Snow Chains On The Front Only ??

[CADplans]

My JD 4105 has R4 tires in it, and,, even in 4WD, it does poorly when there is snow on the ground,
Chains are prohibitively priced for the rear tires,, considering how little snow we get,
So, I am stuck using my larger 584 IH that has AG tires on it for snow duty,,

Well, I was digging through some stuff, and darned if I didn't find a set of chains that will fit the front tires,,
The chains are not an exact drop-on, I will have to lengthen the chains about 6 inches,,
so, before I try to lengthen the chains, I thought I would ask,,,

Has anyone tried plowing snow with front-only tire chains? Will it work, or is front-only chains a waste of time?

 

[Agvg]

Should work Ok, just be a bit carefull if you are pulling real hard, for example trying to pull up a stuck, heavy car when in reverse, that can give a very hard load on your front axle.

 

[Rustyiron]

:thumbsup:

 

[Oldstuff]

This applies to a truck/Jeep and other 4WD's from my experience in hunting in Colorado and seems like it could apply to a tractor. Out there in deep snow it was pretty common to see 4WD's with chains on the front so I asked a local fellow about it and he explained that it gives one just as good traction but adds better steering abilities. The next time I went there I chained up the front on my Jeep and decided he was correct. I also saw Jeeps with one chain on the left front and one chain on the right rear and those guys were getting around jut fine. There was 12 inches or more of snow when I chained up on the front only.

 

[LD48750]

All I use for my CUT.

 

[JLH4]

I chained up the front because I couldn't hardly get up a 50 foot slope in the mud, works great now with or without a load as long as I'm in low, 4wd & diff locked. Haven't tried in snow yet, might get some this weekend.

 

[LouNY]

Your front axle is not your stronger axle, that said you should be fine.
Most chains that get put on front axles are what I consider to be light duty chains.
You will likely get less traction with them then you do with your tires on a hard packed driveway.
The only concern I would mention is that with conventional 4 link spaced chains,
if you get to spinning and digging you may be getting some jolting impact type wear and tear
which can be hard on the drop box bevel gears as it's not a smooth hard pull but a grab and bite.
Now if you use these on the front you can get a lot of traction in snow or frozen ground, more then summer at times.

 

[MHarryE]

I have chains front only primarily for steering ability. Even with chains the tires spin easier on our frozen ground than they do in the summer on gravel with a load in the bucket.

 

[CobyRupert]

OP is plowing.
If snow is really heavy, doesn't the question become how much does the geometry of the plow connection lift up the front end of his tractor?

I agree that have any chains is better than nothing. And chains will still be helpful when you get off the plowed path or backing up, etc... And if slippage is too much, just raise plow some so weight/traction returns to front wheels .

 

[CADplans]

OP is plowing.
If snow is really heavy, doesn't the question become how much does the geometry of the plow connection lift up the front end of his tractor?

I agree that have any chains is better than nothing.

The tractor will only be used with a rear blade, there is no loader,,

Without chains, and 3 inches of non-ice snow,, it was ALL I could do to get the tractor to this location so I could take the pic,,,

The tractor did seem to go OK, but, it was impossible to steer,,,
the front of the tractor would just slide to whatever direction was "down hill",,,

 

[oosik]

Boy, do I know what you mean - CADplans. True tractor chains for the rears are - heavy, expensive, tough to instal. One year I just said to H**L with it all. Put them just on the fronts. Just, almost, as good as having all four chained up. Sure a whole lot easier for this old fart.

Even better - got my M6040. Don't need chains anymore.

 

[LouNY]

Boy, do I know what you mean - CADplans. True tractor chains for the rears are - heavy, expensive, tough to instal. One year I just said to H**L with it all. Put them just on the fronts. Just, almost, as good as having all four chained up. Sure a whole lot easier for this old fart.

Even better - got my M6040. Don't need chains anymore.

Your lucky in that respect, I going out in a bit and get in my 8050 which is a few hp and a few thousand pounds heavier and move about 3 inches of heavy wet snow,without chains there is no way I would make it back up my driveway.
Feed lot tractors got chained up this morning also.
Wet snow equals instant slick around here.

 

[oosik]

My first tractor - 1982 Ford 1700 4WD. When the driveway iced up - no question - I needed chains. My 2009 Kubota M6040 all decked out weighs - 10,100 pounds. No need for chains.

 

[LouNY]

My first tractor - 1982 Ford 1700 4WD. When the driveway iced up - no question - I needed chains. My 2009 Kubota M6040 all decked out weighs - 10,100 pounds. No need for chains.

I'm at a bit over 11,000 on the 8050, the Puma 125 is well over 15,000, the NH 6040 just a bit less, the IH Magnums 18 to 24,000 in wet packey snow once that tire runs over it, if it slips any you end up with instant ice.
The 8050 is my primary driveway tractor, my driveway is a quarter mile of 14-16 degree hill (24-26% slope), start down that you need studded tires or chains when it's got snow on it, especially wet snow.
My sand truck has studded tires with a pair of mounted tires with chains ready to go, my RAM 1500 and my wifes Equinox are on studded Nokia tires.
And I even have a set of chains for my pickup, expensive 2 links which I haven't had to use yet. I would have put them on one time but I couldn't get to them that night.
Brought the Puma over made it up the driveway plowed sanded and then drove the RAM up.

 

[finn1]

Anyone tried adding studs to the front, or, for that matter, all of the tractor tires?

My dealer is pushing studs rather than chains.

I looked at them online last year but didn’t pull the trigger. May do so next week when I get home and start blowing snow.

 

[ededic]

I have turf tires on my JD2210 and never needed chains or studs. I wouldn’t like the damage to my high polish concrete.

 

[oosik]

Studs will only help if your tires make contact with a hard surface.

 

[CADplans]

Anyone tried adding studs to the front, or, for that matter, all of the tractor tires?

My dealer is pushing studs rather than chains.

I would be afraid that next summer,, the studs would punch holes in the blades of grass as I mow,,, :confused2:


:laughing:

I have run studs and at other times, chains on a car,,

Studs increase traction like 100%,,, chains increase traction like 400%

Studs would not be enough "traction help" for me,,,

 

[Agvg]

Studs are very common on tractors and works well but chains gives more traction, the reason studs are popular here are the road use of tractors, almost all snow clearing on roads are done with tractors, lot of transportation in construction are also done by large tractors.

 

[LD48750]

I have turf tires on my JD2210 and never needed chains or studs. I wouldn’t like the damage to my high polish concrete.

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I really don't undersand that.
I have turfs on my Ford 1510 and it is useless in anything over 3" of snow & less then that on hills.
I even loaded all 4 tires with no improvement.
Front chains (from a lawn tractor) and it can get through 8" and more.
It even can plow as long as it isn't too wet.