Tire chains?

[ilmoakw]

Has anyone made their own tire chains? Money is slack so i figured i'd try to fab some up myself. Does anyone have any suggestions?

[harryredtrike]

do you have a pair to fab off of?cant be that hard.

[hondahaulic]

I would find an old pair of car tire chains or something to start with, actual tire chains will give better grip than regular links. When your making these keep in mind how fast they spin and how close you will be to them on the trike. good luck and post up results

[MonroeMike]

For ideas, Google "tire chains", view image results.

Tractor Supply has them also.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CatalogSearchResultView?storeId=10551&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&pageSize=20&beginIndex=0&sType=SimpleSearch&resultCatEntryType=2&error1=&ip_text=tires+chains&ip_textHH=tires+chains&ip_requestUri=TopCategoriesDisplay&ip_categoryId=&ip_mode=&ip_perPage=20

[lndy650]

i used to have a set and all they did was make me dig a trench quicker and get stuck faster....

[pipeline triker]

They add alot of weight and it takes alot more power to use them. make sure you put them on with little or no air in the tires and then pump the tires up. This will make the chains nice and tight. You do not want them whipping and ripping a fender off or worse yet the back of your leg. I would maybe try and find a set of the cable style since they are so much lighter, Walmart sells them cheap. In the past I have found a set of styker style tires turned backwards works better than chains. As long as your not on ice.

[fabiodriven]

You could always stud a set of tires.

[ilmoakw]

You could always stud a set of tires.

I am actually swaying that way...

[Name Brand]

I've never run chains on an ATC. While I know they would hook up well, the thought of having a length of links come apart and taking out my nice fenders or ankle makes me uneasy.

I have studded my tires using half inch, hex-head sheetmetal screws bought at the local building supply store. No, they aren't the lightweight alloy, racing version. They're heavy but durable and stay in the tires as well as anything others. They're cheap too! I used just over a pound on the 25" tires on my SX; I'm sure chains would be heavier. I like to put one in every other knob and 3-4 in each bar. They hook up extremely well on ice and hardpack. We studded the stock tires in my friends Fatcat; it made that machine rideable in the winter. If the tire lugs are not deep enough, the screws will go all the way through the tire and will leak. A tube will not help as the screw points will pierce it; the tire will be no good.

There's two thoughts on traveling across snow; dig down through it with aggressive or narrow tires to a hard enough layer or, stay on top with less aggressive and wider tires. Using chains follows the first method.

With how light most ATC's are I like the second method. I used to ride my 125M on it's stock tires all over snowmachine trails. My SX is alot heavier but with the 12.5" wide tires in back I can still stay on top of heavier snows. The aggressive tread on my tires doesn't help; I am tempted to get a pair of dedicated snow tires (course I do own a snowmachine now...). Using screws in the tires let's me get traction if a sink into the snow or find a layer of ice. I don't take them out after winter; they work great for getting over frozen ground, wet rock, logs and roots. Many screws do disappear by the fall season. I'm thinking about putting a bit of blue RTV on each screw next time I put them in, for a little extra hold in the rubber.