What is everyone running for snow/ice tires?.. I really hate the stock bobcat tires there horible in snow and ice i slid all over the place is anyone here running a certain brand or model id like to hear peopls life expericence with cert. tires use any info would be great?? Thanks
I'm running 19.5 truck tires, don't remenber the size offhand. They seem to get a lot better traction than regular skid tires and also pickup some speed. You can get 22.5 sized to really scoot... When it's all ice they still aren't perfect.
Are you willing to experiment with your existing tires? You can buy an electric tire groover from here: http://www.bryke.com/wheel_tire_accessories.html and modify the tread pattern to eliminate the 'blockiness'. You can also add sipes with the groover to help with wet/ice traction.
What about tire chains, I have never seen them on a skid steer but I would think they should work
Tire chains do make a big improvment, but guys commericaly plowing don't like them because they will mark up blacktop pretty bad. A lot of guys are going to truck tires.
ive seen some guys around here run some of the old military tires they looks huge on the machine tho!! might just see if i can grab a set of some used E rated snow tires and see how they work!! i picked up a set of mastercraft snow tires for my dump and belive it or not they actually make a world of a difrence in performance..
I didn't like the traction of the Chevron tread in snow either. When it came time to replace them, I tried Solideal LifeMasters and have been very happy with them.
That pic you show Steve …… Are those an original tread tire or are those a recap ? ………. I've contemplated that tread in a recap + get them siped …. that is a similar tread that i'm using on my dually and they've got to be the best tire i've ever used on it …… but on a skid I wasn't sure ….. cheers
It's a virgin tire. The tread is very aggressive and I can report lasts much longer than the Chevron tread. The Galaxy Chevron that was O/E on my 248 were racing slicks at 800 hours. I have 500 hours on these LifeMasters and about 25% tread wear or less. They aren't quite as effective in gooey mud as the Chevron but in all other applications they are as good or better. They definitely work better in snow. I decided to give this tire a try for the same reason as you. I drove a tractor trailer that had this same tread design that worked very well in snow. http://www.solidealtires.com/products/13-lifemasters.aspx
Thanx for the link Steve ! …… i'm going to bookmark it ……….. how do they price out compared to the Galaxy chevrons, i'm also assuming that you also use 12x16.5 10 or 12 ply's ...
That sounds like the right size. If I remember right, they cost about $800 for 4, but that was before rubber prices got stupid. I think a Chevron tread in an unknown brand was going to be $600, so they are more expensive but the tread life is leaps and bounds better than the Chevron. You also get better traction in snow, less turf damage, less hopping when turning on pavement and in my opinion all around better performance, except in extreme mud like I mentioned.
Bair Products - ice lugs. They work awesome.
What do you do for rims??
That's what I kinda expected to hear, Steve ……. with my A-300 tread were life is not even an issue I got just over 2600hrs on the original set of rubber, and probably 50-60% tread depth still there … but tire life due cuts and abrasion was the problems that caused me to retire (pardon the pun) the old tires … too many flats thru the cuts. I was lucky to find a brand new set of mounted "Take Off's" from a Bcat dealer for less than a set of OEM tires. But what interests me, now that I have an extra set of rims, is how well those tires grip in everything except mud …. that's where the OTT grousers come into play…. and mostly in the early stages of winter in the snow, once winter really kicks in I'd be chaining up all the way around anyways Thanx for the info, I think before next winter I'm gonna seriously look into those "Lifemasters" possible get them siped as well ….. cheers
The set I got and how they seem to be sold here is compete, you get the tires and rims for $1300-1400. I think the tire place that is doing them uses a truck rim with a skid center welded in.
http://www.westsidetire.net/videos.htm Heres an option^^^^^^..
Yep, thats the one to talk to.
yipes, I'm glad I'm not paying the bills to maintain the CASE in the last Video. Time is money except when all the money goes back in fixing an abused machine
Lot of guys speak highly of Wolf paws
LOL.......an idiot ramming a machine into piles while pushing a thimble full of snow really dosent show the benefits of dedicated snow tires. We've ran them on a few Bobcat s185's, and currently run them on a CAT 246C. Work great!
I think a comparison at climbing an incline with Stock tires and then the Wolf Paws would be more impressive then ramming a snow pile. Stock tire slip , while our Grip... some silly Motto like that
I used to have a ** 711 4-wheel skidsteer (built around 1977). It was old, funky, hard to run, harder to operate, but it sure had good winter traction. I made up a set of 4 tire chains with double the cross-chains (one every two links instead of every four which is standard). Way better traction, much smoother ride, and surprisingly much easier on pavement. Eventually I had to buy new tires from using it in warm months on gravel, dirt and a bit of pavement. But the new tires' deeper treads held the chains better so there was no slip or slop. That rig was stolen 2 years ago; I'm still pi**ed off! It took a lot of work keeping it running, but it was great in the snow. Now I have a Cat 277 with rubber tracks. It is downright AWFUL in the snow. Sure, it's got lots more weight and power, but without traction it slips, slides sideways, and can't pull itself up a slight slope on packed snow, nor push snow with a light materials bucket, nor push into drifts of light snow with a snowblower. Does anybody know what is the best snow traction tread for the Cat? I've seen bolt-on or clamp-on steel studs (like Eterra) for Bobcat-style treads, but they won't work on Cat tracks. There are screw-in studs, but the longest protrude about 1/16' which would only improve traction on nearly bare pavement. There are numerous tread patterns (for some tracks, but not so many for Cats) but looking at them doesn't say how well they do and all are hyped without specifics. What are the best tread patterns for snow traction, and what after-market or home-made solutions exist? I'm at 6300' in the northern California sierras, and get between 10' and 30' of snow each winter. I HAVE to solve this before November!
http://catused.cat.com/images?equipmentId=1644798&style=M The tracks posted above are what I thought were factory on your machine?? And always heard they perform great for snow work?? Other than that, not sure what your options would be, other than studding....????Studs should help tremendously on packed snow or ice. I've seen a vid or 2 on youtube about clamp on "cleats"(cant remember name right now). They look VERY aggressive, and appear they would be horrible on a paved surface or ice?...but would probably work great in deep snow or mud.