# are severe bobcat tires good in the snow vs regular mud tires?



## wcb607a (Feb 20, 2009)

Anyone using the severe duty tires for the snow and if you are, how's the traction?


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## DaySpring Services (Feb 1, 2005)

I had severe duty tires on my machine, didn't have good luck with snow traction. Never used any other tires though.


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## jomama45 (Dec 25, 2008)

I have them on my Bobcat and they work incredible IMO. Far better than the standard industrial/bar type tire. To top it off, I'm going on 1000 hrs with them, and after grooving, they're biting nearly as good as new. Thumbs Up


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## rich414 (Jan 4, 2010)

Funny that you ask this. we plowed for the first time last night I thought that the tires would be great in the snow. 

they SUCK! 

I could not go up a 3% grade and on the flat as soon as I got a full plow the bobcat stopped and the tires just spun, this is as S300

We took them off after 5 minutes on them and went back to bald tires with single space chains..

From reading the post there is another person that has had great luck.... different road and snow conditions for me. you will need to try for yourself. Its like tracks, they work great until they break loose from the snow then you just have ICE under them and you just sit and spin.....Some people on here have had great luck with tracks,


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## Brian Young (Aug 13, 2005)

Interesting, I would imagine a lot would have to do with the previous conditions. A parking lot that is salted regularly would be great even for bald tires vs. one thats just plowed. I have the regular bar type tires on my skid and so far zero traction issues, it might spin out going around corner's with a full load but loading docks and straight pushes are fine, I usually run out of power before it spins out.


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## jomama45 (Dec 25, 2008)

Sorry to hear you had problems with your's Rich, but I don't think comparing any tire to chains is exactly apples to apples. Sure, the tires aren't great on ice, but none of them are, unless they're chained or studded.

I can tell you from my own experiences that I prefer the Severe duty to the standard lug, as I've had hundreds of hours in both. We have 2 other skids for snow, and one still has the "bar" style. As for the 3% grade, I'm not sure what to tell you. I back drag a dozen below grade loading docks on a regular basis. They're certainly steeper than 3%.


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## rich414 (Jan 4, 2010)

Jomama45
I thought that these tires would have been the ticket and i would not have to chain up to plow. Last year I had 250hrs of plowing and blowing... I gave the tires a try last night and never made it out of the gravel driveway before I started to spin and slide everywhere.. Our subdivision road is 3.5 miles long and has an elevation change of 2000vertical feet 7000 to 9000foot elevation. Sliding is NOT an option. there are some places in the road that are a 10% grade... The local electric company was up installing a guys electrical line with a MINI and a snow storm hit. They decided not to take the MINI down on a trailer and walked it down., he got to the 10% grade and took off sliding down the hill. He dropped the bucket and blade and eventually stopped. I was LMAO!!
Anyway, my conditions are extreme and different than most.... The tires are already stacked and stored for installation when the snow is gone!


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## jomama45 (Dec 25, 2008)

rich414;1160259 said:


> Jomama45
> I thought that these tires would have been the ticket and i would not have to chain up to plow. Last year I had 250hrs of plowing and blowing... I gave the tires a try last night and never made it out of the gravel driveway before I started to spin and slide everywhere.. Our subdivision road is 3.5 miles long and has an elevation change of 2000vertical feet 7000 to 9000foot elevation. Sliding is NOT an option. there are some places in the road that are a 10% grade... The local electric company was up installing a guys electrical line with a MINI and a snow storm hit. They decided not to take the MINI down on a trailer and walked it down., he got to the 10% grade and took off sliding down the hill. He dropped the bucket and blade and eventually stopped. I was LMAO!!
> *Anyway, my conditions are extreme and different than most..*.. The tires are already stacked and stored for installation when the snow is gone!


That certainly is ore extreme than 99% of people are going to come across plowing. I just didn't want it to sound like the bar style offered superior traction in snow, because I've experienced quite the opposite. I'm not sure there's any tire available, other than studded, for your needs in winter.

My thought process is this though. This particular machine of mine get's it's hours split between snow & tearing out concrete, running a breaker, moving supplies with forks on sites, etc........ IMO, these tires are the best compromise for the work we do. I'm kind of a simpleton, and believe in low overhead. I really see no need for two sets of tires and wheels unless I'm going to notice an immediate increase in profit. Plus, as I stated above, these tires wear excellent, especially considering the amount of time we spend on asphalt. I honestly think by next fall we'll have 1300 hours on these tires, which is a pretty good return on investent IMO. I'm fairly confident you'll be satisfied with the tires the rest of the year.


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## rich414 (Jan 4, 2010)

jomama45;1160722 said:


> . I'm fairly confident you'll be satisfied with the tires the rest of the year.


No question these tires are great in the mud and dirt, We also are about 40% sharp rocks, Nothing lasts up here...Did you go solid or inflated? I had the VTS tracks and I got 150hrs on the first set of rubber tracks because of the rocks., 2 summers ago I ran snow chains all summer just to get better traction and not spin, Spinning on the rocks just tears up the tires! gotta go plow snow.


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## gmlcinc (Aug 3, 2005)

So thats 2 for a no and 1 for yes. Any one else have experience with these severe duty tires and snow??


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