Snow Chains for snow & ice -- what mistake is it most important to avoid?

[LouNY]

CalG mentioned side hills, and I just want to reiterate. On icy side hills they are just like ice skates; and going sideways out of control is a good way to dump it, hard.

Not really;
Depending on the chains, the studded Euro chains will bite and anchor your equipment very well when working or braking on side hills.

 

[SmallChange]

I assume you've seen this selection chart?:

Tractor Tire Chains-Comparison-Application

As others have said, any type of chain is better no chain. From there, it's pro/cons & trade-offs of each type of chain. (Marring pavement, price, ride, traction, lateral (sidehill) stability/traction, etc..)

I run 4 link ladder chain on my "garden tractor " snowblower that only sees a paved driveway. About as basic as chains come. They work fine-to-great. When I get "off driveway", I tend to run out of rear weight, or lack of diff-lock, before lack of traction (if that makes sense)

I run a non-studded, non-v-bar, "duo grip" on the rear tires of my ~8000lb (w/ ballast, FEL) 4wd tractor. I've never worried about going anywhere with them and they were the right price, plus I wanted "some" sidehill stability more than a ladder type chain, while at same time I wanted the option to sometimes drive on pavement without leaving marks.

As others say: Secure the clasps so they don't come undone.
I think a little loose is better to self clean and not get stuck between tire lugs, but worse for whacking fenders if at a speed where centrifugal force overcomes gravity.
On the garden tractor turf tires, I deflate the tire a bit, put chains on tight and inflate tire afterwards to tighten more.
On utility tractor with loaded tires, I get a 10 ton jack, lift rear tire, and put it in neutral to spin tire to put chain on, and spin a few times more so slack can "equalize" and retighten as necessary.

Hey, thanks, lots of great information here! I have NOT seen the selection chart before, and it's a big help.

I have seen lots of good references to studded, and they look great in this chart, except bad for pavement - but I don't have pavement, so that may work for me!

Very little side hill issues for me. I have some tilt that makes it a little hard to stay straight in one area, but there's nothing bad at the bottom, I'd just come to a swale in a few feet.

So far I've never wanted to road the tractor in snow, so speed is probably not an issue.

I'm studying your reply and the chart you linked, thanks!

 

[Oldpath05]

OK, you asked so here we go again myself and a few others have and use and believe in the ability of the "Euro"style chain.
There are posters that will say you don't need them, all I can say is that I have over the years used most every style of tire chain available.
From 4 link spaced street chains to 2 link space bar reinforced, including the so called duo-grip and even the big double ring chains.
On a frozen dirt/gravel driveway the OFA's, Aquiline Talons, TRYGG's studded chains can not be beat, you will have more traction then you do in the summer.
They are expensive but they will grip better then any thing else available, the traction for driving and stopping is excellent, also side hill traction including side grip is also excellent.
View attachment 623514

A big 10-4 on that, Trygg's are probably the better one but they cost way more then Talons..........
I tried the spring bungee things on my rear Talons hopping to keep them straight, just one trip in the woods and they still went crooked, the only thing that keeps my Talon chains straight is put them on loose. When someone mention that here on another thread somewhere, it went against everything I knew about tire chains, it was a re-learning experience.

 

[seville009]

A big 10-4 on that, Trygg's are probably the better one but they cost way more then Talons..........
I tried the spring bungee things on my rear Talons hopping to keep them straight, just one trip in the woods and they still went crooked, the only thing that keeps my Talon chains straight is put them on loose. When someone mention that here on another thread somewhere, it went against everything I knew about tire chains, it was a re-learning experience.

Holy cow.....those chains are nice; doubt you’d get stuck anywhere with those.

 

[mikester]

If I was dealing with big slopes with an unhappy ending Id Want as much control as possible and go with a V-bar style chain on front and back tires. Sorry I just blew the budget

 

[shooterdon]

I saw a video that one of the guys on this forum made. It was on putting chains on an LSXR4100 series tractor (same model I have), and it took him 3 hours to mount them on one side. IIRC, it went a lot faster on the other side when he took the air out of the tire...but then you need to jack up a 5000 lb tractor.

I HATE the things. It took me an hour of hard work to put chains on a Polaris UTV, but they work well once on. Likely the best option.

This will be my first year blowing snow with my new LS and hope I can get by without chains. I have little to no grade to deal with. I currently have an inquiry in at Kold Kutter for studs that screw into tires. I doubt they will be as good as chains but may be good enough for my needs...and much easier to install. My other thought is to put the studs on the rears and use chains on the front tires.

Like you, I see cost as secondary. My issue is wrestling with 100+ lbs of chain on each of those rear tires. Just to old to handle that. Even if the studs only last 3-4 years I will be OK with that. But I do not run my tractor on pavement and put less than 150 hrs a year on it.

 

[oosik]

I do not know where you are located Small Change. When I needed tractor chains - Les Schwab. I got heavy duty V-bar TRACTOR chains - all four wheels - around $500.

They provided superior traction on my R-1 tires. They rode somewhat cobbie and being REALLY heavy, they were a PITA to install.

There is one thing - the Euro style studded chain will be considerably more expensive than a good set of HD tractor V-bar chains. I wonder - do the Euro style provide an extra level of traction & safety equal to the increase in price over V-bar.

 

[SmallChange]

I live midway between Baltimore, Maryland and Wilmington, Delaware. But I was figuring on ordering chains online. Anything where it is difficult to find the right combination of type and size seems like it would be much harder if I also limited the options to being local.

Is there any problem (beyond paying shipping) with getting chains online?

 

[oosik]

I have a mile long, gravel driveway. It has a deep valley in the middle. The driveway on one side of the valley gets runoff from a large field. This will freeze and make that 150 foot section, on one side of the valley, a challenge, at times. The V-bar chains on my Ford 1700 4WD worked well.

This "snow plowing scenario" was one of the reason, in 2009, I upgraded to my Kubota M6040. The way it is currently set up - it weighs 10,100#. With R-1 tires the Kubota can now plow the entire driveway without chains. The other thing - the MUCH heavier Kubota and Rhino rear blade can clear the berm build up without chains. On the Ford - even with chains - I still needed a 3-point snow blower to clear the berms.

Weight makes the "snow plowing" a whole lot simpler.

 

[SmallChange]

Hey, oosik, you wonder whether studded is sufficiently superior to V-bar to justify the price. I'm looking at photos online and it is pretty darn hard to see the difference. Generally "studded" means they create studs by welding little cylinders onto the link, whereas "V-bar" means they create practically the same studs by welding little V shaped bars onto the links. I even found something sold as "studded" which was actually U shaped bars, or what look simply like half-links, welded on the same as V bars.

Does anybody know why studs welded on one at a time in the form of cylinders would be better than studs welded on two at a time in the form of a V or a U?

In the table that CobyRupert linked, Studded and Duo Ladder V-Bar have almost identical performance profiles. The only difference is Ride Quality gets a Very Good for V-bar and an Excellent for studded.