Snow chains and equipment for B7610

[DennisArrow]

For my B7610, I have available: FEL, rear blade that the angle is adjustable, Box for adding weight to rear, and box blade. My drive is a 1/2 mile partly gravel and part asphalt hill with 20 degree slope going up the hill and back down to the other side. In past winters I had a 2 wheel drive tractor that was pretty useless on snow or ice and my RTV without a blade or snow blower.

We don't get a lot of snow here in NW Georgia but perhaps a couple of days each winter that snow and ice will remain on the drive/road to make it hazardous. It would be nice to be able to clear the road/drive of snow and ice if I could do it without the job becoming hazardous. One one hillside there is about 200 yards of steep road surface with an immediate drop off into trees and steep hillside going down a couple hundred feet. Going out of control on that would be truly deadly. So what to use with my new to me B7610?

I have R4 tires with quite a bit of tread on them. Do I need chains to get traction? Chains for the rear wheels or all 4? Use the rear blade turned around so the tractor is going in reverse with the blade at and angle? I have a 4' blade so when I turn it to an angle the tire track is wider than the blade by a few inches. How, with my blade or FEL, do I keep from tearing up my gravel surface; but remove enough snow/ice?

In '93 we had a storm that came through, knocked power out for several weeks, and the state road out in front of my property was not cleared for more than a week......Yes, this is rare; but wondering how to take care of just a few inches type of snow and ice removal/treatment.

 

[peterc38]

I have a B7610 w/ R4's also and I run chains on the rears. They help a lot for snow removal, especially with traction on ice.

 

[dbutler]

Dennis, I live in upstate NY where we deal with a lot of snow and ice all winter. I have about 800' of driveway with a fairly steep part on a curve. I tried plowing once with my L45 without chains and R4's. Bad idea. With the tractor stuck at the bottom of the driveway, off I went for chains. They were simple duo chain with cross links way to far apart. They caused two problems. The traction was better but still slipped in a spin grab spin grab type way and I had to go very slow in order to not get shook off the seat. The bigger problem was slowing and stopping on the hill. As soon as I let off the HST petal, the tires would skid on the rubber in between the chain. It was very dangerous to say the least.
I have since bought a set of "Trygg" tire chains sold by Comstock logging supply in Dolgeville NY. They have two sets of spiked chain that wrap the circumference of the tire with spiked cross links in an x pattern in between. They are unbelievable... the traction is great on snow and ice and the ride is smooth, which is much easier on the tractor.
My driveway is gravel but my guess is they would not do much
harm your blacktop unless you got stuck somehow and spun them in.
I paid about $425 for them and they are worth every cent.
As for plowing, I pull my back blade and have installed a set of shoes on the back of the blade. These allow me to roll the blade with top link ( with a top n tilt) and not let the blade dig in to the gravel. I adjust the roll angle as snow conditions change and whether or not the ground is frozen.
The blade I use is a Woods medium duty 7'. The shoes are a Woods bolt on option. Hope that info helps you.

 

[NHbotanut]

Ialso have the 7610 with R4's. I have a 1'900' driveway with a 10% grade all uphill. Due to you location, I don't think you would need the chains unless you have ice.

I generally do not put my chains on until I have a packed base that becomes icy.

I found that as long as I had a lot of ballast, I had no problems with traction. I also have my tires loaded, so take that into account.

Good luck with your tractor. It is a powerful little machine!

 

[longshot47]

Tho I've got a power-angle front blade w/shoes, I find the combo of loader/rear blade most effective for moving snow. Conditions dictate tactics, but in deep stuff I frequently plow in reverse, with an angled, reversed and weighted blade [gravel lane]. Also have chains, but they're tough on everything they touch, so they stay in my ballast box. The R4's are pretty good