Chains Snow Chains on just front tires?

[jerry315]

Just bought a new XR4140 HC and love it but I am trying to figure out if I need snow chains on ALL tires or if I can just get by with front chains? Any thoughts would be appreciated, I only get a couple of snows that are plowable each year (mountains of NC). I do have a long and some what steep driveway. Had an LS XR3135 with 7 ft snow plow last year and got stuck on the hill but the XR4140 is heavier with larger tires (but don't think that will make a difference on packed snow!). Thanks for any experiences!

 

[LouNY]

If all you want is to be able to get up the hill and are going to plow down, most likely will work.

 

[Scottw32]

Just bought a new XR4140 HC and love it but I am trying to figure out if I need snow chains on ALL tires or if I can just get by with front chains? Any thoughts would be appreciated, I only get a couple of snows that are plowable each year (mountains of NC). I do have a long and some what steep driveway. Had an LS XR3135 with 7 ft snow plow last year and got stuck on the hill but the XR4140 is heavier with larger tires (but don't think that will make a difference on packed snow!). Thanks for any experiences!

I would recommend chaining all 4 tires. Especially if your hill gets slick. Are you running any counter weight in the back like a ballast box or a heavy box blade?

 

[seville009]

I would put rear chains on before putting front chains on. Weight/traction is on the rears, especially if you’re using a plow or loader and taking weight off the front. If you’re pushing into a pile of snow, it’s easy for the front tires to be buried in the pile and not have traction.

 

[jerry315]

Thanks, most of my plowing is downhill, it's getting back up hill that is the problem (sometimes).

 

[jerry315]

Thanks, I am running counter weight on back (scraper blade or heavy arena rack). Hill only gets slick with heavy, wet snow. Mainly problems with getting up hill, most plowing is downhill.

 

[mikester]

I use front chains only and I put them on for snow blowing after the driveway becomes shear ice and I have no more traction. Usually I don't put them on until February when we start getting freezing rain. If I can put on ice skates and skate on the driveway between the house and barn - that's when I know I need chains. I will also put them on if am driving in the fields and snow is over 2-3 feet deep and over my front axels.

Front ladder chains on my R4's work fine. Make sure you keep the spider tensioners on tight and keep a close eye that the chains don't walk and catch on your steering linkages. I don't like driving with the chains on because it's a rough ride, it's hard on the concrete floors, and I'm constantly worrying about damaging the steering linkage when the chains walk.

Front chains are cheaper and easier to put on IMHO. If I needed the extra traction all winter season long I'd probably buy a set of rear diamond pattern chains or stud the tires.

 

[Avenger]

I put chains on in mid-November before the snow flies. I'd rather deal with the tires, chains, and work space when it's dry and sunny.

Also, put them either on the back only or on all 4.

Before I got chains, I was plowing downhill. The tractor would start to 'come round me' at points. This means that I would start to slide downhill sideways! Not ideal. Chains fixed it.

 

[ruffdog]

Thanks, I am running counter weight on back (scraper blade or heavy arena rack). Hill only gets slick with heavy, wet snow. Mainly problems with getting up hill, most plowing is downhill.

I spent lots of time plowing a steep driveway for home/business with a 8n and 801, both only rear drive. Would plow down and drive up for the most part....and I had rear chains. You had to know how to use the individual rear brakes to assist turning and to stop a spinning tire. I would chain the rear, not the front, for assisting going up hill.

 

[super55]

For your situation I would go with the front chains. Reasons being: 1-the # of time you stated you had plowable snow and reason 2 they are a whole lot easier to put on/take off then rear chains.

I run chains on all 4 now but for years I ran front chains only because the rears didn't have inner wheel well clearance for chains until I got spacers. I never had any issues and you will be amazed at the increased traction provided by them. Putting rear chains on takes a lot longer time then fronts. With fronts you could probably keep them off and only attach when needed especially since it sounds like you won't be plowing more then maybe 6 times a season.

 

[jerry315]

Thanks for all the good suggestions and recommendations. I am thinking for now I will plan on front chains and see how that works if/when we have a big snow (20+).

 

[ovrszd]

I would never consider running chains on just the front. Font driveline is substantially weaker than rear.

But hey, go for it.

 

[Billrog]

I ran only front chains on my last tractor for 23 years with no bad results and I keep a mile of mt. side rds. plus my long steep driveway plowed .

 

[PILOON]

A lot depends on the tractor size.
A small CUT is generally rated as 'front assist' and as such not all that beefy.
(ask how I know)
Rear with the most weight is the best place to chain up.

 

[super55]

I ran only front chains on my last tractor for 23 years with no bad results and I keep a mile of mt. side rds. plus my long steep driveway plowed .

I ran my tractor fronts only for 4 years before I went chains all around and never had issues either but I was always running at a lower range and speed. I can see peoples concerns especially if you were doing rapid fwd/rev motions but I don't see too many people plowing with tractors like they do with pickups in commercial parking lots.

 

[Cycledude]

Just bought a new XR4140 HC and love it but I am trying to figure out if I need snow chains on ALL tires or if I can just get by with front chains? Any thoughts would be appreciated, I only get a couple of snows that are plowable each year (mountains of NC). I do have a long and some what steep driveway. Had an LS XR3135 with 7 ft snow plow last year and got stuck on the hill but the XR4140 is heavier with larger tires (but don't think that will make a difference on packed snow!). Thanks for any experiences!

