chains on a deuce

[ygmir]

Hi all,
No, no Zorro mask........

I just got my crane/project, backhoe, and 'standard' deuces out of the hills, in 2' of wet, icy snow.
I barely made it, but, it was quite the adventure. They actually did quite well. I was running with a jeep and a pickup.
Pretty much kept up.
The standard m35A2 had the most trouble, I think because it was to light.....the crane deuce weighs in about 20K lbs......

Anyway,
It got me to thinking about tire chains.
I've heard many thoughts relating to chaining up one of these trucks.
If you're not going to chain all 10, how would you configure?
I have 7 chains.......
I was thinking:
front, and, both sets of outside rims on the back, with one set of chains as a spare......

Or, is it better to do inner and outer, but, only one drive axle?

Just wondering.....

Thanks,
Henry

PS:
I attached one of the pics from the trip, I'm hoping my friend sends the rest that he took.........

 

[ygmir]

did this one go?

 

[gimpyrobb]

I would go with chains on the steer and front tandem if you don't have enough to do all. I have not used mine yet to know how well they work.

 

[gimpyrobb]

No pics yet.

 

[ygmir]

I'm having trouble attaching a pic, I think.........

 

[ygmir]

you mean all 4 on the front tandem?

 

[gimpyrobb]

Thats got it. Is that a dog on your door?

 

[ygmir]

a wolf. It came that way......I like it, though.

 

[gimpyrobb]

Are all of your chains singles? I would put a set on each of the axles. Outside tires in the rear.

 

[gimpyrobb]

I like it too. Looks like the Malamute we used to have.

 

[ygmir]

yup, singles.
So, fronts, and, 4 outside rear tires?

 

[ygmir]

might be one, or, a German Shepard. I just like to think it's a Wolf.........
Of course, if it were to represent me, it'd be an overweight St.Bernard.........

 

[gimpyrobb]

Thats what I would do. If they can't find traction that way, it isn't there. Might want to look in the PS magazine. I found reccomendations on the best way to do it, but I don't remember where it was.

 

[ygmir]

here's a couple more I just got, of the trip
Note:
I had to take the outside duals off the truck to it would go at all.......
and those tires are studded.
Boy,
Big-O said they were good snow tires.....

 

[gimpyrobb]

Contact pressure has alot to do with it too. Nice snow! We got a couple inches here but then rain came in and it all turned to slush. Sucky sucky!

 

[ygmir]

yeah,
I think the tread is to 'closed'....they'd get plugged. Good on hard pack, and ice, not so good in softer snow.

 

[Global-M621]

Hello 
First post from me here from Norway.
Been reading this forum for a while, but haven’t got around to post anything yet.

Snow chains is a “must have” here in Norway, and we get to use them a lot.
My recommendation for an empty deuce is to put chains on the front wheels and the rear of the rear axels. The front wheels have the most ground pressure , and the construction of the tandem rear make the front rear axel lose pressure and the rear rear axel gain ground pressure when driving uphill.

If loaded put the chains on the front of the rear axels and an steering chain on one of the front wheels. That way you have max braking power available when going downhill.

BTW: My deuce is an original Norwegian M-621 with diff lock in all axels, a very nice ting to have until you almost got up that hill you at now sliding back down

 

[jatonka]

Global, Great to have you here. Thanks for your post on tire cahains. Could you post a picture of your locking axle, so we could see where the locker control is? Thank you John Tennis

 

[pa.rich]

As far as the chains on the rear duals, mount them on the outers, cause if something ever can break, you could wipe out the brake lines. and it is easier to reach to install. They will dig in better on one dual than two because of the increased weight on the chained tire. If you have enough chains, do all the outers and the front steers.

 

[jatonka]

How come they seem to come in dual triples, according to all the military surplus chains I've ever seen? I single them cause I don't like fighting with the weight of dual triples, but they certainly do work better if every tire is chained. If you start spinning with singles, you just dug a hole for the inner tire to float on. I used to plow snow with an International V204 wing plow for AMTRAK from Schenectady to Buffalo and I had to run dual triples on my 11.00x20 tires. It worked great, I broke some crosslinks, fixed them and never ripped a brake line off. Personnally, I hate snow and don't care what you guys run. It's either for fun or it's a pain in the donkey. JT out