Tractor tire chains

[heavy hammer]

I agree look in the manual or talk with the dealer. I want to get something for the tractor I have been looking at amazon a big selection.

 

[SpaceBus]

The OEM forward lighting on most tractors is obscured by the loader or bucket. Lighting up high is awesome. I want flood and spot for both directions.

 

[SpaceBus]

My chains came in yesterday and I got the rears mounted, studded diamond. I'm using spring tensioners in the back and what a pain. Probably more difficult than getting the chains on the tires. I tied a rope around the wheel/tire and drove them on. There's a few areas of slack chain links on the tensioners and the mounting on the inside of the tires I need to secure. For a test I parked it on the steepest part of my driveway on snow and ice and tried to drive it. No issues at all, worth every peenny. I would have spun previously and had to back down. These are some seriously heavy duty chains and the rear chains add an easy 75 lbs per wheel. I don't see myself taking them off any time soon, if ever.

The front chains are slightly different as neither set is available in the same size as the other. I'm using reinforced diamond chains in the front and they have a built in tensioner.

I doubt I'll ever use them, but just in case I got a set of chains for the Dually. Heavy Duty two link vbar in the front and dual tire vbar (not two link unfortunately) in the back. I also got some ramps with spaces for the tire chains for an allegedly easy install. They take up so much space so I only ordered one pair. I'm starting to wish I had gotten rubber tensioners for the truck chains instead of the spring tensioners. Maybe it's not so bad on normal sized chains, I've never tire chains before today.

 

[Ashful]

When you say spring tensioners, there are two types. One is okay (not great), the other absolutely sucks.

Not bad, but I always lose the little hooks and pinch skin in the springs:

This style comes with some heavy duty chains, but they suck so bad I just throw them in the trash:

Who on earth thought swingset chain thru eye rings on a spring would be anything but infinite frustration?


I've always liked the looks of this style, but I've never owned them:

 

[SpaceBus]

When you say spring tensioners, there are two types. One is okay (not great), the other absolutely sucks.

Not bad, but I always lose the little hooks and pinch skin in the springs:

View attachment 242064

This style comes with some heavy duty chains, but they suck so bad I just throw them in the trash:

View attachment 242066

Who on earth thought swingset chain thru eye rings on a spring would be anything but infinite frustration?


I've always liked the looks of this style, but I've never owned them:

View attachment 242065

I have this style.


I have no doubt they are effective, but they aren't fun to put on. This would be impossible without the load binder, so I'm glad I called. The front chains have a built in tensioner.

 

[SpaceBus]

Rear chains: https://www.tirechain.com/Tire-Chains-Studded-Tractor.htm

Front chains: https://www.tirechain.com/SkidSteer-Net.htm

 

[heavy hammer]

You have any pics of the rear tires with the chains on or the tractor going up hill. I want a set for the rear just for that same reason when here is snow or ice on my hill going to the woods for wood after a couple passes it is a ice sheet. Those studded chains look aggressive!

 

[SpaceBus]

I tightened the tensioners a bit and tied up the loose links with wire. Later today I'm going to mount the front chains and I'll take that picture for you @heavy hammer

 

[SpaceBus]

Does it matter that the chains aren't perfectly centered around the wheel? Do all of my springs need to have equal tension? The only chains to include instructions are those for my truck. None of the tractor chains came with anything. I would be real screwed if I hadn't called ahead of time to make sure I ordered the right thing. The gentleman on the phone suggested I get the load binder, without which I would not have gotten those tensioners on.

 

[Ashful]

Your top ground speed on that machine is something like 11 mph... I wouldn’t sweat it.

Those fenders look awful tight, with respect to chain clearance. Mine have several inches gap to the tires. Any concerns with a chain catching a fender the wrong way, while going in reverse, or is the picture deceiving?

 

[SpaceBus]

Your top ground speed on that machine is something like 11 mph... I wouldn’t sweat it.

Those fenders look awful tight, with respect to chain clearance. Mine have several inches gap to the tires. Any concerns with a chain catching a fender the wrong way, while going in reverse, or is the picture deceiving?

