TIRE CHAIN STYLES

[Brimfield]

I just put 2.5" spacers on my Kubota l3800 tire size is 15 -19.5 R4 with rim guard The chain styles are Aqualine from tire chains r us and reinforced European style net European diamond tire from tire chains .com and the other style is the ladder. My driveway is paved but older so scratching it is not a worry but that said I wouldn't use V bar. Any recommendations or other places to get chains?
One thing I learned last week was never let the rear tire with Rim Guard fall over. I had fun standing back up. I should have placed it in a better spot when I added the spacers.

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[fishhead]

i got some OFA easyon5's from Windy ridge in new hampshire - price seemed fair an the chains are meant for on road use and ride well

 

[LouNY]

Either one of your first two are excellent tire chains,
they will ride smooth and provide uniform traction.
Ladder style will ride rough and not provide any were's close to the same amount of traction,
even with 2 link spacing they are a slip/grip constantly.
The OFA's and TRYGG are also very good chains.

 

[PlumCrazy814]

I got the V_bar from tire chains. com many years ago and have been happy with them (rear only). Drive is limestone rock/gravel but I cross concrete where I park. They do mark up the concrete when stressed as in tight turns. My R4's will not grab on ice without them. I did have to install spacers.

 

[oosik]

I have two sets of V-bar - - front and rear. They fit my first tractor. Not my Kubota. My driveway is gravel. Scuffing is not a problem. The V-bar gave extreme traction but being ladder type - rode rough.

 

[arrow]

Depends why you want the chains. Any type chain will make a significant difference in traction. If you care about ride, the Aqualines provide a better one. If you are skidding logs, ladder chains work very well but they are bumpy on hard surfaces.

I once put 2 link ladders on the front of one of my tractors and 4 link on the rears. The thing became almost unstoppable in 12" of snow skidding out stems.
I don't care about ride quality, I just appreciated the extra traction.

Either one of your first two are excellent tire chains,
they will ride smooth and provide uniform traction.
Ladder style will ride rough and not provide any were's close to the same amount of traction,
even with 2 link spacing they are a slip/grip constantly.
The OFA's and TRYGG are also very good chains.

Much of this is how you mount the chains. I run my 4 link ladder type loose and have no noticeable problem on ag tires.

 

[check]

I have two sets of V-bar - - front and rear. They fit my first tractor. Not my Kubota. My driveway is gravel. Scuffing is not a problem. The V-bar gave extreme traction but being ladder type - rode rough.

Yup. Me too. I have no pavement to scratch, but I did have to put a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood down on the garage floor where I park the tractor. Unfortunately I do have to drive on Ashfall between my two properties, down about 500 yards of road, and it is like driving a bucking bronco! Don’t use them anymore. Too rough.

 

[Brimfield]

I ended up with H pattern duo for the rear. They have a slightly rough ride but that's ok, this is a winter only for snow removal.

 

[LouNY]

I switched to the Aqualines about 8-9 years ago for my first set.
It was unbelievable the immense difference between the Aqualine and my 2 links spaced
chains conventional bar reinforced chains.
I've run chains on tractors since the late 50's,
I didn't have to mount them back them my father did. Back then the big double ring on
4 link spacing were the standard tire chain, the really good ones had a bar reinforced twist chain
in 4 link spacing on the same chain so you had a 2 link spaced chain with a set of double rings
then twist link bar reinforced. They had great traction in deep snow and mud but on bare frozen ground
you had to idle down in 2nd gear the ride was so rough.
When I started doing my own driveway I just used the bar reinforced 4 link spaced chains on 4x4's and tractors.
Good enough and I usually got the job done and didn't get stuck often.
Then I switched to 2 link spacing and the traction was more then doubled and the ride improved.
With my current driveway the trucks with 2 link spacing did OK you could plow down and backup
to plow down again. Even with chains all around and a loaded sander on the truck it would still chew
and hop trying to plow up the hill. The tractors with 4 link spaced chains could plow down and turn around
and drive back up if you used 3rd or 4th gear for tire speed otherwise a couple of spots would become slip
grab and go slip grab and go. I switched to 2 link spacing and then the tractors could drive back up,
but you could not stop and back up when you tried the chains would just slip and slowly dig and chew.
These were on 2wd 50-60 HP tractors with weights and loaded tires.
Then I got the first set of Aqualine studded chains, I had put a well worn set of 18.4-30 R1's on the tractor
that summer with no fill and no iron on that tractor a IH 574 so she is quite light with the back blade on I
could plow down, stop anywhere on the driveway and backup never could before. After a month of using that
set of chains and seeing what they would do, my brother on the farm ordered 3 sets for over there. Then I got
my 4wd tractor and put them on her. No one that has tried the Euro style patterned studded chains would
ever want to go back. The traction for going and stopping is simply amazing I would not hesitate to say it is a magnitude
of 5 times or more better then convention 2 or 4 link spaced or the dou-grip or H pattern chains.
The ride is almost the same as not having chains on we have no trouble traveling a few miles on paved roads between farms
with loaded feed wagons daily.
I will take my tractor over to the farm occasionally which is 3+ miles at almost max speed on bare roads,
I usually cruise around 13-15 mph on bare roads, when it has had a couple of inches of hard pack or several inches
of fresh snow I have opened her up to the 18-20 mph that she maxs out at.

So a simple and shot answer would be that there is no comparison get the Aqualine or a similar chain and don't look back
or consider the others that may kind of work. That is my opinion after owning and working most styles.