Tire Chains or Snow Tires for Skid steer?? I'm stuck lol.

Got my skid steer stuck good this weekend... pushed it back into a ditch (thought i was using bucket to get unstuck). I'll be digging and digging before i look to pull this out.



Couple of questions (and yes, is is quite buried, my 4x4 forklift gave up on me getting it out, although i believe the chain i used was crappy).

1) would you just put chains on this? I'm leaning towards chains on the rear tires, 2link (so more cross chains), D-style.... well thsese ones http://www.canadianchains.ca/Double-Duty-Square-Link--Skid-Steer_p_36.html

2) or would you get the snow tires for the machine instead?

i have a plow i can make mount for the case coming now... (a pity plow i'll cal lit) to push the snow better. My old forklift (new owner hasn't picked it up yet) pushed out 18" of snow without a worry. i need this machine to be able to take over. I believe chains and the plow will take care of business.

Chains and a snow bucket never cared for a plow on a skid especially a little one they are not near as effective as having the plow on a pickup you wont go fast enough to throw the snow and it will drift your front over if you have it angled in deep snow Not to mention there is no pushing out with a plow

In the meantime hook a chain up to the bucket and tie off on a strong tree or your forklift raise the boom and curl the bucket back it will pull you forward and lift your back tires in the air it will walk right out might take a few times shortening of the chain but no digging involved

Jonas302 said:

In the meantime hook a chain up to the bucket and tie off on a strong tree or your forklift raise the boom and curl the bucket back it will pull you forward and lift your back tires in the air it will walk right out might take a few times shortening of the chain but no digging involved

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Won't the 4x4 forklift lift the skid steer via a chain and carry it back to good ground? If not see if it lift will one side enough to slip some old chainlink fence under the tires and repeat with the other side As for chains, most skid steers don't have sufficient space between the tires and chain case to accommodate chains. maybe yours does. skid steers are like front end loaders in that they can be a little helpless on snow.
Mike

ol'stonebreaker said:

As for chains, most skid steers don't have sufficient space between the tires and chain case to accommodate chains. maybe yours does. skid steers are like front end loaders in that they can be a little helpless on snow.
Mike

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I'm thinking the twisting action of the steering of a skid-steer would force the chains off the tires. Especially if you made a hard turn on dry pavement.

Trick with skid steers is to keep moving forward with bucket down! Pushed a lot of snow with a 1845C at the quarry. Lucky it was mostly on fairly level ground. Biggest problem is skidsteers do not have much ground clearance and the bottoms are smooth and flat. Does not take much snow under them to have the wheels not touching anything solid.

As for FELs they too can be a pain in the snow. Last winter I worked at the quarry I managed to get a Komatsu WA600 9 yd. machine stuck on more or less level ground down in the pit. That white stuff can be deceiving as to how deep it is in a drift, especially when you are sitting up that high! It took me about 1/2 hour to work my way free between rocking back and forth and using the bucket in full dump with cutting edge on ground then rolling back at the same time trying to move in reverse.

And if you want something that is even worse in the snow try moving a 35 ton haul truck with the dump body off on a smooth and flat plowed but snow packed parking area! My old Yamaha 650 with a sidecar with a knobby tire could out pull that Cat 769C!

How good is the tire tread on the current tires? My tires look similar in tread-design to yours but mine are pretty new with deep tread and pretty crisp edges still. If I get into the deep stuff it'll just chew it's way to something it can grip on, then walk right out. Never gotten stuck yet. But new tires aren't great on turf, they churn everything up, so it might not hurt to have a set of aggressive meats for snow, and partly worn down tires for dirt and turf. I wish I did.

Guys that plow on asphalt or concrete seem to get better traction from a more snow tread, or even a narrow truck tire, so around here you see guys running those kind of tires on skids doing large lots, sidewalks and so on, but I don't think they'd be all that great in a country drive, but I could be wrong. I agree with the others, a plow on a truck is the way to go (for me anyway) then use the skid for heavy drifts and moving piles. I haven't tried chains. They might just get between the lugs and not do a whole lot unless your tread is pretty worn down ..or might work great if you take it easy on anything but snow. What's a new set of tires run ...$650? I guess ya got to look at the price of chains too.

. Get chains and put them on the rear, I had to turn the rims around on my 75xt for clearance. Night and day difference between no chains and chains and yes you have to get them on tight. Steve

ol'stonebreaker said:

Won't the 4x4 forklift lift the skid steer via a chain and carry it back to good ground? If not see if it lift will one side enough to slip some old chainlink fence under the tires and repeat with the other side As for chains, most skid steers don't have sufficient space between the tires and chain case to accommodate chains. maybe yours does. skid steers are like front end loaders in that they can be a little helpless on snow.
Mike

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Maybe...not sure...

mountainlake said:

. Get chains and put them on the rear, I had to turn the rims around on my 75xt for clearance. Night and day difference between no chains and chains and yes you have to get them on tight. Steve

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Perfect. I'm getting chains for sure. gonna get tools and supplied in case to tighten fix as well. one set is ok for now... they are not cheap. Which kind of chains did you get?

