Tires 4WD Tire Chain Survey: Front, Rear or Both?

[Boomer33]

I was wondering how many of you use chains in the winter and which wheels you have them on. Some say that "fronts" are all you need. How do you deal with snow?

 

[bphillips]

Just chains on the rear for my NH 29D. Nothing fancy - ladder chains every 4 links. They're not heavy, so they're easy to install. Three rubber bunjees on each side and away we go ....
Also, loaded rear tires and a Woods 7500 backhoe. Plenty of weight, but the chains bite on ice. Just use the loader - no plow, but I plow a wide area so have plenty of room to maneuver.
Got to play in about a foot of the stuff yesterday. Fun Fun !!

Brad in NH

 

[Hoeman00]

I don't use any and have plowed snow
a long time, 400' drive and 300' square turn-
around for semis.
Just plowed out drive after 6" snow w/rear
blade and drove forward rolling snow to sides.
Didn't lock in 4 wd. just sensi-track.
Man the hydro plows better than the Kubota w/
GST (stops when changing gears) I used
hi rabbit and adjusted speed on the fly.

 

[JJT]

I live in snow country and don't run chains. I have loaded R4's on an L3710 HST and have never been stuck in the snow. I've had occasional tractions problems that were solved by lifting the blower slightly to add weight to the rear or by filling the FEL with snow to add weight to the front.

Christmas day arrived with 27" of snow, the Kubota handled it with ease.

 

[Corm]

I run ladder chains on 2 link spacing on the fronts only. I made them up from old dump truck chains the guys in the town garage were getting ready to discard. I have loaded R4s on a Cub 7260. I find chains in the front give me the traction I need to plow my 1/4 mile hilly driveway, and they also help a bunch to steer when I have my 3pt blade angled off to one side or the other. I have chains for the rear tires, and have used them, but had troubles steering (they also made for a bumpy ride). Chains in the front work the best for me. Keep in mind that what works for one person, may not work well for the next. A lot depends on if you are plowing a paved vs. a gravel driveway, flat or not, if you are plowing on top of a packed snow/ice base, or if you are plowing down to bare blacktop or gravel. In any case, it is always fun /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif!

Corm

 

[Spencer]

I have only had my TC33D since last December so I have only gone through one winter with it. I have R4's and 2 sets of rear wheel weights on the back. I have not found the need for chains at all.

 

[BigDave]

I would say, it depends upon whether or not slippage is acceptable to you? If I had a relatively flat area to plow or to tranverse, I would not be to worried about chains at all. Maybe chains on the fronts would be fine. I live on a steep hill, and slippage is not acceptable to me. A 10 degree slope turns into a 45 or even 60 degree slope very quickly. I currently run 2 link ladder chains on the rears, but I also own 2 link ladder chains for the fronts. The rears are on for the winter, and the fronts will only go on if I have lots of ice to deal with. I only use my tractor for plowing in the winter. I also ordered chains for my cars too, since I'm getting tired of hiking half a mile up or down the hill to or from where my car is parked during bad weather.

I guess other questions to be considered; what do you want to do with your tractor in the snow? What are the consequences if you get your tractor stuck? Is durability of the chains an important issue? The front chains from tirechains.com are not the same thickness as the rear chains.

 

[JDGREEN4ME]

I have R4s and do not use chains. My drive is flat and paved so it hasn't been a problem

 

[Bayrat]

I used front and rear on my TC29D with R4. Used truck chains on the front and ladders on the rear. My tractor was useless without them due to the light footprint and hard rubber compounds used in those wide tires (I plowed with a loader blade). My 2910 is not too bad with the R4 tire even though the tractor is lighter, the tires are quite a bit smaller lending better traction. Different brand R4 as well, the lugs are not as wide. I noticed the side slippage on the slight grades with the 2910 last week and will install the rear chains if the weather gets real bad but for now the truck can handle the plowing, using the tractor for piling and playing.

 

[Boondox]

I use Norse ice chains on the rear only, but our road is pretty steep and has a spring halfway up. UPS refuses to deliver to us in winter, but my L3010 makes it up the hill just fine.

Pete

 

[spencer200]

Just a warning about chains on the front tires. I have seen many twisted front axle shafts because of chains used on the front 4x4 tires! Extreme caution should be used when doing this!

 

[JohnMiller3]

<font color=blue>...use chains in the winter and which wheels you have them on...</font color=blue>

The first thing you want to look for is "clearance"... normally not a problem on utility or full size ag tractors... but on a compact it can become tight...

With the tighter turning radius of a MFWD unit of between ~50-55 degrees... the front tires have very little room to spare...

Turn your steering as far as it will go in one direction... now dismount and check the clearance of the tire and front frame... will front chains interfere...? (now do the same, turning the steering wheel in the opposite direction... it can be different)

 

[jlong]

spencer2000,

I have run front chains on 4X4 on both a previous tractor and my present TC35D. I have a pretty nasty sloping, blacktop driveway and have slid down in 2WD with this setup, so I don't think no front chains is an option for me. Is the problem you refer to due to the chains actually coming off of the wheel and wrapping around the axel, or something more complicated with the mechanical aspect? I try to only use the 4X4 during snow/ice. I did have a chain come off and start to tangle, but fortunatly saw it before it caused any damage.

 

[jlong]

Corm,

I run chains on all 4 on a TC35D, with loaded R4's. I thought about just using front chains in 4X4, but have been too chicken. I too have a hilly 1/4 Blacktop drive, and have actually slid most of the way down when I forgot to go into 4X4. (still don't know how I avoided catastrophy!) During that slide, the rear tires with chains did'nt seem to do much at all. Since my front chains have the bars, they seem to dig in better and I think provide the traction I need. But since I also do snow removal for a local development, which requires me to drag uphill with a blade, I always put the rears chains on, since it would be too late during a snow.

I sure would like to know that I did not need the rear, since they are a bit of a pain to put on and off.

 

[Corm]

spencer200 - Please don't take any offense, but I have to question your statement, based on my own experience and my investigation done before I tried using chains on the fronts. Before I started using chains on my front axle, I spoke to people from every dealership within 25 miles of my home, representing all of the major brands of tractors, and some of the not so major brands. I also spoke to most everyone I know that has experience with tractors. Not one single person I spoke to, save one, had ever heard of problems associated with running chains on the fronts. A couple of folks said they didn't know of anyone trying it, so didn't have any experiences to share. One person at a JD dealership I spoke to said he 'seemed to remember' one customer that had troubles with a front axle, and he used to use chains on the fronts (please, I'm not flaming JDs, this just happened to be the only person that had any negative experience). If you do indeed personally know of many tractors having troubles with twisted axles as a result of using chains on the fronts, I'd be real interested in hearing the details, like tractor make and model especially. Thanks in advance.

Corm

 

[spencer200]

Well let me put it this way we see 3 or 4 tractors every winter with twisted axles in our shop! This happens when the chains on the front end grab somthing solid with this quick grab the axle will twist sometimes. I can only speak from experience at our own dealership I can not go by what other have experienced. This was just a friendly have caution type of warning. I see it happen more than it should on all makes.