Put my Chains on Today

[IXLR8]

I put my chains on yesterday, woke up to 3" of snow today and still snowing!! I run front and rear chains, strictly for moving snow.

 

[Gordon Gould]

Very nice setup, Gordon, I see you have R1's on the back.:thumbsup:
Is that the plow you use on your tractor.

No that is a 9 footer I use on my One Ton. I don't normally plow with the tractor but spend a lot of time push banks back with it.

 

[DeereMann]

I am soooo happy not to need chains anymore now that I have a 4WD tractor with turf tires!! (don't go into woods much) Thanks to TBN counseling. Then again, I'm not retired yet and don't have the time to futz as much as some here.

Time to change avatar to winter, I guess. 12.5 inches snow here on Monday.

 

[Jay4200]

However, I believe front chains would be beneficial but my tractor dealer advised me not to use them in the woods where the ground is rough. He explained it this way. The front end drive train is relatively weak, made with small components. If you are plowing a driveway on smooth ground front chains would be OK because the chained front tires will not loose traction very often and there will be no strong jerky forces on the weak front drive train. But if on rough ground in the woods pulling a heavy load a front tire will lose traction and start to spin every time you go over a depression or bump and then the spinning chained tire will suddenly grab putting strong jerky forces on the little drive train. Do this enough times and something will break. So because of this advise I have not chained the front. Some have and w/o trouble. Some have and had big trouble. I don't want to chance it.

Interesting - I'll buy that. I've only been chaining the front for the last 5 years for snowblowing my drive. No tire spin involved anywhere. I'd like to chain the rears, but given how much hassle putting on the fronts is, I can't imagine ever being able to actually get them on - never even tried. Rear 2-link ladders still brand new in the box - $400 down the crapper.

 

[Wolfy]

Rear chains are easy once you master them. I have probably installed chains on 2 dozen different machines over the last 15 years.

 

[k0ua]

Interesting - I'll buy that. I've only been chaining the front for the last 5 years for snowblowing my drive. No tire spin involved anywhere. I'd like to chain the rears, but given how much hassle putting on the fronts is, I can't imagine ever being able to actually get them on - never even tried. Rear 2-link ladders still brand new in the box - $400 down the crapper.

I won't say it is as easy as falling off a log, but it is not so bad as to leave them in the box.. There are as many methods as there are people. But this is what I did last Saturday. Get out your hydraulic floor jack, and jack up the center of your tractor, taking both rear tires off of the ground about 2 inches. Lay out the chains to the rear of the tires the way they will go, with the bottom of the chains on the ground. Drag them up to hook on the tire and hold the end on the tire with one hand while you rotate the tire forward with the other.. This is not all that hard to do. As the chains hook on the tire and start to go down the front side of the rotating tire (by the way the other tire is rotating in the other direction due to differential action). The weight of the chains on the tire want to keep the rotation going, so be prepared to stop the tire before it goes too far or it will just dump the chains on the ground in front of the tire.:shocked:

Prepare a "reacher stick" I made one from a piece of PVC pipe with a hook on the end. Position yourself at the back of the tire with the chain balanced and draped over the tire. Now rotate a bit more so that the front of the chain starts to pile up on the ground in front of the tire. Reach under the tire with the stick with a hook and hook the chain and drag it under the tire. Pull it up a bit onto the rear of the tire, to get the center and side hooks hooked up. Continue to tighten as needed and straighten out the chain as you rotate the tire through several rotations. Repeat for other side.. You are now hooked up. Not a whole lot of cursing needed, and no driving of tractor over chains etc. Not a lot of hassle. and if you have garage floor to do this on, even better.

Again there are many other ways to accomplish this, but this is what I did. There you go, free advice!.. and worth every cent you paid for it!

 

[keony]

Jay: I bet you could sell those chains, what size and price?

 

[arrow]

I just have them on the back. I use the tractor mostly in the woods. With a load on the 3ph the front end tends to be light so it can be hard to turn especially when you have a 35 foot log rudder on the back trying to hold you straight. Sometimes I see those little front tires turning in the snow trying to get purchase to make a turn and they just can't. But the steering brakes work great (I use them a lot) and turns aren't a problem when using them. I get enough pulling traction with the rear chains and the diff lock (when needed). However, I believe front chains would be beneficial but my tractor dealer advised me not to use them in the woods where the ground is rough. He explained it this way. The front end drive train is relatively weak, made with small components. If you are plowing a driveway on smooth ground front chains would be OK because the chained front tires will not loose traction very often and there will be no strong jerky forces on the weak front drive train. But if on rough ground in the woods pulling a heavy load a front tire will lose traction and start to spin every time you go over a depression or bump and then the spinning chained tire will suddenly grab putting strong jerky forces on the little drive train. Do this enough times and something will break. So because of this advise I have not chained the front. Some have and w/o trouble. Some have and had big trouble. I don't want to chance it.

My favorite kind of pic.

 

[arrow]

Interesting - I'll buy that. I've only been chaining the front for the last 5 years for snowblowing my drive. No tire spin involved anywhere. I'd like to chain the rears, but given how much hassle putting on the fronts is, I can't imagine ever being able to actually get them on - never even tried. Rear 2-link ladders still brand new in the box - $400 down the crapper.

My experience with front chains while in the woods is way different than your guy explains. First, our loads like what is in your pic, put most of the weight on the rear of the machine. I use front tire assist mostly for when the tractor is going through deep snow and mostly on the return. I have never seen the front tires "spin and grab" because things are happening in slow motion when skidding with not enough rotational speed for front tires to "lock in" so to speak traction wise. I have seen front tires spin with chains while doing what your guy is saying is all right to use. That is: when plowing snow. Especially when your tractor is reaching it's "push" limit and the fronts begin to spin because of the snow load.

I agree the front is weaker than the back but I would need another reason not to use front chains such as "not spinning" as spinning is really a relinquishing of load and sort of acts as a like a safety valve. Chains might provide too much traction for the fronts putting strain on the front components when it is safer for them to "spin" and chains preventing that. The thing I like about front chains the most is the protection they give the tires in rocky, ground obstructed terrain.

 

[Wolfy]

I think front chains are one of those things that can work, but you must be careful with them. You could damage the front axle with chains, then again, if you do not have front chains, and say the tractor slides into a car....