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Rubber Tire Chains

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colacole
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 2
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2009-08-18          165061

Has anyone heard of or used these rubber tire chains? They seem like a good idea but I'm wondering if they're worth the money?


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Rubber Tire Chains

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auerbach
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 2168 West of Toronto
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2009-08-18          165062

No, no, and I don't know. But the application may be for pavement where metal chains are prohibited. Plastic car-tire "chains" are available but for very limited use. ....

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Rubber Tire Chains

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earthwrks
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 3853 Home Office in Flat Rock, Michigan
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2009-08-18          165071

Traction is much more than putting rubber bars under a tire. Essentially, all they're doing is turning a "smooth" tire into a tire with tread bars.

This is a variation of paddle tires used for sand. I have driven motorcycles with paddle tires. The only time you get "traction" is when the paddles hit (technically it's not traction but rather the force exerted against sand which propels the vehicle forward not unlike a jet engine or water shooting from a hose). Back to the "paddles" or "bars"; the only time you're going to get traction is when the paddle/bar makes contact--so your traction if you graphed on a chart it would appear as spikes followed by flat spots or no traction.

Also, I have no worry they'd be good in snow or sand or mud. But on ice--no way. It's like putting on your shoes and then strapping on another pair's soles--you gain nothing. But if you install steel spikes on those soles now you can cut through or into ice.

Those marks left on pavement in their advertising are indications that they were pushing too much weight and lost traction. And the best part is those steel tire chains is they are doing exactly what they are suppose to--dig into the ice.

I have smooth-shoe, high-floatation, alloy steel, over-the-tire tracks for my 8,000 lb. skid steer. I can push massive amounts of material and not scratch pavement. The general rule according to the Caterpillar reference manual is you cannot push more than the weight of the pushing vehicle. Howvewer in real-world applications many factors help or hinder that rule.

You might consider looking at the www.tracksplus.com web site. Somewhere I saw someone using these on a single tire--picture a tire surrounded by a very loose-fitting "track". This idea is not new--I saw movies about this on artillery cannons as far back as the Civil War. These tracks allowed them to float over rough and muddy terrain, and while they were be shot (recoil) they could roll back and forth many times without burying their skinny wooden wheels. ....

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Rubber Tire Chains

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Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999
Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2009-08-18          165073

I've seen stranger things work

A number of years back an acquaintance of mine heard I could braid and splice ropes. He was determined that I would 'make' him a set of tire chains from nylon rope for his ATV for going out ice fishing. I laughed at the idea at first, but made them.

What a mistake! Soon I was flooded with requests for them for everything from cars to tractors. They work, but wear quickly. I assume the rubber ones are the same.

Best of luck. ....

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earthwrks
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 3853 Home Office in Flat Rock, Michigan
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2009-08-23          165187

Murf to what do attribute the success--workmanship aside?
Would any braided material work such as wire rope? Or any section profile e.g round, square, triangular so long as it higher than the tire tread?

I have to think the nylon rope became brittle.

Speaking of experimenting, I read a guy down sout' got his tractor stuck pretty badly. He chained a timber across both tires, started it up and in doing so decapitated himself. DOH! ....

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Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999
Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada
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2009-08-24          165203

Quote:
Originally Posted by earthwrks | view 165187
Murf to what do attribute the success--workmanship aside? Would any braided material work such as wire rope?


Jeff, I can only guess it is a combination of things. First any increase in tread depth is only going to help. Secondly, the rolling friction of soft tires makes heat, even when running on snow and ice there's enough to keep the tires wet from melt water, wet rubber doesn't give much grip, so again, any help is welcome. Finally, unlike chains the rope is pliable and so probably gives a much wider surface contact.

I don't think the cold affects the rope as much as you would expect, the first set lasted 3 seasons of pretty steady use, and even then they wore out, they didn't become brittle and fall apart.

I have family who live at the bottom of the Sierra Nevada mountains, everybody uses wire rope tire 'chains to go up into the mountains. They don't flap around like heavy chain does.

Matter of fact that was one of the other reasons the fella said he wanted rope tire 'chains', they could run flat out with them on, chains restricted how fast you could go.

Best of luck. ....

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