Snow Equipment Owning/Operating Cutting / Groving / Siping R-4 for snow
- Thread starter gladehound
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FreedomFamilyFarms
Silver Member
This was my fault, I was running the iron inches from the propane heater 
NEPA guy
Bronze Member
I don't get how guys think that grooving your tires is going to make a big difference. Winter tires are made of a softer rubber compound which conform to the road more efficiently. That's what makes a winter tire. Grooves in a harder rubber wont flex anywhere near as much as the micro grooves you see in winter tires. Little to no improvement and you just marked up your tires causing them to degrade faster. Think about it logically.
Using turf tires to maximize your surface area or putting chains on is the best thing you can do.
Using turf tires to maximize your surface area or putting chains on is the best thing you can do.
dnw64
Veteran Member
Ach, those grapes were probably sour anyways.
k0ua
Epic Contributor
dragoneggs
Super Star Member
- Joined
- Jun 9, 2013
- Messages
- 13,627
- Location
- Seabeck, Washington
- Tractor
- Kubota BX-25D, Kubota Z122RKW-42
Another great repurpose idea! :thumbsup:Watcha gonna do with all of them "fishing worms"
k0ua
Epic Contributor
Well, the theory is, your missing a piece of the puzzle. Everything you said about winter tires is true, BUT, supposedly the fact that the new grooves in the hard rubber tires will pack with snow, and snow on snow is much better traction than rubber on snow. Now, I grooved my tires on the tractor before the one I own now, but I only was able to test it on one small snow event before I traded it off. I felt it was better, but there wasn't enough testing by me to come to any definite conclusion. However many on here will swear by the effectiveness of this grooving procedure. I never grooved my present tires because I have a set of chains for the rear.
LouNY
Super Star Member
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2015
- Messages
- 12,028
- Location
- Greenwich, NY
- Tractor
- Branson 8050, IH 574, Oliver 1550 Diesel Utility (traded in on Branson) NH 8160. Kioti CK2620SECH
I am a strong believer in using quality chains, especially the Euro or diamond patterned studded style.
That said, years ago in the days of bias ply 10 and 12 ply 7.50-16 pickup tires I had some hard riding and low traction tires,
took them to a truck tire store that had a sipping machine, it put a series of slices in the tread of the tires about a quarter of an inch
apart. I was amazed at the difference in the tires behavior, ride comfort increased, noise decreased, temperature dropped and
the traction improved in dry snow, gravel, and paved roads, the traction was better on ice but wet snow it didn't seem to help.
That was back when I was working as a traveler on controls working out of West Texas and running to Wyoming, New Mexico, Oklahoma,
and on the road to the tune of 60,000 miles a year, went thru a lot of tires.
So yes sipping can help, it will never even come close to quality chains.
My :2cents: :drink:
Lou
That said, years ago in the days of bias ply 10 and 12 ply 7.50-16 pickup tires I had some hard riding and low traction tires,
took them to a truck tire store that had a sipping machine, it put a series of slices in the tread of the tires about a quarter of an inch
apart. I was amazed at the difference in the tires behavior, ride comfort increased, noise decreased, temperature dropped and
the traction improved in dry snow, gravel, and paved roads, the traction was better on ice but wet snow it didn't seem to help.
That was back when I was working as a traveler on controls working out of West Texas and running to Wyoming, New Mexico, Oklahoma,
and on the road to the tune of 60,000 miles a year, went thru a lot of tires.
So yes sipping can help, it will never even come close to quality chains.
My :2cents: :drink:
Lou
FreedomFamilyFarms
Silver Member
I’ve had two opportunities to test these already and I can say with confidence the grooves make a difference. The first was 2-3 inches of powder on ice. The second was 3 inches of heavy wet snow. I was able to move snow uphill on the drive in a couple spots where I would previously spin and have to dump my blade, head uphill and plow downhill. That required a lot of manual blade adjustments.
For me this was a decision based on two factors: 1. The grooving iron cost 1/10th the price of chains and wheel spacers. (~$80 for iron, ~$800 for chains/spacers. 2. Grooving is a permanent mod requiring no prep work when needed.
So far, I’m very pleased with the investment. It may be one of the best ROIs I’ve made on this machine.
For me this was a decision based on two factors: 1. The grooving iron cost 1/10th the price of chains and wheel spacers. (~$80 for iron, ~$800 for chains/spacers. 2. Grooving is a permanent mod requiring no prep work when needed.
So far, I’m very pleased with the investment. It may be one of the best ROIs I’ve made on this machine.
TheFarmerInAdell
Gold Member
- Joined
- May 15, 2018
- Messages
- 396
- Location
- Adell, WI
- Tractor
- Massey Ferguson 2706E, Massey Ferguson GC1705
Anyone know if siping or grooving the track on a CTL would make a difference in snow? right now I have a NH C175 and it came with the block tracks (large alternating squares). It is awful in the snow when plowing. New tracks are along the lines of $1700. Studs for CTL tracks are about $800. If I can spend less than $200 to make these tracks work better in the snow I'd be a happy camper.
