Do tire chains damage rear tractor tires?

The Famous Grouse · Nov 7, 2018

Guys, last winter my hunting farm was snowbound and the only way I could get in there was to walk the half-mile driveway in snowshoes. That got a little old by the end of winter and last year we were getting snow until late April.

My Deere 2010 (gas) with loader sits in at the farm, AND I've got tire chains for her. The chains are a nice set with the square in the middle of the pattern so they are not just loop-over chains.

However... I've never even bothered to put the chains on because her rear tires were bald as cue balls. Last thing I wanted to do is take her out and the get buried and have a tractor blocking my driveway all spring because if I got it stuck the driveway is too muddy to even try to move her until early summer.

So this year it's different because the Deere got new shoes. She's sporting a fine nearly new pair of rear tires, these are the obsolete 13.9x36 tires so finding good used ones was not easy and the tire change and fluid fill set me back over $300 NOT including the price of the tires.

Which brings me to my question. Now that I spent all this time and money on good rear tires the last thing I want to do is mess them up.

Will properly installed tire chains chew up my tires?

Grouse

Michael Soldan · Nov 7, 2018

I don't think tire chains that are properly installed will hurt your tires. Driving on clear roads for long distances could be a problem , but in your laneway , I would not think so. When I was a kid our neighbour had a WD45 with chains and he blew snow for many neighbours, didn't have issues.

MJMJ · Nov 7, 2018

They'll do less damage than spinning tires in gravel/dirt. And tires without chains will spin with the slightest bit of snow or ice. Put them on.

M Nut · Nov 7, 2018

Never had any issues with tire damage. If you had used the chains on the old bald tires, you would have had no trouble getting around.

Dan in North Houston · Nov 7, 2018

We had a MF 135 with loaded tires, and we ran chains all winter and into mud season for years, never noticed any problems at all. Key thing is to keep the chains tight. We used a lot of tarp straps for tensioners.

BarnyardEngineering · Nov 7, 2018

Ran chains every day from November 1st to April 1st for decades and if chains caused any damage at all, it was minor. The tires either went bald from use, or rotted and split from age. In a couple of isolated cases, unseen hazards did irreparable damage to a tire. None of the failures had anything to do with chains.

Mike M · Nov 7, 2018

Maybe with the new tires it may not need the chains ? but should be fine if you do run them. Just make sure the smooth side of where the cross links hook to the side chain are to the tire side. I use rubber tarp straps on the outside as tensioners to keep them from flopping around.

Rich'sToys · Nov 7, 2018

If all you're doing is plowing your driveway, you've got nothing to worry about. Put 'em on.

jon f mn · Nov 7, 2018

Logging equipment uses chains to
protect the tires, getting more
traction year round is a bonus.

Ted in NE-OH · Nov 7, 2018

Chains make a tremendous difference in traction, go for it.

The Famous Grouse · Nov 7, 2018

Thanks guys. Just wanted to check, last thing I wanted to do after a 2 year hunt to find tires would be to mess them up months after I finally got them on.

I've had to be super careful about using this tractor in anything other than dry conditions because she'd start to spin out if you hit some tobacco spit from the last round. Finally getting new rubber has been a game changer. I got the tractor for the price I did mostly because the owner knew that the tire bill alone would cost him more than the tractor was worth by a huge margin.

I'm going to put the chains on next time I'm up there so she'll be ready.

Of course, this will mean it doesn't snow for most of the winter, but I'm willing to take that chance. Ha!

Grouse

Dean · Nov 7, 2018

Tire chains will not hurt your tires. Keep them tight.

Dean

grizz02 · Nov 7, 2018

you will get more tire damage from spinning the tires on gravel pushing snow , install chains use bungie straps to keep them tight

onefarmer · Nov 7, 2018

My neighbor growing up had a Farmall H that had tires with about 20% tread. So he left the tire chains on all the time. Never had a flat and I don't remember any extra wear from the chains

jeffcat · Nov 7, 2018

Going off track just a little. When I was in grammar school they had
chains on the school bus. Wouldn't even think of it today. Snow plows
and tons of salt. Riding along and a sudden. Pow Pow Pow Pow. One of
the sections broke loose and was hitting the inside of one of those
rear wheel wells. Guess who was sitting over it when it let go?????

JD Seller · Nov 7, 2018

Well in snow the new tires and chains will not work much better than the worn tires with chains. Actually the worn tires might work better. The chains are what will bite hard packed snow. The tread has little to do with it. The taller tread can actually hurt in that less of the tire chain will be loaded against the road/snow.

I found this out selling garden tractors. A turf tire with tire chains will out pull a lug tire with chains on snow/ice.

As for a tire chain damaging a tire??? If the chains do not have any sharp edges they will not harm your tires.

Leroy · Nov 7, 2018

Never had chains on the busses even when it was so icy the bus could not get in the school drive way. This was back in winter of 49-50 when I was in first grade.

grizz02 · Nov 7, 2018

all the buses around here have automatic chains installed under them,ou can see them swinging from behind the bus

Cliff Nelson · Nov 7, 2018

That was a common problem when I was in school. The tire chains on our bus were not new. There was a bundle of wire under the back seat that the driver would use to tie the chain back together when one would break. Now days they call off school way before they would need chains.

Dean · Nov 8, 2018

I spent many mornings on the school bus listening to the clinking of the chains, Jeffcat.

They didn't close school for even 4" of snow back in the day.

We always got there and back, but, of course, the drivers knew how to drive then.

Dean

INCase · Nov 8, 2018

shoot... they call off school on a weak forcast now days.

The Famous Grouse · Nov 8, 2018

Glad to hear the chains won't damage the tires because I've got work to do this winter now.

The dozer comes in the first of December to doze the stumps off the clearing I'm making for the new house we intend to build up there.

I've still got about 15 more trees that need to come down, come snow or high water, so having a tractor that can work in the snow AND keep the driveway clear will be a huge benefit. I'm saving all the firewood and using it to barter with the neighbor for access to his gravel pit. He's too busy to cut fire wood, so I'm trading him wood for gravel and best part of it is he comes and pick up the wood from my central pile, so all I have to do is dump it on a chuck pile with the loader.

Grouse

Do tire chains damage rear tractor tires?

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