WOW ! lots of action today ! .....where do I begin ? ........ well thanx for the compliments ! ..... We see alots of compacted snow/ice on the ground around here, usually from mid Nov. to the end of March, and with the total weight of my present and past machines, in excess of 10,000 lbs at times, there is nothing scarier than not being able to stop or keep control of your machine especially when the thing decides to go into a power slide .... there are many theories of how to chain-up a machine mine are as follows : if you chain up the front only it does not push worth a crap, but if you go over a bank with the front end, you pick-up the boom you add traction to the front taking away from the rear and out you come, it will also turn easier........ if you chain up the rear only, then you have great push, if the front end drops over the edge you can be hooooped, it also turns around easier,...... when all four are chained-up well you have the benifits of all of the above, but you can't do the donuts without leaving black dust, (seen in the spring when it dries up), all over when on asphalt, so a guy just has to use a little more finness and make larger turns........ 12 yrs ago was the last time I ever only chained up only one end, since then its all four or stay home. As far as wear to the chains goes, well there are chains and then there are real chains. If you guys noticed we (KSSS & I) are using chains that have a crosser every second side link (we call them super singles up here) that way the crossers don't get stuck in between the chevron lugs which leaves very little chain expossed. Also I found with my first sets that the material used was not heavy enough, the crossers were 6mm & 7mm including the clevises. With the weight and power of the large frame loaders in tore them apart ..... so the sets I now have are 8mm and are 5 yrs old (5 winters use) ..... 1 on my old JD 8875 and now the fourth winter on the A-300, but keep in mind that my machine is an "ÄLL WHEEL STEER" which does hugely reduces wear, but having stated that I still got 3 winters on a heavy skid-steer out of them, before I got an AWS..... So as the saying goes "YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR".....What you use the machine for dictates what you should buy and use. ...... I have been known to plow many Logging roads up to 20 miles long, and drive-way/roads in excess of 2 miles long, so when you only have 1 set on or cheap chains well ???? ...NOT GOOD !!
I too have a contract to load trucks with the taller shute. I wound up getting this job cause they have been loading trucks with a 966C with a chip bucket (5yd Cap) for 30 yrs and as KSSS stated no looking behind just go straight, never have to worry 'bout if there is enough room to load side ways. it was just an out dated way to do things. ....... Keep in mind as KSSS also said in a past post you need lots of flow and Hp to make it work efficiently ..... smaller units will work, but deff. not that quick .............. As far as the rubber deflector goes I found that when you are finishing up a parking lot or you come up to a building, the speed that my auger turns at it spits quite a bit of snow forward of the blower, the rubber flap WORKS, when you go into full depth snow drifts or what ever, the flap just folds in out of the way. Most all of the European blowers like Kahlbacher, Zaugg, or Westa all have those flaps on standard equipment.
