I have a B3200 with Titan Tires 23X8.50-14 in the front. I've ordered some chains for the front but it looks like there is little to no space between the tires and the front wheel attachment assembly/tie rod. Can these front tires be reversed and would that solve the spacing issue?
B3200 Can I use Chains on my Front Tires.
- Thread starter kmichaelis
- Start date
There is many different opinions on this subject. Some say yep others say no way, others say sometimes. All have good points and some not so good points. I really dont know I have run chains on all 4's on the jeep , on the tractor no. I can see that maybe there may be an issue with the steering linkage getting twisted or bent if you turned maybe hard or something,, But I for one really don't know
North Idaho Wolfman
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First I'll caution you that any offset to the front wheels puts a huge strain on the axles, and too much and they will fail, especially with loader work.
Looking at the rims I don't think you will gain anything by flipping them, they look to be center set, but you could try.
I don't normally recommend using spacers on the front but 1" to 1 1/2" spacers should give you enough clearance for chains if the rim flipping doesn't work.
I have chains on the front tires of my B2650, and they don't seem to be close to the tie rods etc. Why don't you wait until your chains come and install them, it might be a non issue?
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Thanks for all the advice. I did try to mount the chains but there is in fact, no clearance. Appreciate all the advice, I'll just keep the rear chains and return the fronts!
You should be able to mod the chains to fit your tires properly. All you need is a metal chisel, a 5 lb sledgehammer, some vice grips and bolt cutters. Look online for tire chain modification videos from the tire chain suppliers.
Get or make a good set of spiders to keep the chains tight to the outside. Dont leave the chains loose, especially on the fronts.
Get or make a good set of spiders to keep the chains tight to the outside. Dont leave the chains loose, especially on the fronts.
When plowing with my M9, I only run chains in the front tires, not the rear. I do that to mitigate plow steer. My M9 is heavy enough with the plow on that it really don't need more snow traction. I have R1's btw.
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Another caution to using front wheels spacers: too much offset can cause the front tires to hit the loader support frame at full lock. At least on the B7610.
Watch for good shape car/truck tire chains at garage sales. I lucked onto a couple of nice sets that had the "V" cross bar in the links. With very little modification (hacksaw and wire feed welder) I made a set to fit the front wheels on my older JD750 MFWD compact tractor. They made for a very low profile set of chains and those "V" cross bars really grabbed on ice and hard packed snow. What a difference they make if you run a blade on the front end of your tractor to push snow!! Just don't spin the wheels on your concrete or asphalt drive! 
I am assuming you need chains because of ice?
Weight is king, add ballast. I added weight on my 3 point hitch by mounting my rear blade with a weight box mounted to it. It contains 30 retaining wall bricks that weigh 22.5 lbs each and including the blade weight I’m close to 1k lbs.
Then I grooved my R4 industrial tires. I was skeptical at first but after grooving I intentionally tried to get the mule stuck in snow and ice, off road and downhill and was unable to get it stuck.
I was considering chains but had a clearance issue with rear tires and cab supports and was concerned with concrete damage.
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Its quite possible the owners manual doesn't suggest chains on the front 1 for clearance issues and 2 for driveline longevity. The front drive shaft splines are really small and stripping the couplers is a possibility. They strip on their own in time and usually I'll replace both couplers, roll pins and the mid shaft. Also the durability of the FEL comes into question with a heavy side push that comes with a snow plow, its not well designed to take a huge amount of side loading.
If you can get chains to fit with wheel spacers or flipping the wheels side to side just avoid going full send if you're using a plow and mind how fast you let anything spin without forward movement.
If you can get chains to fit with wheel spacers or flipping the wheels side to side just avoid going full send if you're using a plow and mind how fast you let anything spin without forward movement.