Chains on front wheels

bandaidmd

Member

Equipment
B2620 w/LA364 FEL ,BH65, ssqa , 1982 B8200E w/BF300FEL
May 19, 2013
603
0
16
Middle of DELMARVA
Anyone running chains on the front to help with steering. Using my b2620 to push snow and the front wheels slide in whatever direction they want. Can't imagine how bad it would be with an angled blade instead of just my bucket.

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85Hokie

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BX-25D ,PTB. Under Armor, '90&'92-B7100HST's, '06 BX1850 FEL
Jul 13, 2013
10,774
2,583
113
Bedford - VA
Anyone running chains on the front to help with steering. Using my b2620 to push snow and the front wheels slide in whatever direction they want. Can't imagine how bad it would be with an angled blade instead of just my bucket.

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people do it , however not recommended .....it will certainly help the bite and the steering - however there is the rub, the bite places the strain on the rest of the front end.
 

rymerbill

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Equipment
B2150, BX2200
Aug 31, 2015
20
3
3
Lexington Park
people do it , however not recommended .....it will certainly help the bite and the steering - however there is the rub, the bite places the strain on the rest of the front end.
I don't think you would have any problem at all with chains putting too much strain on anything. By far the biggest concern is tight space around those stubby little front wheels and drive gear where chains COULD get caught and create havoc. Chains would help traction a whole lot more than steering. My BX2200 moving snow is very poor steering until you learn to lift the FEL just enough to make sure you have good weight on those front wheels.
 

Grouse Feathers

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BX2370, FEL, Snowblower-BX5455, Homebuilt Forks, LP RB1560, LP GS1548
Feb 16, 2015
1,022
10
0
Lovells, Mi
Try some weight on the front end. On my BX with the snowblower in float and a 250 # rear blade hanging on the 3 point the front end is a little light and I often lose steering. I take the blower out of float and just bump it up until I see it move and my front wheels immediately grab and I have steering. I then bump it back into float until I lose steering again. Maybe bumping up your fel will work.
 

BAP

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2012 Kubota 2920, 60MMM, FEL, BH65 48" Bush Hog, 60"Backblade, B2782B Snowblower
Dec 31, 2012
2,788
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113
New Hampshire
I run chains on all 4 wheels on my B2920 without any problems. I have a 6 ft fisher plow blade mounted to my loaders quick coupler. The front chains work great for steering. I bought the correct size 2 link chains from www.tirechains.com .
 

D2Cat

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L305DT, B7100HST, TG1860, TG1860D, L4240
Mar 27, 2014
13,888
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40 miles south of Kansas City
"I don't think you would have any problem at all with chains putting too much strain on anything."

This may be the belief of many, and it's your prerogative to use them or not. After all, it is your tractor.

Any damage which may happen to the front end may take some time.

Read what Kubota says about it!
 

William1

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BX25D
Jul 28, 2015
1,124
315
83
Richmond, Virginia
A little off topic but.... my dad years back had a Kubota that had two brake pedals locked together. You could disconnect the lock then steer with the brake, applying the side you wanted to turn. Though it was a pain to disconnect/reconnect them (simple plate latch that flipped over a pin) and it was a pain to operate them both when disconnected from each other.

I regularly find myself 'going straight' with the wheels turned. Nature of tiny tires and a lot of relative power and mass at work. Back up and re-attack.
 

bearbait

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L3560, 64" snowblower, 72" back blade
Dec 9, 2011
4,058
834
113
New Glasgow Canada
Depending what tires your running you can stud them which works really well as long as your not driving on pavement.
 

bandaidmd

Member

Equipment
B2620 w/LA364 FEL ,BH65, ssqa , 1982 B8200E w/BF300FEL
May 19, 2013
603
0
16
Middle of DELMARVA
A little off topic but.... my dad years back had a Kubota that had two brake pedals locked together. You could disconnect the lock then steer with the brake, applying the side you wanted to turn. Though it was a pain to disconnect/reconnect them (simple plate latch that flipped over a pin) and it was a pain to operate them both when disconnected from each other.

