Chains L39 Tire Chains Question

[otus_branch]

Well, like all the other Mid-Atlantic & Southern TBN'ers, I spent my weekend pushing snow (a little more than a foot in my neighborhood). I mostly use my Arctic Cat 700 4-wheeler with a winch & Moose-brand plow. It worked pretty well (though I may consider chains for it too at some point).

But the point of this post is that I want to be able to use my L-39 during snows too. Right now, with the R-4 tires and my steep, curvy drive, the L-39 has remained parked during snowy times, ever since I lost traction on the steepest part of the drive and skidded 50' of the way down to the creek, barely regaining traction (by bumping up the gear # and reversing the direction toward the direction of the skidding) in time.

So I need chains. I am considering a set of duo-ladder v-bar chains from tirechain.com for the front tires only. Thoughts?

Before posting this question, I searched TBN for chains-posts and read a bunch of them. There were several posts recommending against chaining the front wheels only. Main objections seemed to fall into two areas:
1) the front diff. is relatively weak, and chains will stress the diff. unduly.
2) Your rear-end might slide around on an icy hill, and that would be bad juju.

I think that I could address these issues by (1) being careful when pushing snow to take small bites and not dig into the dirt with the rear blade, and (2) keep my front wheels pointed up-hill whenever using the tractor. So I would basically be plowing with the rear blade by backing down the drive, then raise the blade and drive back up, then repeat.

I have read suggestions about chaining the rear wheels only instead, and using the brakes for steering, but my two problems with this option are that (1) rear wheel chains are much more expensive for all that extra steel involved, and (2) I'm not sure I want to have to pay attention to brake-steering while in reverse pushing snow with a blade.

Anyone with thoughts on how front-chains on an L-39 will work and/or suggestions for a better alternative, please chime-in. Thanks,

-otus

 

[Casco1]

I feel your pain, I have the driveway from he** and a mountain behind me with almost constant running water which freezes constantly on the driveway. I could not clean my snow without my chains. I bought double ring self cleaning for the back and square ring chains for the front. The double ring chains work great in the snow and are also very good in Maine's "mud season". The square rings grab well and don't tear up the driveway as much as v links.

My suggestion, Bite the bullet and get the chains You won't be sorry.

I 'm posting some pics the one of the plowed driveway shows the driveway from about halfway up looking down, notice the ice after the snow has been cleared.

Another shows the driveway before clearing, it starts straight turns right behind the utility pole the up about 150' then turns a sharp left to go behind the house. Always an adventure.

The last is my baby at work. smaller than yours but close, a 37hp Grand L.

 

[Evil the Weasel]

As they say... When you're going through he**, keep going! Beautiful property and setting however.

 

[otus_branch]

accidental dupe: delete

 

[otus_branch]

I have the driveway from he** and a mountain behind me with almost constant running water which freezes constantly on the driveway.

Thanks Casco for the suggestions. A lot of water moves down toward me from mountains above as well. I may start with front chains, but will also try to budget for rears in the near future.

Gorgeous place you have there, and a nice machine to care for it too!

-otus

 

[Casco1]

Here's my Christmas card for those of us who appreciate our mechanical helpers

 

[lakeside]

I bought a set of chains from tirechain.com for the rear wheels of my B26, here's the link to what I bought:

ladder  v bar

These chains are incredible, I had two storms to clean up from (20" of snow) and a 100' gravel hill that has a bit more slope than yours. I didn't have a wheel slip once and the chains just bit into the snow and ice like butter. Mind, I wouldn't use them anywhere near asphalt as they'd probably do a really good job of tearing the asphalt to bits. I'd also protect a concrete garage floor with 1/4' plywood strips.

I didn't chain the front wheels as I'd heard about breaking the front diff and I really didn't need that grief. I guess you could chain the front wheels and keep your L39 in 2WD. You'd get the added steering control without any strain on the diff. If you really got stuck you could always engage the 4WD just enough to get out of the situation.

Happy snow clearing!

 

[jlrsn]

otus_branch,
I'd like to know what you wind up getting and how they work on your L39. I've been using some real cheapos that I modified to fit my 15-19.5 R4 tires years ago and I need to replace them as the snow build up is getting quite high. I'm presently 1,300 miles away from my L39 for Christmas and when I get back next month I'm going to have 5'+ plus drifts to worry about.

I'm thinking about the ladder 3/8 cross chain v-bar 2 or 4-link from
15-19.5 Tractor Tire Chains

Thanks,
Jim

 

[curtisfarmer]

I put chains on 1 of my L48s.......night and day. The chains wre about $400 and worth all the $. With the TLBs there is very LITTLE room between the fenderand wheel which requires a super tight fit. On the non-TLBs you can reverse the rims to get more space, but not on the TLBs. Let us know if this is true with the L39s.

Good luck.

 

[jlrsn]

curtisfarmer,
Do you happen to know what style of chains that you used? 2 link or 4 link? V-Bar or Cross Chain? I'm trying to get as much info as possible and have them delivered to my home in CA so that when I arrive up to my house in the Rockies I'll snowshoe in to my house, get my L39 Battery (on a Battery Tender) from my heated garage, and then to my shop which is about 250' from my garage and prepare my L39 to fight it's way out of the sliding doors once I shovel some sliding room to allow them to move. I normally leave my L39 ready to go but this trip was spur of the moment in the first part of October and got extended past the first snow in mid-October. I was only expecting to be gone for 3 weeks.
Thanks for any info you can give me,
Jim