Winter Traction..........

[mjstef]

Anyone blowing snow with a skid steer? Sold my tractor this spring and bought a skid steer. Putting a hydraulic blower on it. I STRICTLY do rural vacation homes and some of them are reasonably steep. Not blowing on a regular basis, only when the straight blade guys can't push it any more or if someone hasn't plowed all winter as many of these homes are not occupied Nov-April but need to get LP in on occasion. I always ran H-Pattern chains on the back and studded truck chains on the front of my tractor. Wondering how chains are on a Skid Steer or would i be better off with studs in the tires?

 

[Phil314]

I don't blow snow, but I've been plowing my driveway for 20+ years. It's got a steep uphill section and plowing uphill sucks. I ran just regular chains over dirt tires for years and the chains are great and work well. The last 2 years, I tried using dedicated snow tires (37"). They gave me more speed, clearance, and traction. They work even better than chains IMHO. I would post a pic or video if this website wasn't stuck in the 90's.

 

[flyerdan]

I don't blow snow, but I've been plowing my driveway for 20+ years. It's got a steep uphill section and plowing uphill sucks. I ran just regular chains over dirt tires for years and the chains are great and work well. The last 2 years, I tried using dedicated snow tires (37"). They gave me more speed, clearance, and traction. They work even better than chains IMHO. I would post a pic or video if this website wasn't stuck in the 90's.

It seems to me that studded tires were developed so they could operate at speeds higher than chains, and not incur the structural damage when a chain lets go. Since the speed isn't an issue on the skidsteer, a good chain will bite better in snow and ice, and will also allow road travel in the summer when studded tires will get you a ticket. Not an issue very often I'm sure, but you can bet if you had to walk it down the road to a neighbor's with one side on the pavement, a sharp-eyed peeler would spot those studs and ticket you.

 

[koko]

I'm with Phil314, chains are the best for traction. Been plowing my driveway & yard for 20 years & have found chains to work best in west central Alberta. I ran a tanker truck company in the oilfield and had piles of half worn tripple Trygg chains. To fit my 853, 12:00 x 16.5 tires, I take all of the cross links from one side of the tripples & add them to the other side making a single with double cross links. Put these on the back & go plowing! Being that you use a blower, you may have to put them on the front as you may have more weight there. When plowing my front tires are usually up in the air to get my weight where it's needed. Also if you have a unit that has less tire to machine clearance you may have to add spacers to the wheels to get clearance or what my neighbour did is just put the wheels on backwards. that was good enough for the small area that he has to plow but I would recommend spacers if you're working commercially.

 

[mrbb]

this is an OLD topic here, from 2019
But to anyone planning to add chains or studs to tires to plow snow with
' keep in mind, that adding them can cause damage top the pavement and concrete driveways many homes have, and can end up with you getting sued fior damages come spring time(and don;'t discount damaging city state or other wise owned roads too)
using dedicated SNOW tires will give you a mot more traction over standard skid steer tires and not have the damage studs and chains can do!

just food for thought here, no bash
chains and studs to wonders all the more so on ice or hard packed snow so they do have pro's for sure,
but?/
I will only use them on dirt and gravel drive ways and sites where damage to the ground is not that worry some!

 

[koko]

this is an OLD topic here, from 2019
But to anyone planning to add chains or studs to tires to plow snow with
' keep in mind, that adding them can cause damage top the pavement and concrete driveways many homes have, and can end up with you getting sued fior damages come spring time(and don;'t discount damaging city state or other wise owned roads too)
using dedicated SNOW tires will give you a mot more traction over standard skid steer tires and not have the damage studs and chains can do!

just food for thought here, no bash
chains and studs to wonders all the more so on ice or hard packed snow so they do have pro's for sure,
but?/
I will only use them on dirt and gravel drive ways and sites where damage to the ground is not that worry some!

My bad for not adding that. I take mine off when putting my machine in the shop.

 

[Gervs]

Just a quick note on protecting your floors from the chains. We use sections of heavy rubber from a coal plant conveyor belt. Easier than taking chains on and off.