Jeepwalker said:

How good is the tire tread on the current tires? My tires look similar in tread-design to yours but mine are pretty new with deep tread and pretty crisp edges still. If I get into the deep stuff it'll just chew it's way to something it can grip on, then walk right out. Never gotten stuck yet. But new tires aren't great on turf, they churn everything up, so it might not hurt to have a set of aggressive meats for snow, and partly worn down tires for dirt and turf. I wish I did.

Guys that plow on asphalt or concrete seem to get better traction from a more snow tread, or even a narrow truck tire, so around here you see guys running those kind of tires on skids doing large lots, sidewalks and so on, but I don't think they'd be all that great in a country drive, but I could be wrong. I agree with the others, a plow on a truck is the way to go (for me anyway) then use the skid for heavy drifts and moving piles. I haven't tried chains. They might just get between the lugs and not do a whole lot unless your tread is pretty worn down ..or might work great if you take it easy on anything but snow. What's a new set of tires run ...$650? I guess ya got to look at the price of chains too.

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I'm going to go with the rear chains for now and see how that works out. My tires aren't great, but not horrible. I think under load i'd like to reasurance of the chains. The ones i'm looking at are quite tough. believe they'll be the way to go.

cheers,
Hayes

mountainlake said:

. Get chains and put them on the rear, I had to turn the rims around on my 75xt for clearance. Night and day difference between no chains and chains and yes you have to get them on tight. Steve

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Question, putting the rims turned around, is that something simple ie just flip them and put on opposite side or what not?

I'm no expert on this, but I think chains increase the effective diameter of a tire so putting chains on either the front or back of anything 4x4 could strain drivetrain components in the long run. Around here I see plenty of people using chains on skid steers but they always put them on all four. I plow all my snow with a one ton pickup and an 8' plow, works great and fast. I leave chains on all four tires all winter. Hard to beat. The R4 tires on my skid steer are 50% and useless in snow.

I put chains on the rear of an old bobcat 642, it has the skinny tires (7.50-15)

I scared up some old pickup tire chains, pieced them together, and made sure they
were wide enough to reach well down around the sides, keep them tight and they don't come off.

I also put an old Meyers 6' blade on the quick attach plate and plumbed the swing cylinders too.

It's great, and I can stack the snow higher as well.

Oh...and to the O.P.....put a rat tail on that skidsteer, your gonna need it the next time you get stuck....

check said:

I'm no expert on this, but I think chains increase the effective diameter of a tire so putting chains on either the front or back of anything 4x4 could strain drivetrain components in the long run. Around here I see plenty of people using chains on skid steers but they always put them on all four. I plow all my snow with a one ton pickup and an 8' plow, works great and fast. I leave chains on all four tires all winter. Hard to beat. The R4 tires on my skid steer are 50% and useless in snow.

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It's a SKID steer, it's made to take the loads of skidding a stopped tire, when the other is powered.

Not to worry about stress on the drive train with chains, more give that tires on a solid surface.. Turning the rims around on my 75xt was no problem as the rims are flat and the holes aren't beveled. I bought my chains from the local Bobcat dealer, $160 about 8 years ago in the USA. Steve

check said:

I'm no expert on this, but I think chains increase the effective diameter of a tire so putting chains on either the front or back of anything 4x4 could strain drivetrain components in the long run.

Click to expand...

Yes, don't take it out on the highway like that, you'll stress the drive chain. If you only use it in the snow, the drivechain will never know the difference.

well after reading everything I had chains and they are ok I guess for what they are what it boils down to what you like

I had chains and on a 773 turbo they will spin them off I finally bought a set of tracks mine are like this

several years ago and you wont believe how well they work

the company I bought them from is no longer around I did find these

http://www.goldenbellinc.com/web1081.htm

We run chains on the back of our ls 180 if the grounds frozen it goes great helps in the mud but will go south at faster than normal rate haha doesn't stress drive chains when fronts are bald and there's no concrete or asphalt anyway.

I have put double sets of chains on my bobcat 743 all four wheels, worked great in the snow!!! unless you bust through a layer of ice then you have to work the bucket to get it back on top. Another thing to consider is put a fresh layer of gloss paint in the bucket otherwise you will always have a bucket of snow even after you dump, some will still stick in the corners with the new paint but at least it actually dumps out when you want.

Chain up all 4!
Not sayin that will get you out, it might, but makes all the difference in the world!