Why don't they sell chains that attach in segments to holes in the rim?

[SmallChange]

Seems like it'd be easier to put chains on tires if they were separate segments, and each one anchored to points on the rim. You'd only have to adjust one at a time, not try to shift everything around on the tire with part of it pinned down.

Are there any like this?

 

[sea2summit]

Sounds like a great way to tear up your rim with metal on metal contact grinding away all winter.

 

[RickB]

Because conventional tire chains install with two attaching points per chain (to itself). Not complicated or difficult, they go on and stay on when properly sized and installed.

 

[Farmer495]

Seems like it'd be easier to put chains on tires if they were separate segments, and each one anchored to points on the rim. You'd only have to adjust one at a time, not try to shift everything around on the tire with part of it pinned down.

Are there any like this?

I jack the wheel clear of the ground and then I can rotate the wheel/tire chain easily and not worry about it being pinned down. I mount a pair of chains on a set of 14.9-28s every winter.

 

[hube2]

I'm with others about multiple segments of chain. Just means more ways for it to go wrong.

there is a topic about mounting chains, and since read it is the only way I mount chains.

Mounting tire chains

I put chains on one tractor yesterday, there are lots of ways to mount chains I thought I would share the easiest way I have found to do so. 1) lay the chains out with the outside, the ground contact side facing up 2) tie a short cord to the side chains, the length will depend on your tire...

www.tractorbynet.com

I used to jack up the tractor, what a PITA that was manhandling the chains over the wheels.

Seriously, with the above method the chains are tight when they are ready to be fastened together.

 

[Jstpssng]

I've always laid them out in front of the tire, drive forward, hook them as tight as I can, go forward a couple of tire rotations and tighten again. I've logged many hundred hours without problems and many hundred pickup miles installing them the same way. I tried the method Hube2 mentions above but for my chains it's more hassle. For heavier chains though it seems like the cat's meow.

 

[bdhsfz6]

I lay the chains out on an 18" wide by 8 foot long strip of plywood. I then lift the front tires off the ground with the FEL and slide the plywood underneath. For the rear, I use the BH stabilizers to raise the tires off the ground and repeat.

The plywood makes it easy to lay the chains out straight and orient them properly. This is especially helpful with cleated chains. I usually leave the tires off the ground while installing so they can be rotated by hand.

 

[rScotty]

Seems like it'd be easier to put chains on tires if they were separate segments, and each one anchored to points on the rim. You'd only have to adjust one at a time, not try to shift everything around on the tire with part of it pinned down.

Are there any like this?

Don't know...I haven't seen any that hook up that way. Some rims have holes in them. Maybe the holes could be used in some fashion, although they might need a hard rubber insert in the hole to prevent metal-on-metal wear.

I do know that in our old front wheel drive family car - a Saab - we didn't use chains because it was a highway car. But I did keep a couple of pieces of rope in the trunk and used them to get through deep snow by winding rope around as much of the tire as I could reach and through the holes in the wheel.

Maybe you have something & maybe not. Why don't you make up some - use them for a season - and report back?

Everyone who uses chains seems to have a favorite method.
rScotty

 

[bdhsfz6]

Strap on chains such as these have been around for many years:

11-22.5, 11 22.5 Strap On Emergency Tire Chains set of 2

Free Same Day Shipping. 11-22.5, 11 22.5 Strap On Emergency Tire Chains set of 2 9/32 (.281) Heavy Duty Cross Chain Strap Emergency Chains

tirechain.com

They might work on small front tractor tires with slotted rims but I doubt they would last very long.

 

[SmallChange]

Maybe you have something & maybe not. Why don't you make up some - use them for a season - and report back?

Everyone who uses chains seems to have a favorite method.

Sadly, there aren't any holes through my rims, and no attachment points other than the lug bolts themselves, which I'm apprehensive about trying to exploit. I'd have to start drilling. Which I could, I suppose, but I'm not quite at that point just yet.

If I happened to have holes already, I would give this a shot, easy.

 

[Williy]

On my pickup when I lived in Wisconsin I
put the chains on and used hog rings to
make sure the clasps did not come undone
I have seen bungee cords used to tighten
the chains and

willy

 

[oosik]

I found that upgrading to a much heavier tractor no longer required chains. HURRAH!!!

I see most of those "strap on" chains are called emergency. Designed to get a vehicle out of a single situation. Probably would not last long with continuous use.

 

[fishhead]

Chains like studded tires are pretty much needed here. I have found the place behind and drive forward method really works well. Then too a switch to euro style chains gave much better traction and ride with the side benefit of not wanting tight chans.

 

[rScotty]

When I first started putting chains on my tractor it was a wrestling match that ended with a heavy rubber tension tightener in the middle of the wheel to help hold them in position. They worked pretty good with a lot of grinding and clanking until something - usually something on the tensioner - came loose or broke.

As the years went on, I found that if I just took the trouble before the snow season to make the side chains fit right in the first place, the whole chain set became easier to mount, nothing broke, and the center tightener no longer necessary.
rScotty

 

[not2old]

When I was a kid, snow tires were a luxury we couldn't afford. Dad kept an old set of tires mounted on extra rims that were fitted with chains and kept in the trunk for use when needed. They were installed on the tire, tightened, and then had the tires filled with air to make them very secure. A 1953 extremely gutless Buick easily went through 2' deep fresh snow when my brother needed help delivering newspapers. Some others had chains that used leather belts that ran through the holes in the rims to secure them. Two sections of chain per belt and three or four to do the whole wheel. Dad didn't use those because he told me that they didn't last long and caused lots of damage when being thrown off.

 

[LouNY]

They do for short low speed distances;
here you go,
https://www.amazon.com/Chains-Emerg...ocphy=9004960&hvtargid=pla-584307701949&psc=1

 

[SmallChange]

here you go

Yes, this is definitely what I was asking about!

Now, these are for cars, and say they're just for short distances at low speed, just for emergencies. I wonder why? Perhaps it's because they are held on by fabric straps, which they may have done because people tend to have expensive decorative wheels on cars that they don't want scratched. On top of that, a car can easily go fast enough that a chain flailing around could do major damage including to other drivers.

I think if I were going to design something from scratch I'd make them entirely out of chain, and design mounting hooks into the wheel on the inner face, and an attachment point on the outer face of the wheel that includes tightening ability, such as a bolt you drive into the wheel. Nice and strong, so it's not breakable by use.