Steel Chains vs Rubber Chains.

[pfrederi 18,454]

I have a short length of drive that is in pavers (50').  For years I have cleaned that by hand or with a walk-behind blower to avoid scratch marks.  Spent some fairly big bucks late last year to get some rubber chains. and a plastic edge for the blade on an Electro12.  Never had a good opportunity to test it.   Today I had both plows out about 7 inches of fairly heavy snow with a crusty top.  Plowed several hundred feet with the Charger 12 and steel chains.  She got the job done.  Got out the rubber chain horse and she struggled to clear the paver area.  Decided to run a comparison test out in front of the shop packed gravel with some grass..  No comparison.  The rubber chains spun out after a few feet and she is only pushing a 42 inch blade.  The Steel chained 48" blade went way further i stopped not her.    If you have a paved drive and are worried about scratches rubber chains are better than no chains...but if you have gravel then steel chains and narrow tires are the way to go.  I couldn't find rubber chains for 6.00x12 i think narrow is often better than wide.

 

 

[Ed Kennell 40,970]

Good test Paul, and I agree steel Vee Bars offer the best traction on unpaved surfaces.  On my steep paved driveway the rubber hold better than the steel.  Steel just does not bite on a hard surface.

The rubbers did a pretty god job on the gravel this morning pushing the 48" blade through about 6" of our water logged snow.   

 

[JoeliusZ28 77]

Interesting, I don't use a pushblade with my tractor but my rubber chains have yet to get stuck in anything so far.  I just switched to a liquid filled ATV tire so I'm not sure i'll need to use chains at all anymore.

[Kurt-NEPA 755]

I'm using rubber chains on my 520H and 2 stage blower.  My driveway is paved and uphill to the house.  I've used steel chains in the past and they just marked up the drive, especially if I spun.  I switched to rubber two years ago and they have been great. Just finished blowing 14 inches of the drive and the rubber chains were perfect. 

 

I do think steel chains gave better traction, especially with ice or a stone drive.  That traction is critical with a plow.  But rubber is a good option with a blower.

[Ed Kennell 40,970]

5 hours ago, pfrederi said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking at your "skidder" style chains Paul,  it appears they would always have some rubber tire on pavement.   This should afford more traction on pavement than the 2 link Vee Bars that have steel only in contact with the pavement.   

 

[Tankman 3,523]

All gravel, steel chains. The rubber chains I might consider if my drives were paved. 

Edited November 18, 2018 by Tankman

[LengerichKA88 1,883]

Here I am reading all this amazed I’d never heard of rubber chains 😳