For the past 30 years I致e been plowing pretty big yard and driveway with 8n Ford with rear blade and chains were definitely required. This year with new LS XR4155 front loader and rear snow blower I知 hoping to get by without chains. If I wind up needing chains I知 worried about possibly damaging rear fenders or front drive system. I知 pretty sure will be fine without chains but time will tell.

 

[Avenger]

I thought the same thing when I first decided to go with chains, that I'd damage the fenders. The clearance is so tight there. However, keeping the chins tight and centered, they dont hit. I stick like glue. Here is a link to a video I made that shows how I install the chains tight. If you didnt know, my XR4145 is the same as your 4155 except for HP.

Installing Tire Chains on LS XR4145C - YouTube

 

[Cycledude]

Thanks for making the videos ! I was surprised you were unable to get the chains tight enough without using the extra springs in the center. Also watched the video about installing-uninstalling the loader and I’m sure that’s going to be a big help if I ever want to remove my loader.

 

[YBSMike]

For the past 30 years I致e been plowing pretty big yard and driveway with 8n Ford with rear blade and chains were definitely required. This year with new LS XR4155 front loader and rear snow blower I知 hoping to get by without chains. If I wind up needing chains I知 worried about possibly damaging rear fenders or front drive system. I知 pretty sure will be fine without chains but time will tell.

Hello,

I have been here for a while but got locked out of my old email so I had to re-register today. We have a 2020 LS XR4155H/Cab with chains on the back. To do that we had to remove the little plates that hold the fenders, and the fenders but it's 3 screws each side if I remember correctly. It works well now and only hits rarely when driving at the top of 2nd gear. It hits because we have the "every other link chains", and some of the cross links are actually overlapped, so this makes for a couple loose one on each side that I am going to cut off. That will end the loose links hitting.

About the chain topic, We also bought 4 chains, but once they were on the fronts, I saw that they were lightly rubbing the housing for the front diff, so I took them off for now. I have been using the box blade to plow with only the rear chains, and it seems to do very well when I angle the back blade way back so it's not a sharp edge catching. We have a double blade box, one forward and one rear kinda like this --> )( I only tried this because our new plow failed and I'm waiting on material to fix it, but I assumed this would not work. When you use the scrapper blade, we assumed it would fill up and overflow back onto the road but when angled way back it does not do this. I'm planning to get a top link for it very soon. Had I known this, I would have not bought a plow. It turns out that the snow compresses at the top in the pocket of the box blade, and all the extra snow flows sideways out each side and makes the road perfecty flat, and 7' or 8' wide. (I forget which width we have)

About the chains rear or front, I would strongly prefer using them on the rear if I had to choose, and it's not just because of the ballast filled tires on the rear, it's because you can lock the rear diff and not the front. I have seen my front tire spinning many times now, and it's either the left or right, but with a true posi rear, they both always spin when it gets deep, and I have gone up some very steep hills. We are at 8500', and I found that filling the front bucket with snow and packing it in by really driving into it to fill it as high as it can get for weight, I can get up almost anything. Once I get some weight in the bucket, I take the front boom and bring it very high, to put as much weight directly on the front tires as I can, and I have gone up some very, very steep hills. Just my own experiences guys, I'm far from a pro and this is our first tractor, but what I post does work out pretty well on the worst of roads.

 

[YBSMike]

Hello,

I have been here for a while but got locked out of my old email so I had to re-register today. We have a 2020 LS XR4155H/Cab with chains on the back. To do that we had to remove the little plates that hold the fenders, and the fenders but it's 3 screws each side if I remember correctly. It works well now and only hits rarely when driving at the top of 2nd gear. It hits because we have the "every other link chains", and some of the cross links are actually overlapped, so this makes for a couple loose one on each side that I am going to cut off. That will end the loose links hitting.

About the chain topic, We also bought 4 chains, but once they were on the fronts, I saw that they were lightly rubbing the housing for the front diff, so I took them off for now. I have been using the box blade to plow with only the rear chains, and it seems to do very well when I angle the back blade way back so it's not a sharp edge catching. We have a double blade box, one forward and one rear kinda like this --> )( I only tried this because our new plow failed and I'm waiting on material to fix it, but I assumed this would not work. When you use the scrapper blade, we assumed it would fill up and overflow back onto the road but when angled way back it does not do this. I'm planning to get a top link for it very soon. Had I known this, I would have not bought a plow. It turns out that the snow compresses at the top in the pocket of the box blade, and all the extra snow flows sideways out each side and makes the road perfecty flat, and 7' or 8' wide. (I forget which width we have)

About the chains rear or front, I would strongly prefer using them on the rear if I had to choose, and it's not just because of the ballast filled tires on the rear, it's because you can lock the rear diff and not the front. I have seen my front tire spinning many times now, and it's either the left or right, but with a true posi rear, they both always spin when it gets deep, and I have gone up some very steep hills. We are at 8500', and I found that filling the front bucket with snow and packing it in by really driving into it to fill it as high as it can get for weight, I can get up almost anything. Once I get some weight in the bucket, I take the front boom and bring it very high, to put as much weight directly on the front tires as I can, and I have gone up some very, very steep hills. Just my own experiences guys, I'm far from a pro and this is our first tractor, but what I post does work out pretty well on the worst of roads.

I said "true posi rear" but I should have said "temporary true posi rear" because I have to keep engaging it when going uphill to keep it locked.