D-Series One Wheel Peel

[BuffaloD200 33]

Hey all, 

 

My '74 D180 has a lot of trouble pushing snow.  Weighted tires, but nothing else at this time.  I've found it gets stuck frequently and only one wheel spins.  Do these tractors not have a limited slip/locker arrangement?  How does everyone manage with the infamous one wheel peel?

[c-series don 8,734]

One word: chains !! 

[adsm08 2,098]

I have studded chains and no weights or fluid in my tires. I get stuck only occasionally, and when I do grabbing a tread lug on the spinning wheel usually gets me moving. But I also have ag treads that I can grab like that.

 

Some WHs has limited slip, but not all. And even a limited slip is pretty useless if one wheel has no traction at all.

[ebinmaine 67,760]

This is my 1975 C160 Automatic. 

I have four oversized tires all fluid filled. 

There's 255 lbs of FLUID ALONE. 

 

I also have another 130 lbs of steel weight in the rear. 

 

There's also HD Ice Chains. 

 

And the plow blade itself is a bunch of added weight. That's 60" wide and the edge is from a skidsteer.  

 

With me on it this tractor weighs over 1400 lbs.  

 

 

 

 

 

This is Trina's 867 Pigpen. 

 

It has a 45 lbs weight out front. Snowblower front tires. 

The rears are oversized and fluid filled with 7, 7.5 gallons each.  

That's 160 + lbs of fluid. 

She also has 130 lbs of steel and similar chains AND Limited Slip Differential.  

 

BOTH of these tractors are nearly unstoppable within reasonable work limits.  

 

 

 

[Ed Kennell 38,324]

2 hours ago, BuffaloD200 said:

How does everyone manage with the infamous one wheel peel?

Weight and chains.

 

I prefer the rubber chains. They work best on the five paved driveways I plow and they don't leave any marks.  When plowing with the steel chains I find I can only plow downhill on the pavement.          I use the 2 link Vee Bar chains on ice and hard packed snow and on the stone roads that I plow.

Edited 11 hours ago by Ed Kennell

[Lagersolut 663]

1 hour ago, c-series don said:

One word: chains !! 

^

This - my D-way is a slight hill - going down is easy - getting back up without chains won't happen - I use double link V bar ice chains with weight - if the weather starts out above freezing and wet , then goes cold,  the minute you push it and open up the wet - freezes turns to a sheet of ice - I keep bags of rock salt and ice melt here for after I'm done plowing/blowing .

[1mor Project 79]

Eb, I noticed you have your trip springs set to keep the blade vertical as it touches the ground. I keep mine on the top set of holes to help the snow dig in and roll off the blade better rather than loading up and lifting the plow. I have a long driveway, so rolling off the plow to the side makes it go a lot faster. I am still waiting for some snow here in Wisconsin to see how it works with my Raider 10 that I repowered with a 16 HP with a hydro pulley. It gives me a much better road gear.

I agree with the weights and chains. I prefer turf tires with 2 link chains with ice cleats, but I have both ag tires and 4 link chains on other tractors. Chains are needed no matter what tires you have.

[ebinmaine 67,760]

59 minutes ago, 1mor Project said:

Eb, I noticed you have your trip springs set to keep the blade vertical as it touches the ground. I keep mine on the top set of holes to help the snow dig in and roll off the blade better rather than loading up and lifting the plow. I have a long driveway, so rolling off the plow to the side makes it go a lot faster.

 

As you can see we have a gravel driveway. With the top holes the plow angle is such that it digs in to the soft parts WAY too aggressively.  

This forward tilt we use keeps the gravel where it should be much longer.  

 

We have no issues with the snow rolling off the sides. In fact, we have less trouble. 

With the more forward angle we use the snow is actually directed DOWN and OUT in the front of the plow.  

With the plow in the top hole we see more tendency to allow the snow to bury the plow by running right up over the top.  

There is NO tendency for the plow to float over the snow with my monster blade as it's so incredibly heavy. 

If the snow is very hard packed sometimes Trina will hold her blade down in tension using the solid link.  

 

[ri702bill 8,385]

9 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

There's also HD Ice Chains. 

Nice. Best done in a 2 link setup, as a 4 link leaves too much space that gives an awful bouncy ride - your innards will thank you!

[ebinmaine 67,760]

1 minute ago, ri702bill said:

Nice. Best done in a 2 link setup, as a 4 link leaves too much space that gives an awful bouncy ride - your innards will thank you!

 

Absolutely agreed.  

Both our snow tractors have the two link chains 🔗 ⛓️ 

 

I even have a set for the front of mine. Not quite enough room to install them past the spindles with the oversized tires.  Once I get around to installing the trailer spindles and 5 lug wheels they should work. 

 

 

[Pullstart 62,931]

20 minutes ago, ri702bill said:

Nice. Best done in a 2 link setup, as a 4 link leaves too much space that gives an awful bouncy ride - your innards will thank you!

These chains give the biggest bumpiest ride I’ve ever experienced on a tractor!  I was so excited to run them around at the big show, in the midst of our excitement of getting it running, @Tractorhead assumed my kidneys would thank me a took them off   I made sure to stick ‘em back on for the maiden voyage   That was before the added steel weight.  Now I can barely move the tractor around my shop floor without it being under it’s own power!

 

 

[Pullstart 62,931]

If I did not read this already, tire width has a lot to do with this.  @BuffaloD200 your D series likely has 12” wide tires.  @ebinmaine’s girl BBT has 8” wide tires I think?  The ones in the video above are 6” wide.  All of that, considering contact patch on the ground, creates a PSI to the ground.  More PSI to the ground (not tire pressure) = more traction.

 

Check this video out, to help explain the difference.  The wide tire provides so much flotation, it sacrifices traction.