Front tire chains that actually work!

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walkinman1

Member
Member
I have to say hello as this is my first post over here, I see a lot of familiar names so it's good to be here!

I haven't had much time lately to work on anything interesting, just repairs and maintenance to stay busy with. I did try one thing out though that I thought I'd share as it's worked well for me so far. A picture is worth a thousand words but let me know if you have any questions!
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Welcome!

That's an idea I have been kicking around every winter. Our snow is typically a heavy wet snow that one spin will make ice. Makes for interesting steering. I had been thinking of using roller chain. Your setup looks neatly installed.
 
It took a bit of trial and error to get just right but it works really well. The tractor I tried it on (White GT-1650) wouldn't turn hardly at all on snow or ice and it made it very maneuverable again.
I just took a length of chain, figured out the number of links to get even spacing, snipped one side of the link with bolt cutters and opened it up to fit the cross link from the tire chains. I was planning to tack weld the link closed again but so far that hasn't been necessary. I did deflate the tires and set everything snug before I reinflated and nothing has slipped or moved so I'm pretty happy with it.
The one downside is ride quality on a hard surface, it's terrible. It might be better if you used two link chains instead of four link like I did but overall I can't complain, they do exactly what I was hoping they'd do!
 
How about these types of tires. Sort of flexible snowblower tires. Wonder how they would work. ?

Noel
 

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There are some good ideas being tossed around here...

A tire upgrade is in order for that machine of mine (front and back) but I was just trying to work with what I had on hand. I think the 3 rib fronts are what I'll be looking at, the tread on a front tire needs to work against sideways forces almost exclusively (on a 2wd tractor).

If ribbed tires are what farm tractors use then I assume they'll work for me but I've gotta wait til they can fit into the budget. Or I just need cutting brakes but that might be a post for another thread...
 
Propane1 said:
How about these types of tires. Sort of flexible snowblower tires. Wonder how they would work. ?

Noel
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Not terribly well...

Have a set of snowblower tires on front of moto mower, original 480-8-8 tires ate it and blower tires were same size. Snowblower was junk anyhow, so why not?!
 
walkinman1 said:
Do they seem to be too soft or just don't grip very well?
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On pure ice most set ups will slide regardless I find. I have that set up on my LA165, they obviously don't drive but I like them in snow as they don't fill up as much. I find that when you're turning with the blower down you don't slide as much or get "pushed" instead of turning. The weight of the blower hanging there helps too.
 

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After trying the roller chain on the front tires and not being able to keep them on I've gone to just the regular two link chains and the seem to work fine. The roller chain worked good but no matter how tight they were (to the point they were cupping the tire) they would still come off.
 
Someone had mentioned it above. I really wonder how like "ice racing spikes" would work. They sure give those motorcycles as much grip on the ice as they do on the road!

Run the studs in, line the inside of the tire with rubber and throw a tube in there. Sure would be hell on your drive way if it were paved or concrete!
 
I have been doing this for many years. I deflate the tires and make them very tight. You can see the deflected tire in the center. The only problem I have had is popping off the lock link maybe every other winter. I just keep spares. You want the plow to float otherwise if tires are lifted nothing will help steer.front chain installed.jpg
 
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