# How can I make these tires have more traction?



## williaty (Feb 14, 2014)

Last year we bought a McCulloch snowblower with some pretty aggressive looking tires on it. However, under some conditions, it turns out not to have enough traction to pull itself up the steepest part of our driveway (which is a 1 in 3 grade). I wanted to get a set of chains for it to help with that but then I realized that the chains would likely just fall between the large lugs of treat and not help at all. Here's a picture of the tires:










What can I do to improve traction with knobby tires like this?


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## Shryp (Jan 1, 2011)

Those are the types of tires that people say are the best. Not sure why you are having traction problems except maybe McCulloch isn't built as well as some of the other machines so it isn't as heavy. You could try adding some extra weight to the machine to help. I believe they make special chains for tires like that that have an X pattern in the cross links to avoid falling into the treads. Also, what tire pressure were you using? Lower pressure might help with traction.


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## williaty (Feb 14, 2014)

I have no idea what the tire pressure was, that's a good question actually.

Do you have a link or a brand for the x-pattern chains?

I would think you guys get similar weather, but down here we get a lot of back and forth of temperatures so we often have powder mixed with stuff that's like a hardened snowcone and all topped with a crust of ice. If one of the harder/slicker layers went down first, we can have a real hard time finding traction even if it's not strictly speaking ice. 

And the super steep grade doesn't help.


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## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

Those lugs appear to be fairly tall. Any possibility of running some hex head 3/4" sheet metal screws in them? Maybe 1/2" would do. You'll need a bunch of them. That's a trick used by some guys that still run solid rubber tires.


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## williaty (Feb 14, 2014)

Run the screws into the lugs from the outside so that the heads hit the ground?

Or run the screws into the lugs from the inside (is this a tubed tire?) so that the points hit the ground?


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## Zavie (Sep 23, 2014)

Have you contacted McCulloch customer support? They may be able to recommend a tire chain. McCulloch may even have an accessory chain for your model.


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## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

williaty said:


> Run the screws into the lugs from the outside so that the heads hit the ground?
> 
> Or run the screws into the lugs from the inside (is this a tubed tire?) so that the points hit the ground?


Run the screws from the top of the lugs down into the tire.. But, the other way is something to consider. The solid tires weren't able to have that option.
Google *tirechain.com*
You ought to find something there. If you get the 2 link style chains believe me, they won't fall in between the lugs.


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## q95 (Sep 17, 2014)

Nice info Micah.

This looks like what tirechain.com suggests, Snow Hog Tires.


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## micah68kj (Oct 8, 2011)

q95 said:


> Nice info Micah.
> 
> This looks like what tirechain.com suggests, Snow Hog Tires.


I believe those pictured on the right are the tires he's running. They have what they call "diamond pattern" chains for your tires. Looks like $49 and some change/pr


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