Tractor Tire chains

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Ok, never fooled with tire chains any and too dumb to know anything about them, but what size chains would I need for the front tires on my tractor as they are 7-16 Ag tires. Bunch on ebay cheap and maybe someone else has some other sources. I would assume 16" chains, but not sure exactly since I have never had any experience with them.

[3rdgen.maple]

Brandon not sure why you want chains on the front. I will caution you, I have a john deere and the front ends on them are week to say the least. I put chains on the front when I got it new and will tell you it tore the living crap out of the front end. It was under warranty at the time and John Deere refused to do anything about fixing it. They claimed the chains on the front voided the warranty. After spending 700 bucks on a front hub, 400 for a new master ring gear and who knows what on bearings and seals I will never do it again. Same tire size by the way 7-16. I was told by the dealer that with any weight in the bucket and putting the chains on the front caused too much stress. They also warned me to be cautious about being in 4 wheel drive with a load in the bucket. If I stressed the axle and hub by hitting something or if the wheel is cranked in one direction the side pressure will bust the hub. I have since rebuilt the front end 2 other times. I wish I never traded in that case.

[gmcooper]

Brandon,
I agree with 3rdgen. Put the chains on the rear. That is where the power is and was designed to drive the tractor. Front axel is to assist in poor conditions. If you put chains on the front your making the front x do all the work as with most models front wheels will turn slightly faster than rear wheels but in most conditions the front wheels will slip just slightly enough to not cause undue stress on drive train. If you are in 4 wheel drive on bare pavement you normally will see scuff marks from the front wheels turning just a tad faster than rear wheels let the tractor travel. Our neighbor put chains on just the front of his new 4wd 80hp JD. Employee said he voided the warrenty.

Anyway check out www.tirechains.com

Mark

[KenWP]

Putting chains on the front is like haveing different tires on a car or truck. The wheels all have different traction. Probbably you were looking for cheaper chains then the back ones. It's called front wheel assist for a reason. The fronts turn so your not pushing them thru snow or mud but they don't really do much else. The same as when you try and back a semi trailer up in snow. You have all those tires pushing snow becasue they don't turn. That and a tag axle won't back up in snow either.
The front axles of regular JDs are weak let alone the front wheel assist ones.

[DS Maple]

We run front and rear chains on our NH TC33D and have never had a problem. Mostly we just use the front chains though because they are so much easier to put on and still give plenty of added traction. The machine's got almost 2300 hard hours on it and I will admit it's a total piece of junk (based on various other repairs we've made) but there has never been any problem with the front axle related to running chains.

[Moonlitemaple]

You want tire chains that fit your rear tires, this is where your traction is. Chains on the front i dont think will help you out much. The largest area of weight is on your rear end. I have a Farmall Super M with 15.5 X 38, my chains are skidder chains cut down to fit. You want to match the chains to the size of your tires.

[Fred Henderson]

Brandon; You buy tires chains accordly to the size of the tire that you will put them onto. Therefore if the tire is 14.9 X28 that would be the size chain to buy. All you need to look for is tire size according to what you have and the chains will fit.

[Frank Ivy]

I use chains on my Ford 5000 - love 'em. Highly recommend chains if you are on hard and icy/snowy surfaces during the winter.

With regard to the front end of JD's - I think it's complete BS that JD is trying to say that too much traction is causing front end problems. Nonsense. What's causing front end problems in JDs is the steady drop in quality over the last 20 or 30 years. JD is burning a lot of reputation to sell units right now. Knew a guy bought a 90,000 dollar tractor and the hydraulics blew out in his first season.

Like the above poster lamented - a 30 year old Case beats the heck out of a brand new JD. It's not just JD, by the way - all makes and models have gone cheap. Cheaper metals, thinner metals, poorer quality, and on and on. I prefer to buy old equipment that's in decent shape than new stuff - the premium on new stuff is way too high considering what you get.

Anyway, I used the website indicated above - just go there, type in your tire size, and then they will show you exactly what your options are. Don't cheap out - you don't need the V grippers necessarily, but don't go with the basic 1-band chains.

Finally - agree that, if you're only going for one set, chains on the back are preferred by a large margin.

[3rdgen.maple]

Frank it is not BS. What they are basically saying is that they admit there front ends are weak and putting the chains on them will only cause problems. And yes they are all cheap now. I looked hard into trading in and not one of the new tractors out there impressed me. I think right now it just comes down to who will provide the best warranty, the best service and the best price.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Guys, thanks for all the suggestions and help. I have 11.2-24 tires on the rear, so may try to pick up a set of chains for them. Sounds like it is the best now. Where's the best place to pick up a good set at a reasonable price.

