Tire Chains adjustment and questions

[FredH]

How do Truckers out west put chains on ?

Well first off , you try to avoid the situation if at all possible .

BUT , that is not always an option .

Here is what I do .

Lay out 4 chains . 1 on each side in front of the primary ( front ) drive axle ( outside tire ) , and 1 each side on front trailer axle ( 53' dry van ) . The part of the chain with the hook (inside) and buckle ( outside) will be towards the front , so the links that will hook into them will be right in front of the tire . Straighten chain out so about 3 cross chains are in front of the tire . Pull forward about a foot and then pull chains back over the top of tires . As mentioned ALWAYS hook inside first , this helps in several ways . First and foremost , it keeps the chain on the tire . Truck chains have Cam-locks , ( usually 4 on the outside ) , which help take up slack on the outside of chain so the inside is critical . Next I put another chain behind second drive axle just opposite of what i did for the front drive axle , ( Buckle and hook towards the back of truck ) . Drive back a foot and pull chains over the back of tire towards the front , repeating the above process .

I have seen the spring tensioners , but I use a rubber spider bungee . Looks similar to spring tensioner just it is rubber with 6 legs .

As I mentioned , Truck chains have cam locks on the outside so when you get the chain tight , then you start turning each cam lock , things get tight real quick . The spider bungee takes up any slack that may develope , ( breaking a cross chain from running on bare pavement for 80 miles per California Highway Patrol and CalTrans regulations the other Day ) so the chain remains tight without slapping . Actually broke 10 cross chains on the 6 chains I had on that day , just finished repairing them .

Ag chains may be different in that they do not have cam locks , which may be something that I would consider adding if I needed to chain my New Holland although that is very rare ( like Never ) . We do get snow here , but most of the property is downhill , so plowing the driveway is a piece of cake . Let gravity take me down 1 side then back up the plowed area and let gravity take me down the other side .

Fred H.

 

[mtg65]

That what we call a "chain jack" and they pull quite hard and get the hooks close together. But you still can't pull the slack all the way around the tire, although it would be more effective on a lighter chain then a 1200 skidder chain. With the ropes you dont have to pull hard, it allows you to roll the tire around and gather up the slack when it becomes available.
Did the criss cross spring assembly come with the chains?
Ken

The chain was manufactured by Norse which was available through my local dealer, the criss cross spring assembly I got from Tirechains.com.

 

[Chilly807]

On the other side of the coin, some chain manufacturers tell you to leave the chains fairly loose so they can move around a bit. You do have to have proper clearance though, often this is a problem with R4 tires. Mine are quite loose, you can get a fist between the side chain and the tire. No problems keeping them on, ride quality is very good, and traction is great.
Sean

 

[ovrszd]

On the other side of the coin, some chain manufacturers tell you to leave the chains fairly loose so they can move around a bit. You do have to have proper clearance though, often this is a problem with R4 tires. Mine are quite loose, you can get a fist between the side chain and the tire. No problems keeping them on, ride quality is very good, and traction is great.
Sean

Yep. I struggle with this on a road grader. If I put the chains on real tight they will creep and the crossbars get between the tire lugs and the chains lose their effectiveness. If I run them loose they will fling themselves out of the lugs each rotation and stay effective.

 

[oosik]

I used chains, occasionally, when I had the Ford 1700. The rears were heavy, cumbersome and just plain difficult to install. And although they were much easier to instal in warm wx, I disliked going - klump, klump, klump - everywhere. I can only imagine how heavy chains would be for my new tractor. I have developed an alternate plowing procedure for the valley in my driveway(the only place chains are ever needed) and will NEVER again need chains. The little 1700 with chains felt like it could climb trees with the added traction.

 

[kco]

It appears you are having troubles similar to mine when I got DUO's for my DK35 R4's. My first set had too-long crosschains which were replaced with a more appropriate size. These worked OK but still had tight clearances and a rough ride. Major modifications as described in this thread:

DUO Chains - planned modifications

made a large difference.

My clearance problem was with the fender support and sidewall. i.e. not from the tire tread face to the fender. Adding more patterns made my chains ride higher on the tire wall giving more clearance to the side support. My other option would have been to add wheel spacers(my rims aren't adjustable).

From your post it seems like your only option with these chains is to install them tightly so there is virtually no slack from the tire, which may require shortening the chains. If there is too large a gap where the chain ends join, you can fill it with an ordinary straight cross chain attached with quick links if necessary.

 

[ovrszd]

I used chains, occasionally, when I had the Ford 1700. The rears were heavy, cumbersome and just plain difficult to install. And although they were much easier to instal in warm wx, I disliked going - klump, klump, klump - everywhere. I can only imagine how heavy chains would be for my new tractor. I have developed an alternate plowing procedure for the valley in my driveway(the only place chains are ever needed) and will NEVER again need chains. The little 1700 with chains felt like it could climb trees with the added traction.

Yep, chains are only tolerable when they are NEEDED. I ran chains on my L4400 because at the time I was doing a lot of Winter timber work. Loved them. They increased my productivity tremendously. A rear tire chained tractor in 2wd will go where an unchained 4wd tractor can't go in slippery conditions.

 

[Wyobuckaroo]

I run a set of 2 link ladder chains with 33" turf tires on my older JD855.
There are 21 cross links so I use 3 equally spaced bungee cords on the inside.
And 2 bungee cords with 3 hooks each on the outside...

Keeps them snug, but not overly tight without problems hooking up.
Has worked well for me...
Good luck

 

[Arc weld]

Turf tires are more in line with truck tires because you don't have to worry about the cross chains going in between the lugs. I bought Duo-Grip chains for my 14-9 x 24 R1 AG tires and put them tight with bungee cords the first time I put them on. As soon as you get in a situation where the tire spins, it pulled the cross chains into the lugs. Someone even suggested I bought the wrong chains, which I didn't. I read some posts and put them looser and they worked way better. The cross chains fall off the tire a couple inches every time they come around and this cleans any snow and ice build up off. Also works good in mud in the spring. For high speed you need to have them tight.

 

[PhysAssist]

Just so we are all clear, this was posted in reponse to a 5-year old thread, (not thatthere is anything wrong with that...) and given the weather coming up to the NE later this week, I started at the beginning and read all the way through just to refresh my tire chain-fu



Thomas

On the other side of the coin, some chain manufacturers tell you to leave the chains fairly loose so they can move around a bit. You do have to have proper clearance though, often this is a problem with R4 tires. Mine are quite loose, you can get a fist between the side chain and the tire. No problems keeping them on, ride quality is very good, and traction is great.
Sean