# No traction



## the blur (Jan 24, 2016)

I have a 24" Snapper M924E machine with wheels. 2 stage. I live on flat ground, no hills. I find myself pushing & dragging this machine all too often. The wheels just spin on anything slick.

I just ordered chains for the 16x6.50 tires.
Are chains equal to having tracks ?

I have no problem upgrading to a machine with tracks if necessary. Just wondering how tire chains compare to tracks ?


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## SnowG (Dec 5, 2014)

Chains will be better on ice, but tracks will be better all around.


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## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

I have been using my Ariens Sno Tek in this storm and the tires on it are about the cheapest junk I've ever had on a blower. I'm going through about 24-30" of snow and no wheel spin. We've had this discussion on here before, on other threads. I've never needed chains on any blower I've owned and I've had a bunch of them. I've tossed snow in many different conditions; flat gravel, smooth pavement, EOD, sloped but not excessivley steep and have never needed chains. Maybe try blowing at a slightly slower speed and let your machine do all the work. Some on this forum will have a totally opposite opinion but I'm relating my personal experience.

Reducing air pressure in your tires may help some too.


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## bwdbrn1 (Nov 24, 2010)

I would think chains would help out a lot. 

How do you have the height of the scrapper bar set? Too low, or too close and it might be dragging too much on the surface you are clearing.


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## Shryp (Jan 1, 2011)

You also haven't mentioned how old your machine is or what kind of tires it has.

Older machines have turf type tires which are mainly designed for grass and no resistance. Those often have chains with them for snow and ice.

Newer machines use newer tires designed for snow. The rubber is softer and stickier which gives better traction. Also, they have deep tread as well. The X-Trax design seem most liked followed by the Snow Hog design.


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

:welcome: to the forum the blur


I checked and I think you already have the aggressive tires so skid adjustments and air pressure, then chains, then you're at the point of moving up to tracks.


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## Paul463 (Nov 4, 2014)

I'd go with chains or even ice screws before I ever bought tracks again.
Is your machine really light?
I put some snohog tires on my old JD826 that came with the stupid diamond tread turf tires and have never needed to put the chains back on it.


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## Town (Jan 31, 2015)

The X-Trac type tires have significant gaps between tread blocks so the type of chain that goes from side to side is likely to fall in those gaps and not give any extra traction. There are other types of chain with X pattern or other design that will stay on the top of the tread. Worth the effort to research. If you have decorative surfaces on your driveway then heavy metal contact is likely to mark the surface, chains and skids. 

I have the X-Trac type tires on my machine used with only minor slopes and they are excellent. Smooth running and high grip on ice and snow. I have used the Sno-Hog type tires and they are rough because the center tread blocks are too far apart so machine lifts over the tread block and then drops down the other side and so on. The Sno-Hog has a very rounded profile so doesn't put much tread down, but grip is not too bad though. In these cases the tires are driven by both wheels. If your machine has an open differential or some other one wheel drive set-up then chains are worth looking at.

Turf type tires are useless in snow and ice and need chains.

Never used track drive.

Good luck.


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

If you do go for chains on "Turf" type tires I recommend going with the 2 link. They have a cross chain every two links. Twice as many cross chains as the 4 link.












BUT ... seeing the post above, with actual snow blower tires like Sno-Hog or X-Trac you would want "X" chains.


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## the blur (Jan 24, 2016)

Those are the chains I ordered. Although I already have the knobby type tires. We'll see what happens.

What is the objection to tractor type drive ?


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## HCBPH (Mar 8, 2011)

Personally I don't have a problem with tractor style tires. Easiest way to relate this question is think about the tires on your car. Regular tires, then all weather, then snow tires then finally chains in that order for traction. Same thing for blowers.

All my main blowers have chains as they came with the diamond style tires and are still on there. When it's slick or deep the machine can have traction issues which chains solved.

I've used a machine with tracks on it, but never owned one. It had issues with the track drive rusting over time so for me it wasn't worth the extra $$.

My 2 cents.


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## alleyyooper (Sep 12, 2015)

My curb side found snow blower came with these tires all weather checked and I doubt they would have held air. Could have went with inter tubes but I got a pair of tractor tread tires new for 20.00 a pair.



People said they would not work very well with out chains but being a bit on the show me side I decided if they did indeed need help I would stud them just like I do my ATV in the winter.



6 PSI in the tires and scraper bar dragging they work great.

I know this isn't much snow but I am also running the blower as fast as it will cover ground.



I run 50of these carbide tipped ice studs on each tire of my ATV and it will hardly spin a tire on ice.










 Al


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## Dkeith45 (Feb 26, 2016)

Stick with tires. Get chains if you need to. Don't go tracs unless the machine has either SS axles, grease fittings, or some way to keep the steel axles from rusting to the plastic drive wheels.


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## Dkeith45 (Feb 26, 2016)

Took a few tries till I found the link to your pictured studs. Way cool. Thanks for the tip.
Stud your tires with Woody's Twist Attack tire screws. Easy to install


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## nwcove (Mar 2, 2015)

chains will do the job.


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## RedOctobyr (Mar 2, 2014)

I have Sno-Hogs, with chains. My driveway has an incline. I've tried my blower with the chains removed, as a test. I was not happy with the traction going up the incline. I put the chains back on, and will keep them on. 

I also had them on my MTD, with a locked axle. That was a real pain to turn. You really had to drag the machine around, and the chains would scrape. 

My Ariens machines have differentials, so turning is easy. They will pivot in-place, without dragging/skidding the tires. Meaning that chains are really not a drawback, since they don't scrape on the ground when turning around. I wouldn't see a benefit to removing my chains, since the machine is still easy to handle, and doesn't scrape things up.


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## db9938 (Nov 17, 2013)

If you are referring to the track style drive systems, turning them tends to be a challenge to the uninitiated. But, there are tricks to getting them to spin on a dime, and not the nice modern ones with steering. 

The other issue, is the track drive system available for your model?


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## Sid (Jan 31, 2014)

Chains work for me. To make it easier to get then on, I let a little air out of the tires, then air them up again. Yeah they scratch up the garage floor, and yeah it's on a dolly,just another pain.
Sid


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## Mr Fixit (Nov 19, 2013)

My machine's bottom pan has about a 3" clearance. On a 30" snow job the snow coming over the front soon bogs me down. Chains gets we backed out when I bog down. The second thing I like is it chips at the snow pack on the driveway on my return direction. I can only blow down the driveway. So eventually I'm on pavement by repeated trips. I've always had chains on all my blowers. Just before the spring melt, I clear off a full with on both side of both sidewalks to avoid melting creating icy sidewalks during the nights. I can rip around pretty good pushing old hard snow on grass! Try chains first. Store your machine on a 3/8" plywood. Rust mark the plywood!


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