Tire Chains: DIY?????

Need some tire chains for 18.4x34.
Looked at some prices online and I am looking at 5-600 bucks for ladder style. That got me to thinking...is it cheaper to put your own together ?
Anyone do that or is te sun of the parts more expensive than the whole?

Meant "the sum of the parts"

The place to buy chains is at a farm auction, especially during the summer. I bought these for $50. about 26 years ago.

I know. I've been looking. Just have never found this size. Finally got and installed a block heater for this tractor so now I can be enclosed in a cab with heat, so I may have to eat some $$

some cities/counties use them on their motor graders and dumptruck snowplows. Many times when the break the cross links they will discard and put on a new set. When they are removing snow there is no time to repair, and after the snow they are too busy to repair tire chains. You could make yourself an adequate set from pieces. Just a thought. btdt gobble

I just gave away a set that fit a JD 60.Listed them for sale and did not have any calls. I just wanted them gone

Tirechains.com has ladder style for $401, duo-grip for $393. I like the duo-grip better, I got a set from them about 4 years ago that I've been using on the Farmall 300 and they are good quality. It's still not cheap but maybe a bit better price than what you mentioned.
Zach

For the past 3 years I've gone to a local consignment auction
Each year I've purchased slightly used tires chains for my John
deere 60, 620 & 730. All still had the cadium finish still on the
side chains & two sets on the cross chains. The most I paid for
any were the 1st set @65.00. Last set fit perfect on 15.5 x 38
for $37.50. I would have spent more that hundred on any of the sets.
I suggest wait & go to a Local Auction.

We bought ours from a local tire dealer. They come in bulk and they cut them to length is what I think Dad said. Hard to find large sizes for sale used. Sure were worth the money ! Seems the bigger the tractor is the more helpless it is on ice and snow.

(quoted from post at 17:36:56 11/09/16) I know. I've been looking. Just have never found this size. Finally got and installed a block heater for this tractor so now I can be enclosed in a cab with heat, so I may have to eat some $$

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Quit looking for the right size and consider what is available at auction or classified ads.
Not hard to lengthen or shorten a set to fit your application.

I have chains for 7 pieces of equipment all bought used and only 1 set was the right size when purchased.

Not many in this area have tire chains for their tractors, many think 4WD is all they need. I've only found one set of chains at auctions in twenty years that where for smaller 28" tires.
During 2009 ice storm we had 1/2 - 1 inch of ice that pretty much shut the state down for a few days. I rapped log chains thru the wheels and bolted them together in order to feed cattle and blade roads. We have a poultry operation with our farm on top of a hill so roads have to be cleared for feed trucks making deliveries.
I ordered a set of Duo Grips that came in after the ice was gone so I put them in the shed never taking them out of the bag until 2014. We had gotten a few inches of snow but not enough to require putting chains on or so I thought, I wasn't aware that we had gotten a skim of ice before the snow until my second pass over the hill when the tractor suddenly broke loose and slid the last 50 yards turning sideways and finally slid into the ditch backwards across the main highway, luckily there wasn't any traffic coming by, had the tractor when into the ditch sideways it probably would have turned over. When I finally got it back to the house the chains came out of the bags.
$400 is a lot of money for chains that I rarely use but I'd do it again before going without.