# Tire Chains?



## J_Bryant (Dec 10, 2012)

I have a 97 suzuki king quad 4x4 that i will be plowing with, I have a salt spreader on the back, and will be hualing a few bags of salt around, so ill have extra weight in the back, Do you think i will need to buy tire chains? Some old timer down the street had (what sounded like) a good point, He pointed out that when plowing, Your tires would be on clean ground, because the plow pushes it before the tires do, But im not sure how good that really works, as this is my first year plowing.  Also, If i do get chains, Should i just do back tires, Or all 4?

Thanks for any help.ussmileyflag


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## Dave T (Feb 11, 2009)

My son had an old 300 King Quad. It was literally a tank in the snow (and everywhere else), and with the super low gearing, it was nearly unstoppable. The center of gravity is extremely low, so it can push pretty darn good. 

With that said, if you have decent tires on it, I doubt you will need chains. However, in 4WD with chains on the rear with some weight on the racks... you could push a house of its foundation. :laughing:

Seriously, if you have good tires on it, try it without chains... I think you will be amazed. They are an incredibly strong little quad. Thumbs Up


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## J_Bryant (Dec 10, 2012)

Thanks, I think im gonna try it without chains, But keep a eye out for a cheap set for the back...


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## MRadke (Sep 25, 2009)

I plow with a 95 King Quad. Chains will reduce your wheel spin and RPM. Whether you need them of not will depend a little on the depth and texture of the snow, along with the surface that you are plowing. In light snow, chains are a noisy hassle and mark up the concrete. In heavy snow, they'll still mark up the concrete, but they will make the difference for breaking trail, especially on side walks. Once you have a trail cut, going barefoot is less of an issue. If you invest in chains, don't go cheap and make sure that you keep them tight. I use a set of v-bar chains when the conditions warrant.


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## ScubaSteve728 (Jan 17, 2012)

you shouldn't need chains ive never used them and i never will haven't needed them through the 5 new England winters ive used my quad in


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## J_Bryant (Dec 10, 2012)

Ill try plowing without them, If we ever get some snow here.... haha


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## 30below (Jan 11, 2009)

I used a King Quad 300 to plow back in the '90's. Good machines I've always said. Back then people didn't replace their stock tires as soon as they got machines, most people anyway. The stock tires were great on them things for snow, being kind of wide and low pressure, with lots of knobs IIRC, made for some good traction in snow. I never felt the need for chains on it.

That being said, I own a Grizzly 700 now, and the stock tires are kind of hard and round. Not that great for snow/ice. I broke down and bought a set of chains for the rear tires last year. We were having a record year and I was plowing sometimes every day for a week straight. The surface was ice and when the snow was wet or deep, it was tough to stack the snow up due to traction issues. I'd get up to the hill and start to lift the plow and ride up the hill and the rear tires would spin out on the ice, along with the front in the loose snow and it would create a mess of my hills. Good tires wouldn't make much difference in this situation, unless maybe they were studded. The chains helped a lot, but with solid ice as a surface, even they would spin out at times. 

The other issue i was having with the ice before chains was when wind-rowing. The rear end would be dog-legging when pushing the deeper heavy stuff and I'd loose some amount of control. The chains alleviated that problem.


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## Antlerart06 (Feb 28, 2011)

I have a set used once since 2001 But that one time having them saved me We got about 1/2 of Ice and then snowed 4'' and I was glad we had the chains Without them the ATV didnt plow very well

I think be smart to have a set You just never know when you might need a set


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## BigBladePusher (Dec 7, 2012)

worth gettin a set i ran some on my truck and it made a heck of a differcnec!


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