# chain or not to chain??



## deere 332 (Jul 20, 2010)

i used my deere skid steer for the first time with a ten foot pusher and was frustrated by the lack of traction. would it be wise to put on a set of chains on the rear of the machine?? the machine weighs about 9300 lbs. i am concerned that the chains will rip up the black top i don't know how big of a concern that is thanks


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## NW Snow Removal (Oct 12, 2007)

Id be careful about the chains if the lot is nice. It may be that you are putting too much weight on the pusher. try barely setting the pusher on the ground. make sure all 4 wheels are on the ground, if you put the pusher down too much and the front wheels come off the ground you will lose a ton of traction. this is why we use the floating 10ft sectionals; we could only use 8 ft boxes before we started with those. especially when the snow was heavy.


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## alwayz-plowin (Mar 4, 2010)

None of my machines are that heavy so i really dont know 
But i would said if the black top is pretty old Its gonna be a lot my Solid..... but then again it might be frail. 

But definitely if the black top is new-ish i would not use chains.... 
1. because you might leave tracks everywhere which wouldnt be to attractive.
2. i dont know if you keep the machine on site bit if you do there will be chain marks or the black top under each tire if it sits long enough. 

So really its up to you to determine what your condition is. 
Also your blade is probably too big for the machine you have..
What size blade are you using?


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## deere 332 (Jul 20, 2010)

thanks i am using a ten foot pusher with a rubber edge


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## deere 332 (Jul 20, 2010)

should i be pushing with the boom on float?


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## Brian Young (Aug 13, 2005)

deere 332;1138109 said:


> i used my deere skid steer for the first time with a ten foot pusher and was frustrated by the lack of traction. would it be wise to put on a set of chains on the rear of the machine?? the machine weighs about 9300 lbs. i am concerned that the chains will rip up the black top i don't know how big of a concern that is thanks


Chains would be the quickest, cheapest way to get good traction. The chains will wear down and or break before it would hurt the black top. I was concerned about traction with my NH LX665 pushing a 8ft skid steer plow with wings and last night I got a chance to use it. It lost traction a few times but it was all frozen over slush and about 2 inches of wet snow on a up hill parking lot. I have new chains for it but dont want to use them unless absolutely necessary. I got my set from a Bobcat dealer, the first set broke within only rolling a few feet last year so they gave me a new set that we havent used yet....they are expensive at almost 200 bucks/pair.


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## bechbru2 (Oct 28, 2009)

we run chains on the back of our ls180 in bad storms. I never had a complaint about black top damage. I would guess the guys that did spent to much time spinning there tires.


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## fourthcoastcont (Sep 17, 2009)

I have a T300 and dont have any problems with are push????????????


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## deere 332 (Jul 20, 2010)

thanks brian,

i used my pusher for the first time last night and the first time wasn't bad, it was when i was going over it a second time with a couple more inches on the ground. i figure it wouldn't be a bad idea to pick up a pair for the rear tires to use in slick conditions. i have never used chains and was thinking it would take care of my slipping and slidding and lack of traction. everyone around me that uses frontend loaders has chains how big a difference do they make??


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## deere 332 (Jul 20, 2010)

how big a difference do the chains make it seems like i am slipping and slidding alot even with the blade up


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## deere 332 (Jul 20, 2010)

i originally was looking at a track machine and the dealers would tell me to stay away and get a tire machine because of the ground pressure they said the tracks spin out alot. it seems thats all i do with my tire machine, i may have made a mistake?


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## cssjim (Nov 18, 2010)

A good set of snow tires like wolf paw will make a world of difference. You will think your using a different machine. There is a thread in the heavy equipment forum that will help you. Its about using a 8 or 10 foot pusher, but they talk about tires as well. Check it out. Good luck, have a good season.


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## cretebaby (Aug 23, 2008)

deere 332;1138428 said:


> how big a difference do the chains make it seems like i am slipping and slidding alot even with the blade up


This snow we had this afternoon was really slippery.

Chains are a good idea on the back if the blacktop isn't brand new. If it is a little older you will not notice any damage.

One thing with the boom in float is it takes all the weight of the boom and puts it on the pusher instead of the wheels.


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## welded wrenches (Oct 19, 2004)

*no no chains,,,heres is what you need*

hi all,,just here is the gizmo for them slip n slid tire treads.


