[bontai Joe]

Has anyone here studded their tractor tires? I'm thinking like using ag tires and driving hex head sheet metal screws into the lugs where the meat is thick. The hex head screws have a ridge around the head supposedly to keep the screwdriver from slipping out which would bite pretty good in the ice. Would that work or am I missing something?:merry:

 

[rkcr123]

I've used round-headed Phillips-head screws. In my experience the taller hex-head screws rub out too easily. ymmv.
I use 'em in rubber-soled shoes too. Getting too old to fall down without getting hurt.
Not sure just what motorcycle ice racers use but it should be easy to find online.
rr

 

[Ingersoll444]

See I would think for the cost, and work invalved, you might just be better off with chains. What are you planing for the tractor? Hey anyone ever try GT ice racing?? They have a lot of iceracing hear in NY, and lawnmower racing is getting bigger, so why not mix the two. Sounds like a REAL fun way to get some bumps, and bruses.

 

[Chipmaker]

I stud mine every time I cut around the mock orange (Osage) trees ;-) Those thorns are like carbide studs. Unfortunately as good as they wear you eventually get a flat.......I guess I could always do what I used to do when I was a kid and had my first car (bush car) which was an old "Star" with 42" x 5" tires on a wood spoked steel rim/ hubbed wheel assembly. I filled the tires with sand and never worried about flats again ;-) That car could go through mudholes and snow and over boulders like a bulldozer.

I see no reason your idea would not work, however if they ever wear off the heads and get below the rubber, even in that lug area, its a future flat. Maybe with having threads n them, it would prevent further migration into the rubber.

I have already studded tires with golfers spikes on a go kart I once had so I could run it around on the ice on the frozen dams and resivoirs up north. How about those stud kits sold for snowmobiles? Probably best if you had extra tires even worn down ones would work, maybe, as studs are not any good in just snow, but if yur gonna commit a tire to screws perhaps these carbides sold for snowmobiles and the use of a tube would work.

 

[bontai Joe]

I gersoll 444,
My plan for this tractor is not to get stuck on the ice. I have chains and a lot of experience with them. They work on level ground and gentle slopes very well. I'm building a set up to blow snow on 1/4 mile of private road including 1/8 mile long hill that is fairly steep. At least it's steeper than anything I've tried to remove snow from before. I'm thinking that the knarly studs I have in mind will grip better than chains. I'm using a Deere 316 to push a 54" wide plow or 48" wide blower. I've got 300 lb of weight on the back plus my 315 in the seat and my mission is to keep my road open and not fail!

 

[leolav]

I think hex screws woul wear out rapidly if you drive over dry pavement. I think chains would be m,ore approporiate.

 

[bontai Joe]

Our road is not paved, it's dirt/mud. In the winter it is dirt/mud/slush/ice. I'll have no need to drive on dry pavement or dry dirt road. I'll only be out there in the mud/slush/snow/ice. i already have an extra set of rims, just need to get the tires bought and mounted. I'll try the chains first since I have them. If I stud the tires, I'll switch them back in the spring like I do our 3 cars.

 

[slipshod]

No Studs on my tires

But there is a stud driving.

 

[Ingersoll444]

Re: No Studs on my tires

Originally posted by slipshod
But there is a stud driving.

You know, I was going to type that yesterday, but then said "na" Warped minds think alike I guess.

 

[Ingersoll444]

With a spair set of wheels and tires I bet it would work well, probably get a few years of wear out of those hex screws in your use. If you get a lot of snow, I would probably get a set of bar tires. Stud the top of the bars with the screws. That way you have the nice open, biting tread of the bars, plus the screws, to bite into the ice. Also with the bars, you would have a lot of rubber where the screws go it, so you would not have to worry about poking a hole.


Anouther idea for you. I have never heard anyone doing this to a tractor tire, but the 4wheelers do it all the time. Sipping. This it where you cut small slits in the tread to help gram on to the ice better. If you look at any one the new snow tires out there, you will get the idea of what I am talking about.