Light Truck Tire Chain Question

[chipsndust]

Hammer:
Maybe a dumb question, but have you put weight in the back of your pick-up? Especially with the weight of the plow on the front, the rear wheels will lose traction.
I'm clearing my driveway with front mounted blower on tractor now, but when I plowed with 4WD pick-up, even a couple hundred pounds made a big difference. Without weight in the back, any truck will have very poor traction.
Even though I don't use it for plowing, I have two 60lb sand bags and 100lb counterweight in the back. I take the weight out in the spring. It's handy having sand available if you need it. The weight should be over the rear axle, or between the tailgate and axle.

 

[TheHammer]

chipsndust,

Yes, I use cinderblocks for ballast. It is very important, especially going downhill with all the weight of the plow on the front. The rear end is really light without it.

Like I said earlier, most of the time it's not an issue. Only when the temps are hovering around freezing and the snow is real wet and sticky. It gets real slick.

I'm going to see if I can snap a picture or two to show what I'm dealing with.

 

[TheHammer]

Took a couple quick photos:

and....

 

[George2615]

Took a couple quick photos:

and....

How much rear ballast weight do your cinder blocks provide? I have an 07 Duramax EC 4x4 8' bed (haven't installed my plow yet) and without the plow I'm running 480lb of sand ballast (8-60lb bags). If I put the plow on I'll jump the ballast up to about 700-800 lb. My son's driveway is similar to yours and I cannot plow it going uphill, I have to drive through the snow to the top, turn around and plow downhill. This year Though I'm hauling my tractor to his house to plow him since I didn't put the plow on my latest truck.

 

[TheHammer]

How much rear ballast weight do your cinder blocks provide? I have an 07 Duramax EC 4x4 8' bed (haven't installed my plow yet) and without the plow I'm running 480lb of sand ballast (8-60lb bags). If I put the plow on I'll jump the ballast up to about 700-800 lb. My son's driveway is similar to yours and I cannot plow it going uphill, I have to drive through the snow to the top, turn around and plow downhill. This year Though I'm hauling my tractor to his house to plow him since I didn't put the plow on my latest truck.

The recommended ballast amount for my truck with that plow (Western 8' Pro-Plus) is 350 lbs. I use a dozen 12" cinderblocks - each weighs about 30lbs.

Have you plowed your son's place with your tractor before? I'd be curious to hear how the truck does plowing versus the tractor.