Snow Equipment Owning/Operating Normand Hybrid and R4 Traction

[ruffdog]

What if you had a set of these sway chains but had springs in place of the chains? You could still raise and lower the blower but when lowered, down pressure would still be on the tractor (whatever the springs were rated at). I had a Yazoo front deck mower that used springs in this fashion to aid traction. If the OP had springs rated for 500lbs, it would lighten the load and put it on the rear of the tractor.

 

[MBJones]

Thanks for the insight. I have already removed the quick hitch for the season. The marketing literature states the weight of the blower as 1079#, but the rating plate on the blower states the blower weighs 910#. The ice on the hill is going to be a challenge in the Spring, but I do have a set of front chains if things get too slick.

Looking at the pic of your set up i have a couple of small suggestions. Get rid of that quick hitch. It might not seem like a big deal but it adds a couple inches of more distance between the tractor and the blower. It makes a difference. When using an inverted blower once in a while chucks of ice have hit my rear window real hard that I'm surprised it did not break. If it was to hit the operator with no cab it could easily take out a few teeth. I would look into making a plexiglass shield or at least wear a full face helmet while snowblowing.

 

[fishhead]

the springs are an Interesting idea but the time you are looking for the most "support" is when the blower is raised because that is when the bouncing stresses the hitch

 

[MBJones]

Clever concept. That would certainly work to add the load to the rear tires, but I believe I have enough weight over the loaded rear tires. I'd be a bit worried about having a set of springs with 200-300 pounds of tensile load each. They would need to have safety cables in order to retain the flying bits if they ever failed, but that is certainly doable. I'll keep in in mind. I believe the issue now is traction. There is a point of diminishing returns by adding weight without increasing the coefficient of friction between the rubber and the road. I just need to get a full season under my belt to get a feel for the areas that could use improvement.

What if you had a set of these sway chains but had springs in place of the chains? You could still raise and lower the blower but when lowered, down pressure would still be on the tractor (whatever the springs were rated at). I had a Yazoo front deck mower that used springs in this fashion to aid traction. If the OP had springs rated for 500lbs, it would lighten the load and put it on the rear of the tractor.

View attachment 634381

 

[fishhead]

There are always chains,
the issue i have found with the 3000 series front r4's is finding good ,durable chain, it seems to be an odd size. Where did you find yours?
I have found 2 link to be far preferable to 4 on pavement, smoother and less likely to mark as they don't slip then grip like 4 link

Clever concept. That would certainly work to add the load to the rear tires, but I believe I have enough weight over the loaded rear tires. I'd be a bit worried about having a set of springs with 200-300 pounds of tensile load each. They would need to have safety cables in order to retain the flying bits if they ever failed, but that is certainly doable. I'll keep in in mind. I believe the issue now is traction. There is a point of diminishing returns by adding weight without increasing the coefficient of friction between the rubber and the road. I just need to get a full season under my belt to get a feel for the areas that could use improvement.

 

[MBJones]

I bought 16 sections for ea tire several years ago at Fleet Farm for my Cub Cadet lawn tractor's rear tires. I scavenged the V-bar sections from the Cub's rear set and made a Jacobs Ladder pattern for the 25x8.5-14 front tires. Basically the sections run diagonally across the tire so a chain section is always between the rubber and the road. I had a 2 link ladder config on the Cub Cadet and the ride was very rough as the tire rode over each chain section. I have 8 trampoline springs per tire that are joined in the center by a 1.5" diameter welded ring. This allows for an easy, loose fit over the tire, but once the 8 springs are tensioned, the chain is tightly secured. This way I don't have to mess around with getting the chain to fit tightly before cinching the knuckle busting over center cam tighteners.

There are always chains,
the issue i have found with the 3000 series front r4's is finding good ,durable chain, it seems to be an odd size. Where did you find yours?
I have found 2 link to be far preferable to 4 on pavement, smoother and less likely to mark as they don't slip then grip like 4 link

 

[MBJones]

Thought I'd attach a pic or two of the chains with tighteners. I would have liked another section or two to close the gap at the connection, but they will do in a pinch. They only cost me the price of the side chains. i believe it was around $20 total. The springs I found for free.

 

[kco]

There are always chains,
the issue i have found with the 3000 series front r4's is finding good ,durable chain, it seems to be an odd size. Where did you find yours?
I have found 2 link to be far preferable to 4 on pavement, smoother and less likely to mark as they don't slip then grip like 4 link

My Kioti DK35SE had a similar problem with odd tire sizes. I see the Deere 3520 has two possible sizes for tires; 25x8.5-14 front and 15-x19.5 rear or 27x8.5-15 front and 43x16-20 rear. The 2nd specification is the same as my DK35SE. I found garden tractor chains work fine for the front and went with H-pattern chains. They are smaller guage chain than the rears which probably is a good thing in helping reduce stress on the front wheels.



For the rears I modified heavier DUO chains to H-pattern chains.

 

[MBJones]

Well I got to try the loaded tires on about 3 inches of fresh snow over glare ice. While I can say the grooving and siping of my R4s definitely improved the traction, loading the rears with 640 pounds of RimGuard did not. I needed 4WD to drag the blower up the 7 degree incline. I was hoping to get away with 2WD for most of the job, but needed every bit of traction the 4WD affords. The good news is the added weight didn't hurt and I didn't need to add the front chains. Hoping to get through the entire season without chains.

 

[MBJones]

I do clear my shared drive which is 350 yards long and paved and clear my 4 other neighbors' driveways. Next year I will be soliciting contracts with the adjacent neighborhood and will be traveling down the road a bit. You got me thinking about the 3 point top link. I found an air over hydraulics top link called Hydraulink. Can't seem to find anything current for them. The device would basically ad a shock absorber to my top link without the use of my tractor hydraulics. It seems a Cat2 version is sold at Northern Tool. Do you know anything about them?

Looking at the pic of your set up i have a couple of small suggestions. Get rid of that quick hitch. It might not seem like a big deal but it adds a couple inches of more distance between the tractor and the blower. It makes a difference. When using an inverted blower once in a while chucks of ice have hit my rear window real hard that I'm surprised it did not break. If it was to hit the operator with no cab it could easily take out a few teeth. I would look into making a plexiglass shield or at least wear a full face helmet while snowblowing.