I wish there were more clearance, but it's not as tight as it seems. Technically the top speed is something absurd like 19 MPH, but I'm never going to do that. I don't even take it out of low range most of the time. Worst case scenario they self clearance. I did chip a bit of plastic while I was mounting them, but that's easily replaced if I ever care enough to do it.

 

[SpaceBus]

The photo will probably wait until tomorrow, I got busy working on some firewood stuff and the day got away from me.

 

[heavy hammer]

How much clearance do you have between the chains and your fender? Those look good I can't see you having any problem getting around now.

 

[Ashful]

Oops, forgot you had dual threads going, @SpaceBus. Prolly should’ve posted here.

I ended up having to chain up today to push my wood wagon (uphill in reverse on saturated mud). In this case, I just did the rears, which was good enough, I didn’t want to bother with all four.

View attachment 242129

Here’s how I’ve been tensioning, I threw the stupid tensioning chain that came with these springs in the trash after two uses.

View attachment 242130

I own and race sailboats, and this is the knot I use for all of my cover ties, so I can tie it darn quick. It has a 2:1 purchase, and comes undone with a simple pull of the pigtail.

 

[Ashful]

Here you can see the impact.

 

[SpaceBus]

Oops, forgot you had dual threads going, @SpaceBus. Prolly should’ve posted here.

I ended up having to chain up today to push my wood wagon (uphill in reverse on saturated mud). In this case, I just did the rears, which was good enough, I didn’t want to bother with all four.

View attachment 242129

Here’s how I’ve been tensioning, I threw the stupid tensioning chain that came with these springs in the trash after two uses.

View attachment 242130

I own and race sailboats, and this is the knot I use for all of my cover ties, so I can tie it darn quick. It has a 2:1 purchase, and comes undone with a simple pull of the pigtail.

I will probably redo the rear tensioners at some point. I put the front chains on and they have an integrated tensioner that works amazing.

 

[SpaceBus]

The first pic is the but of plastic I damaged. This happened while mounting the chains.

The pic with the tractor parked is the worst part of my driveway for traction. The bottom photo is to show what the driveway looks like under the snow (now frozen slush). There are also photos to show where I churned up the snow. I parked the tractor in 2WD and gave it the go pedal until it moved forward. It spun for a few seconds and then grabbed. Very impressed. I did have the diff locked, but I don't know if I needed to. In 4WD there is no spin and nothing happens, even without the front chains.

I almost got stuck with the front tires buried in snow. It just dug until something got traction and it came out.

 

[thewoodlands]

The first pic is the but of plastic I damaged. This happened while mounting the chains.

The pic with the tractor parked is the worst part of my driveway for traction. The bottom photo is to show what the driveway looks like under the snow (now frozen slush). There are also photos to show where I churned up the snow. I parked the tractor in 2WD and gave it the go pedal until it moved forward. It spun for a few seconds and then grabbed. Very impressed. I did have the diff locked, but I don't know if I needed to. In 4WD there is no spin and nothing happens, even without the front chains.

I almost got stuck with the front tires buried in snow. It just dug until something got traction and it came out.

That won't be your last ding on the tractor, the chains look like they're doing the job.

 

[heavy hammer]

You can always get that fixed, those plastic tail light holders are a bad design I have the same already had both replaced I Don't know why they just didn't make them out of metal like the fenders.

 

[MTY]

Those are some serious looking chains. I am impressed. For the most part I use bungee cords for snugging the slack out of chains.

 

[SpaceBus]

You can always get that fixed, those plastic tail light holders are a bad design I have the same already had both replaced I Don't know why they just didn't make them out of metal like the fenders.

I think they do it for easy replacement. It seems to be an area that will take a lot of abuse.

 

[SpaceBus]

Those are some serious looking chains. I am impressed. For the most part I use bungee cords for snugging the slack out of chains.

I was thinking about getting some heavy duty bungee cords from the hardware store to get out a bit more slack. I bet I could use the bungee cords with a windlass and actually get some coil separation on the massive spring tensioners. I have a feeling these were designed for taller tires.