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## deere 332 (Jul 20, 2010)

what exactly is this gizmo of yours, how does it work and were do you get it?? thanks


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## Lugnut (Feb 25, 2006)

That is a heated tire groover, we use them for tires on the race cars. Heat up and go right through tire tread adding more edges in the tire tread (what actually gives you traction) you can get it here http://www.behrents.com/c/Tools-TireGroover-TireGroover.html


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## deere 332 (Jul 20, 2010)

thanks lugnut, have you been successful using this on skid steer tires for snow use? i would be kind of nervous to start cutting into my tires, you don't think chains would help at all


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## jomama45 (Dec 25, 2008)

welded wrenches;1138969 said:


> hi all,,just here is the gizmo for them slip n slid tire treads.


That's funny you posted that pic, just earlier today (well I guess it's yesterday now...) I posted a link to the same exact groover on another forum. Just last weekend I cut my SS tires:



















deere 332;1139031 said:


> thanks lugnut, have you been successful using this on skid steer tires for snow use? i would be kind of nervous to start cutting into my tires, you don't think chains would help at all


I wish we had just a tad more snow today, as I'd gladly tell you how well the tire grooving worked. It would help if you posted a pic of what tread pattern yo were running, as well as how much tread is remaining. My experiences tell me that a groover isn't going to do you much good on a typical industrial lug tire with minimal wear left.

As for where to get a hold of one, let me know where you are exactly, either here or by PM, and I'm fairly confident I can hook you up with one. :salute:


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## paponte (Oct 28, 2003)

I'm curious as to how well that works for you also. The grooves don't seem wide enough to me. Does anyone have experience with the drill in studs?


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## jomama45 (Dec 25, 2008)

paponte;1139282 said:


> I'm curious as to how well that works for you also. The grooves don't seem wide enough to me. Does anyone have experience with the drill in studs?


For the record, the grooving worked excellent, even better than I expected. I'd recommend it to anyone who's struggling for traction with their tires, as long as they have the tread pattern to cut it in.


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## rob_cook2001 (Nov 15, 2008)

Do you think the siping (grooving) of the tires is going to make them wear much faster in summer applications??
Robert


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## jomama45 (Dec 25, 2008)

Rob, I'm don't know for sure, but I'm fairly confident that they will indeed wear faster than normal, seeing as there is less surface area. It's not really a concern of mine though, as these tires will need to be replaced before next winter, and they already have just shy of 1000 hrs. on them.


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## LHL Inc. (Oct 13, 2008)

*chains*

you will not be dissapointed with chains!! They are a little expensive to run but if you rebuild them yourself you can get better chain that lasts longer, waste of time spinning without chains no matter the tire!!


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## Maxamillion67 (Dec 31, 2009)

*Chains*

I was spinning a lot on the snow and ice, I finally decided to buy tire chains. Put them on today and was I glad to have them. No more spinning and I am going to be more productive and use less fuel. Most of what I do is on gravel and in fields clean out to hay piles or plowing snow out of corals. The ones I bought are suppose to be good for on pavement. I got them from tirechain.com they are the ladder 4 link spacing ordered them and were here in two days. Here is a link to there website:

http://www.tirechain.com/12-16.5tractor.htm

http://www.tirechain.com/Tractor-Recommendations.htm


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## Bighammer (Aug 20, 2003)

paponte;1139282 said:


> I'm curious as to how well that works for you also. The grooves don't seem wide enough to me. Does anyone have experience with the drill in studs?


I ran screws in my rears on my Kubota tractor. I bought cheap ladder chains for front and rear, but they tend to settle between lugs (industrial tires  ) on the rears. I bought a box of 5/8" hardened hex-head sheet metal screws. They made a big difference and really cut the sideways slippage. (chains did not help that, in fact, maybe made it worse)

They were in for 2 or 3 seasons, (6 in each lug) but I noticed they were getting worn down to a point that any more lost, they would get really tough to get ahold of. I also had a lot of projects I needed the tractor for this summer, so their removal cut damage. I still have a ton of them and may put in more for this season, but it would be nice to be able to remove them quickly and easily, like chains.

They did give it pretty awesome traction and reduced the bumpity-bump of riding on the chains. I was still using the fronts, so it wasn't gone, but better.

My neighbor has a really steep driveway, and we got a big storm while they were away. They were driving home, so I cleared all the broken trees and blew their drive. I noticed later in the spring, I had scarred it up quite a bit. I didn't realize it was slipping a bit, and they do tear up asphalt.


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