...I have tire chains, rear weight bracket, w/ 6 suitcase weights on back, and wheel weights in the wheels....thing cuts through snow like a hot knife through butter. No issues there. Now my grandfather owns a 1991 318 W/ P218 motor in it...54'' front blade, chains, weight BOX with 280 LBS of weight in it..plus the weight of the box itself...NO Wheel weights...The thing will not go through snow any where near the way mine does, he is constantly getting stuck or spinning the wheels. I have driven it myself trying to plow his driveway and a few neighbors driveways...and it is a very noticeable difference...it feels like the way mine did before I had any weight on it...but he has almost the equivalent weight that I do.

Could somehow the WEIGHT BOX be distributing the weight differently then a bracket that holds suitcase weights does?

This has been going on for awhile now and I am out of options to figure out why there is so much of a difference??

 

[kevin37b]

That is strange .Wheel weights should not make that much difference with all that other weight hanging off the back . Does he per chance have bar tires on the rear ? Chains do not work well on them . Got me puzzled too .

 

[jsb2b]

If everything is the same except the weight box, and the tires are the same tread design(assume turfs), then put your wheel weights on his 318 and see what happens. The weight box would tend to lift the front of the tractor if anything. Are his chains the same as yours?

 

[beenthere]

Does your 318 have fluid in the tires and his not?

 

[monster318]

Yes, both have turf tires on them (I use bar tires in summer and switch back to turf in winter), my chains are regular car chains that have been cut down to fit, his are actual tractor tire chains but both are very close to the same size and the cross pieces are the same distance apart on each. No fluid in either set of tires

 

[Yellowfever440]

If you have 6 suitcase weights and wheel weights, depending on the wheel weight size and the bracket weight you have atleast 252 lbs in suitcase weights plus the bracket and 110 lbs in wheel weights which is 362 lbs he has maybe 300 lbs. Also maybe the float on his tractor isn't working the way it should so he has more resistance on the plow.

Also both are on concrete or rock driveways?

 

[monster318]

Ok,I have attached some photos of the weight box to see if you guys think it could be possibly hanging too far off the back of the tractor. I know in theory it would actually act as leverage and add more down pressure to back of tractor but who knows at this point...

I added 60 more pounds of weight to weight box today, which brought me to the point where the front wheels have trouble steering cause their is barely any weight on them...we got about 3 inches of snow over the past day and have a couple areas of deeper snow where it drifted...I was plowing an asphalt driveway this morning, the tractor would push the snow just about till the time you would see the snow start to roll over infront of the blade then it would light the wheels up and stop dead in its tracks..The driveway has a very slight incline, so much that my sports car could have made it up it with the snow still on driveway. I was plowing down the driveway...when the tractor would stop, I would lift the blade...and the tractor WOULD NOT back itself up...even with the wheels on bare asphalt, it would just spin...I had to get my truck 3 times and pull it back up driveway cause it would not do it on its own....

 

[beenthere]

then it would light the wheels up and stop dead in its tracks.

Don't know what this means. Not getting a good picture of what is happening here. Maybe just reached the limit on snow and ice?

 

[JerryK]

One thing you need is better chains. JD chains should have a cross chain every other link... about 3" between each cross chain. At least that is what I have on my Onan powered 1991 420. I used to have 4 one hundred pound Allis Chambers weights on mine, and it would dig in until it stalled out unless lots of ice. Only put two on this year and have got stuck once... Good luck, Jerry...

 

[monster318]

These are JD Chains...we took every other cross link out of these chains and found it did help a good deal on the asphalt. Instead of having the wheel ride completely on chain, it now goes chain, rubber, chain, rubber, chain as it spins and it was a good deal of improvement...