# traction



## ccbracing (Dec 28, 2010)

I'm new to plowing with my atv (Rincon 650) and Moose County 50" plow. First time out traction was lousy on my paved drive with ITP Mudlites. Added 3 sand tubes totaling 180 lbs that helped a lot on the second try, but still finding traction is the limiter. Would like to avoid chains as they're rough on the pavement. Has anybody tried flipping the wheels so the v tread is facing forward? Any other suggestions? Thanks!


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## gemarsh (Oct 31, 2010)

The tires won't clean and will pack full, unless you can spin the snow out. You will have more traction going in reverse after you get stuck going forwards. :>)

Be Safe
Gayle


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## SQuad (Mar 18, 2008)

Costly, but put a set of passenger car snow tires and rims on your ATV for the winter, like night and day. You don'y need deep lug tires once you've plowed the snow to the side or furl it it front of you. Skinnier and a larger contact surface area, siping from the passenger tire will give you the traction your looking for.


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## 06Sierra (Nov 30, 2008)

The crappy stock tires would probable be the best for plowing. How much air are you running in the mudlights?


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## ccbracing (Dec 28, 2010)

about 3.5 lbs, which is what the Honda manual calls for. Is more better?


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## 06Sierra (Nov 30, 2008)

No. I have mudlihgts on mine and only run about 3 psi in each.


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## Aveerainc (Jan 29, 2009)

Try to find SC Cable chains used on cars (many cop cars) - they will not rip up your driveway. I use them on my jeep to plow a 700' (steep) driveway without a problem. Many get 2 sets for front and rear.


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## bullseye (Dec 13, 2009)

ccbracing;1172775 said:


> I'm new to plowing with my atv (Rincon 650) and Moose County 50" plow. First time out traction was lousy on my paved drive with ITP Mudlites. Added 3 sand tubes totaling 180 lbs that helped a lot on the second try, but still finding traction is the limiter. Would like to avoid chains as they're rough on the pavement. Has anybody tried flipping the wheels so the v tread is facing forward? Any other suggestions? Thanks!


I have a Honda 420ES that I plow with and I have "Superlites" on mine. Basically it's a mudlite copy. Not to sound rude BUT did it rain first ?? Was there ice under the snow ??? It is very hard to get great traction when the first layer of snow is solid ice.
I used to have problems with traction with my stock tires but since upgrading to these "Superlights", its like night and day !!! I have nothing but traction !!!! They will slip on ice but you need studded tires on be any good on ice. Maybe air them down a bit (as was suggested by others) and have weight(ballast) does help. Happy plowin !!


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## jmbones (Jun 17, 2009)

I have the giant 27" ITP 589 mud tires on my Prairie 650 with a 60" Warn plow. Mud tires like these are useless for good traction on hard pack snow so I also strap an 80lb bag of rock salt to the back rack. Seems to have decent traction. Was looking at tire chains but with the huge lugs on these 589's, I think the chains would just fall down between them. I have the Warn power pivot and that thing weighs alot, so I figure I can leave the plow just a hair off the ground and use the weight of the plow as traction on the front end as well, just for the initial push. I can clean up later what little it will leave behind. If the snow is wet and heavy, you will have some issues with traction no matter what you do. Just need to keep up with the snowfall and plow more often. We had a 22" snowfall last season and I had no issues plowing it. I had to keep up with it every hour or two, but I like to plow and it's fun for me. We also had a 12+ inch snowfall with alot of drifting, had some 2-3ft drifts and had no issues as well. I had to chunk it and take a little at a time and move it to the side, but it got done. This was all light snow though.


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## ALC-GregH (Nov 26, 2008)

Leaving the blade up a bit is not going to add the weight you're thinking. Put a 100lb bag of sand on the front in addition to the bag on the back rack.

I had great traction with my ITP mudlites. I got stuck once only because I drove up onto a huge drift trying to knock it down and it sank right in once the 4wheeler stopped and the tires started spinning.


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## jmbones (Jun 17, 2009)

It should add at least the 38lbs from the power pivot and what ever the plow weighs.. good enough for me. You can tell by the front end squatting 4 inches. If I do need more, I'll throw another 80lb bag of rock salt on the front like you mentioned.


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## timinnc (Dec 17, 2010)

I was doing ok with my stock tires except on iced over pavement where I would occasionally slip. I purchased some Maxigrip studs (http://www.kenjones.com/Scripts/XListSearch.aspx?XGID=ICE_STUD_HM15) and installed them before the big storm last weekend. I only put a pair on every other of the centermost treads on each tire...probably 30 or so studs per tire. I didn't have _any_ problem with snow and ice with the last storm. The link above takes you to the cheapest source I found, but other sites are more informative.

I like this combo because you still have the deep treads to dig into the snow, but right at at each tire's contact patch I'll always have a few studs on each tire giving just enough "dig" to get the traction on the ice. And I really don't think ATVs are heavy enough for those few studs to really damage the pavement to any significant degree. Worked well for me, but they ain't cheap.

Tim


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## BlueRam2500 (Jan 15, 2005)

I also run the 589 M/S on my Foreman, and with a 50lb cinderblock on the back of the quad it does fine.


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## ccbracing (Dec 28, 2010)

Wow, lots of great ideas. The SC cable chains sound like an unstoppable setup without tearing up the pavement. Checked with one dealer and said they don't make any to fit ATV's. Anybody know how they can be made to fit?


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## sublime68charge (Dec 28, 2007)

I'm sure you could make a set fit if you wanted to. 
though on mudlight tires with the depth of the lugs I would think the cable cross bar's would fall down in between the lugs or you would create a High wear spot where the cable crossed over top the lug for 2"



would a dealer let you take a look at a set and find out biggest thing would be making them shorter.
not the cross cable part but the long part that is on the outside and inside of the tire. for tire chains that's easy remove a cross bar or 2 and then just cut off the excess side chain. done that on a few old car tire chains set's that I have put on ATV's.

sublime out.


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## Aveerainc (Jan 29, 2009)

you should be able to go to their site to see if they make cable chains which will fit your tire. http://scc-chain.com/Traction Pages/Trac_home.html

and for the record prior to going to a Jeep I used an ATV and had regular vbar chains on the rear tires and they did not rip up the pavement - and I did a lot of plowing here in NH a couple of years when we had record snow


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