I can’t fit chains on unless I do.  

I have the Kubota rear wheel spacers on the back but really need chains on the front for positive steering control on the front.


The aftermarket ones I find are aluminum.   Steel seems more sensible.

crickets.

Sorry Kittie.

My B3200 slides on pack ice and snow on the hill.

Spacers on the front aren't common as it does't buy anything from a tip/stability perspective (due to the axle pivot).

It also puts additional stress on the bearings...  

This coming from a guy running 6" rear spacers on an l3800  

If you need to kick them out to get the chain spacing, I'd go as narrow as you need and remove them post snow season.

My “tipping point” was the big 42” storm a couple weeks ago.  


Got my F250 stuck and the bottom of the dip in my driveway, slid off to the side.  Then tried toget around and behind it with the tractor but was also sliding in the same path, plenty of warning but zip for steering with R4s.  Ended up nose to nose with stuck truck.   My grade varies from 20-25% on the last run up to the house.   Certified goat pathterritory.  I spun the rears on the gravel drive when I got my new F250 with the plow on before ballasting the rear while in two wheel drive.  .   That was before the storm which was only forcasted to be a 6” storm so I wasn’t in a panic about the ballast yet.  I have since put about 550 pounds of sand in the back per the fisher guidelines, actually they said six but suddenly tube sand had disappeared off the shelf.  I had to go to four places to get that much from just two that had any.  

R4s truly suck on packed snow and ice but they hold up a little better on the natural exposed semi rotten shale around here.  I can litteraly spin 3-4” of dirt here and be grinding tire on tilted shale.  

Anyways yes. Some folks raise concern over the extra leverage on the bearings and sudden grabbing of traction on the finer front shaft splines and gearing back.  It sucks but whats a person to do?

I already have the Kubota brand spacer on the back but have yet to buy the big chains.  It’s only 1.5” per side.   I am looking at the aqualines for the rear. Maybe I should just start there.   That would do nothing for steering though.

Removing studs every year seems damaging in the long run.  You would have to remove the tire and rim.  Unbolt the spacer from the hub, Jam nut a pair of nuts on the long stud.  Remove them with out damaging them, then reinstall the short factory studs and replace the tire and rim.  

Many aftermarket brands are using studs with differnt threads on each end so you better not just air wrench on the lug nuts you just took off.   Saw my auto shop friend fixing a customer guy’s screw up that did just that, impact drove on the wrong threaded nuts.  



Kall,

That looks like a beautiful farm you have.

I have heard of people using sheet metal screws or tire studs installed into the R4 tires.

You could ask the folks on the arfcom of tractors:
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/snow-removal/297296-studding-front-r4-tires.html

That’s impressive.  I take it you’re not worried about implements covering up your tracks.  

Yeah... no ground engagement work to speak of (aside from the occasional spud plow).

We're nothing but hills here and that extra width has been priceless for stability.

About your ballast.
Do you have pallet forks?
Maybe a pallet with 10 bags of quickcrete?
That would be reuse able, it would last years with a plastic pallet.
Put another pallet in front of the ballast pallet to keep it from sliding in the bed.

Yes I do have forks.   I bought them from Everything Attachments before steel prices shot up and EA had about a 50% price increase.  

That is not a bad idea at all.