I regularly find myself 'going straight' with the wheels turned. Nature of tiny tires and a lot of relative power and mass at work. Back up and re-attack.
Trying to use the steering brakes that some moron put on the same side as the hydrostatic rocker is a pita.

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bandaidmd

Member

Equipment
B2620 w/LA364 FEL ,BH65, ssqa , 1982 B8200E w/BF300FEL
May 19, 2013
603
0
16
Middle of DELMARVA
I run chains on all 4 wheels on my B2920 without any problems. I have a 6 ft fisher plow blade mounted to my loaders quick coupler. The front chains work great for steering. I bought the correct size 2 link chains from www.tirechains.com .
Thanks, this storm is the first time I used my rear chains that I bought three years ago. Looks like I will be ordering a front set since I have a truck plow I'm going to convert over to a ssqa plate.

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bandaidmd

Member

Equipment
B2620 w/LA364 FEL ,BH65, ssqa , 1982 B8200E w/BF300FEL
May 19, 2013
603
0
16
Middle of DELMARVA
Try some weight on the front end. On my BX with the snowblower in float and a 250 # rear blade hanging on the 3 point the front end is a little light and I often lose steering. I take the blower out of float and just bump it up until I see it move and my front wheels immediately grab and I have steering. I then bump it back into float until I lose steering again. Maybe bumping up your fel will work.
Lifting the fel helps but is counter productive. I was using my weight box on the rear so I'm sure it was lightning up the front a bit but I have decided to get chains for the front.

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bandaidmd

Member

Equipment
B2620 w/LA364 FEL ,BH65, ssqa , 1982 B8200E w/BF300FEL
May 19, 2013
603
0
16
Middle of DELMARVA
I run chains on all 4 wheels on my B2920 without any problems. I have a 6 ft fisher plow blade mounted to my loaders quick coupler. The front chains work great for steering. I bought the correct size 2 link chains from www.tirechains.com .
ordered the euro style from tirechains.com yesterday UPS notification says they will be here today, thats the same place i got the rear ones from.
 

SDMauler

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Equipment
2009 BX2360TV60, RCK60B-23BX
Aug 8, 2014
82
0
0
Parker, SD
On my BX2360, I run chains on all four tires in the winter. On the front, you have to run the chains "offset", so that more of the chain is on the outside of the tire so the circular chain that ties all of the cross-links together doesn't hit the tie rod ends. Just put the chains on so that there are a couple of extra links on the inside of the tire, and shorten the outside chain by a couple of links. I bought a bulk roll of elastic cord instead of replacing the rubber tensioners, so there are 6-8 points to take up the slack instead of the 4, and they last several years instead of falling apart every year. I have a front dozer blade (not an FEL), so I need all of the traction and direction control I can get. I also filled the rear and front tires (fronts have tubes) with RV antifreeze. This setup works really well for pushing snow. In the summer, without the chains it works well on sand and dirt. I almost always run out of power before I run out of traction, unless it's really muddy or slimy.
 

CaveCreekRay

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L3800 HST, KingKutter box scraper, KingKutter 66" rake, County Pride Subsoiler
Jul 11, 2014
2,631
100
48
Cave Creek, AZ
Stupid idea from a guy in Arizona:

Do they make those "wire" chains small enough for the fronts? You know, the ones that are cable with little carbide cleats woven in?

?????
 

armylifer

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BX1860, FEL, RCK54P MMM, BB1548 Box Scraper, Quick Hitch, Piranha Bar, BX6315
Mar 26, 2013
2,061
787
113
Thurston County, WA
Stupid idea from a guy in Arizona:

Do they make those "wire" chains small enough for the fronts? You know, the ones that are cable with little carbide cleats woven in?

?????
They do make cable chains small enough for the front wheels. I have some from an old Honda Civic that I had in the 1970's. It had 12" tires and the chains from that car fit my BX1860. I had to cut some excess cable off the ends to make them the "right" size but they work. On the rear I am using cable chains from another car that I had. I think they are from a Buick Century, but I am not really sure about that.