tire chains

Never used them except for a couple times in the military when, by the time they were in place and ready, the mission was usually cancelled.
Kinda like that now. Got some on ebay that should be here tomorrow. Snow and ice is mostly gone but still slippery because of the resulting mud. Will chains do any good in the mud case (solid about 2 inches down)?

Dave

Chains should help in mud too. Hal

Depend on the type and how they sit on the tread, for example those double ring types on ag tires work pretty good in the mud, also seem to clear themselves out + if you add some weight, those conditions you describe should not be a problem. Realize though that this particular type of chain may not be kind to wet turf, but then again what is when things are sloppy.

I'm kind of a tractor rookie (not totally) and have a new to me Case 580ck with FEL. I use it to move round hay bales. I don't have a hay spear yet, just a ratchet strap to hook bale to the bucket. Whenever the ground gets the least bit soft the front tires want to sink in a bit and make the going tough. Last month I mounted some chains, and on hard ground a huge improvement. However when I got into heavier haylage bales the going was questionable so the rears got about 600lb of liquid each. The other day I got into a spot where the ground water was high and broke through the frost. I had it in a rut over a foot deep and could get about a 10' run forward and back but couldn't get out. Went back with planks the next day and got out. The chains didn't seem to do much good in my case.

(quoted from post at 07:28:20 01/19/10) I use it to move round hay bales. I don't have a hay spear yet, just a ratchet strap to hook bale to the bucket.

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Until you can swing a spear, 2 4x4's (can be logs or steel pipe also) about 7 ft long a drawbar on your lift arms, and a half sheet of plywood (or boards) make a nice bail/junk mover. Run the 4x's up under the tractor and rest them on the drawbar in kind of a "V" then fasten the plywood in place. If in rough terrain, loop a rope around the bale to your ROPS (or axles). I got pretty handy that way before I got a spike. Really didn't save any work with the spike either.


Dave

Yes chains do help in mud but can also cause more problems in mud. If you happen to spin much having chains on will dig you down faster so you will be stuck worse but as long as you keep rolling they help a lot but the moment you stop moving don't spin much or you will end up in China

Rich has a good point there, if the conditions you describe were not as so, you can indeed churn your tires right in but good. Oftentimes, that extra bite is beneficial when there is good ground under you, just the top being a problem, frost keeping it from draining etc.

Other times, you may be able to pass a wet area 1x or 2x, then the water pumps up and you'll lose flotation, sink, get stuck or deal with miserable ruts, can't tell you how many times I've experienced that with a backhoe, good thing is you can use the hoe and or the front bucket to get out. I've been in 12" deep saturated ruts with my ole ford 850, places where the top soil was saturated from lack of drainage, but there was good ground underneath, little messy but I always get out, sometimes with a little help from the bucket. Other places around here, especially where the old swamp, now a pond, I get too close, forget it, have to call the neighbor and get his 4440 or 3150fwa to get out, 2x I've done that first time I used the D7 caterpillar, since thats been laid up without a clutch, he's my best bet.

Another thing to be wary of is if one side of the tractor is lower than the other, say a side slope or the edge of a field where it meets a marsh or even frozen snow/ice covered ground, those situations always make it much more difficult than the flat areas.

Yep, I bought what are called "mud chains" for my WD45... unreal how they work