Chains vs. Loading Rear Tires Question

[sandpipe]

Hi, I have a nice old B1750 4wd hst which I use for pushing snow around in the winter and cutting 3 acres of meadow on hilly terrain in the summer.

This past winter I put chains on my rear turf tires for traction in the snow. (We had almost no snow and the 4th warmest winter here in Mass. in 100 years).

When I had cut my hilly meadows last summer I did okay (no tipping of tractor) but was thinking about loading them up with rimguard for a safer and more secure grip. (I always go straight up and down on the steepest parts of the hills but there is that gray area of steepness where I kind of run a diagonal and that's where I would like to add a degree of extra safety).

What would be safest and/or most practical way to go: leave the chains on and skip the rimguard, take them off and load the tires, or leave them on _and_ load the tires?

Thanks for any opinions or experiences relating to this question.

 

[skeets]

I ll toss my .02 in here,, I have run both chains and filled tireds and to be honest I like the filed tires better, but then I have 75 pound wheel weights on each rear tire as well. Down here is SW Pa we have hills, the house sits on top of a hill and the rest or my property is up or down. In MHO you cannot go wrong with filled tires I bought the cheapest anti freeze i could find and did a 50/50 and filled the rear tires with. I later found a scrap/junk/auto salvage year where you can buy recycled anti freeze for about a buck a gallon. All of you weight is low in the tires and you are not putting undue weight on any of the axle components. So in MHO again fill them bad boys up,,

 

[sandpipe]

Thanks for the info Skeets. You are persuading me to drag my two rear tires up to N.H. to get them filled with rimguard. They told me 50% fill for mowing and 75% fill for other uses. As my mowing is not around my front yard but in meadows I would think max fill would be best for stability.

The only other thing I am still wondering about is if leaving the chains on and filling the tires would do more for me than taking them off and just filling the tires. I remember reading somewhere that it is better to slide sideways on a steep hill rather than have the grip so good that the tractor tips. Hmmm, maybe I just answered my own question?

 

[L3700SU]

I second filling the tires. After a mild winter, I'm taking my chains off this weekend. They're a great help for pushing snow in combination with filled tires but they are a little too bumpy for me to be mowing with.

Danged winter, only used half my allotted wood and never plowed once.

 

[skeets]

Well as far as filling them you can do it at home, I dont know how much the rimguard cost but I bet it aint cheap, and taking the tires up and bringing them home full and trying to mount them back up,,,, my friend,, you going to have a fun..
Like I said about the anti freeze, windshield washer stuff rim guard all kinds of stuff you can fill it..
I used an old 2 gallon sprayer to fill the tiers,, jack the back end up BLOCK it and turn the wheel untill the valve is at 12 o'clock pull the valve guts out and useing the old sprayer. start to pump the stuff into the tire,,,
(now before I forget I took the wand end off the spreayer and inthe hose stuck a needle valve like for filling foot balls and such),,,
put the needle into the valve stem that you have removed the guts from already and start pumping,,, it takes a while and if you go to the first page of OTT there is a section on filling tires,, you should be able to find how much you need for your tire size theres a chart in there some place,,
any way keep filling the tire untill what ever your useing to fill it with starts to spit back out,,,
your tire is FULL,,,
put the valve gut back in and pump it to the required pressure,, have another adult beverage and do the other one,,, see a quiet afternoon inthe garage with your little orange and a few adult beverages makes the day just a little bit brighter

 

[sandpipe]

Well as far as filling them you can do it at home, I dont know how much the rimguard cost but I bet it aint cheap, and taking the tires up and bringing them home full and trying to mount them back up,,,, my friend,, you going to have a fun..
QUOTE]

I think I have a place that can do the rimguard at a good price. As far as bringing the filled tires back home and remounting them, I think you are being a bit sarcastic about the fun part My plan was to end up with the two rear wheels off and the back of the tractor on jackstands. Then I would roll them up a ramp into the back of my pickup and bring them to get filled. Then back home, roll them down the ramp off the pickup, and fabricate some platform (with a jack to raise it maybe?) so I can get them into positon to slide on the rear axle and then bolt back on.

This procedure sounds a lot more straightforward than it may actually turn out to be.

 

[L3700SU]

If you have a mechanic's creeper or similar, it's easy to maneuver the filled tires into place

 

[sandpipe]

I do have a creeper, and thanks for the idea and great pics!

 

[skeets]

Hmmmm a creeper,,now I would have never thought of that,,, Youzs guys is full of,,, good ideas