[3rdgen.maple]

Brandon if somebody can chime in on how to measure chains if they are lying flat on the ground when I get home I can measure mine to see if they would work for you. I have 4 or 5 different sets and if they are not the ones I put on the John Deere once in a blue moon I can give you the buy of the century. Just need to know the measurements. Glad you are opting out on putting them on the front would hate to see you have more things to fix.

[Bucket Head]

For more traction, get the double ring type chains. I'm not saying the highway type won't be a help, but they fall between the tire lugs. They don't aid in traction there. The double ring type are high enough that they hit the ground even between the lugs.

Steve

[KenWP]

Brandon if somebody can chime in on how to measure chains if they are lying flat on the ground when I get home I can measure mine to see if they would work for you. I have 4 or 5 different sets and if they are not the ones I put on the John Deere once in a blue moon I can give you the buy of the century. Just need to know the measurements. Glad you are opting out on putting them on the front would hate to see you have more things to fix.

Whats the size of the JD you have and then see if they are close to WV's and then match them to the other sets. They can be a bit longer but wider sucks unless you know how to put them on to stay. We used to chain up fork lifts for the winter and after years of looseing them got it figured out.

[3rdgen.maple]

Good idea Ken but just off hand it seems like that tire size he posted is alot smaller. Have to check when I get home, that is if he is interested or not. Personally I hate the things anyways.

[jdj]

I have ordered several pairs of chains from TIRECHAINS.COM. I have always had good luck dealing with them. Like a previous post stated, go for the double ring chains, they are worth every penny and unless you do alot of travel on pavement they will last you a loooong time!

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

Brandon,
The rear chains will be a big help and the double rings are the only way to go unless the others are given to you. Will help in the mud too and with the snow you have to melt, you may have more of that than normal too. When you put them on, you want them snug but not tight. When going in good conditions, centrifugal force should cause them to lift from the top of the tire slightly as you go. This works to clean the snow/mud from them and keeps them digging in effectively. Just make sure they are not loose enough so the same centrifugal force doesn't cause them to hit your fenders. (Does an awful job on them:( ). Good luck!
Doug

[DS Maple]

get the good European steel, not the chinese stuff. They'll last a lot longer.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

For the record, I talked to the guy at the Kubota dealer who knows his stuff and has been with Kubota many years and he stated that Kubota recommends putting chains on all 4 wheels, not just 2. Anyone got an extra set of chains for 7-16 front tires and 11.2 - 24 rear tires they want to sell?? LOL!

[3rdgen.maple]

Get it in writing Brandon. I hope you or anybody for that matter does not go through what I am with my tractor. Never had a problem until I put the chains on the front and voided warranty. Front end rebuilds are not cheap.

[moeh1]

I run chains on all four wheels on my 'Bota, but I have turfs and a rear blower, so the front end is light. It really helps with steering. Individual factors like how much tread on the tires comes into play...if you are running a 3 pt barrel of sap, you'll have some rear weight, etc.
I run old a cut down set of car chains on the front end, they aren't that aggressive. So far over the last 10 yrs. I am thrilled, but obviously it raises the chance of damage.
My rears are 2 link chains from Tirechains, but with Ag tires, the earlier reco is the way to go. They had good photos of the various styles on their site. UPS man really hated me that delivery day....
If you get a set of chains that are too big or get two sets and want to make a two link out of a couple 4 link sets, you can always do some customization. AWdirect has a decent priced chain pliers, the one I'd rather have is about 5x the cost.

[dano2840]

i want to get some double diamond ice pick chains, pretty quick to, the chains i have now are pretty well spanked, soon im going to start having to put repair links in because every link is so pitted out

[Frank Ivy]

Frank it is not BS. What they are basically saying is that they admit there front ends are weak and putting the chains on them will only cause problems. And yes they are all cheap now. I looked hard into trading in and not one of the new tractors out there impressed me. I think right now it just comes down to who will provide the best warranty, the best service and the best price.

Best buy EVER - friend of mine bought a 70 horse Bellarus about 8 years ago or so.

For about 12 grand.

New.

The thing is an awesome tractor. After I got my property, I ran down there and said I wanted one. The woman sighed and said - "yeah, those sold like hot cakes. We can't import those anymore because of the emissions issues. But we have a similar model over here for 33 grand."

Great.

[THCPrecision]

A good place to buy chains is Up In Tamworth NH and they do Ship I think it is called Windy Ridge they Treated me pretty good 2 years ago when I bought My Ice chains for my tractor similar to what you had talked about with the double dimond. all picked out and all. They beat the price of many of the other local dalers by plenty to buy alot more tubing and other goodies some where else. Take a peek. they treated me well.
T

[chrisnjake9]

just bought a pair of double rings for 260.00 with shipping on tractorchainsrequired for kubota 3240 every one else wanted 6to 800.00 fit great well worth $