What is the best tire for plowing?

[AB Lawn Care]

What in your opinion is the best tire for plow trucks?From what I understand,tall,thin and alot of grip.Right?

So tires like this would be garbage?

http://www.trailquest.com/tires/ss_bogger.shtml

Any help would be great!

[JCurtis]

I have used regulare M&S truck tires with relatively good success. An aggressive tread pattern helps alot.

Some All weather M&S radials aren't bad either.

I like the General Grabber MT myself. I have run them on my chevy trucks with great success.

[JCurtis]

forgot to give you the link to general
here it is.

http://www.generaltire.com

Grabber MT

[Chuck Smith]

Tall and skinny isn't always best. I run 33 x 12.5" tires. Without ballast, I have trouble, but with it my truck is unstoppable. I found out I needed ballast the first time I plowed. I added 4 bags of salt between the wheel wells, and did MUCH better. That was my first season with the tires. The next year, I added sideboards to my truck. I also began carrying a snow blower, ramps, and a gas can along with the salt I need. The extra weight works wonders for traction. Oh, and the tires I have are Cooper Discoverer or Discovery. Basically an all terrain tread like a Goodyear Wrangler. They were on the truck when I bought it, and had a few hundred miles on them.

~Chuck

[iowastorm]

Have a set of all season radials from General Tire on my 3/4 ton GMC and I've never had a problem. Quite surprised about it truthfully.

[Alan]

We've tried several brands of tires, settled on Cooper "Weathermaster" as the absolute best snow traction tire on the market. And not terribly pricey either, I just bought 4 235/75-15 and 4 265/75-16 LT for under $600 mounted and balanced. The Coopers will out push Hakkapelita (sp) and Hakkas get good marks for traction.

If you're in an area wher the is never much accumulation from previous storms you can probably get away with lesser tires, but up here where it may get to 2' sitting on the ground and hardening up, you need all you can get if you get off the beaten track.

[Edited by Alan on 10-06-2000 at 08:41 PM]

[GeoffDiamond]

BJs, is where i get my truck tires. Uniroyal, they have a good tread, quite down the road, and long lasting.

Geoff

[Bill c]

I gotta agree with the cooper weather masters,there great.

[diggerman]

I like the Firestone wilderness AT's preferably in 15 inch.

[iowastorm]

We, too, like the Firestone products. They're especially helpful to our Fords when the snowplows won't drop; all you need to do is roll the vehicle over and the plow drops just fine. We call this dual mode plowing.

[plowking35]

Not only that, but when the tread separates, it acts like on spot chains, getting thrown under the remaining rim.
Dino

[John Allin]

We're having WAYYYYY too much fun here.

Snowplowing is serious business dammit, and this is a serious discussion. This guy wants to get our advice and here we are, having fun.

My God, what's this forum coming to?

Now then.....

We stopped using tires. Just chains. On rims. Works great. Nothin stops us. They're great on lawns too.

[Aspen Snow]

We use steel D8 Dozer Tracks. A bit fun to stop on Ice.

[Lazer]

Bridgestone Blizzak WS-15.

But they only make them in 15"

In our 16" trucks we use the Cooper WeatherMasters.

Also the Bridgestone WinterMasters (?) are right up there.




But NO tire will match the Blizzak WS-15.

[Chuck Smith]

Does anyone know if GM 6 lug wheels, are the same 6 lug pattern used on mid 70's Jeep Wagoneers? I know GM 6 lug rims fit right onto a Toyota pickup, and late 70's Datsun trucks.

A friend has a set of GM 6 lug wheels for sale, and has someone interested with a 70's Jeep Wagoneer, 6 lug. They are a few states apart, so they can't "try them on". I guess they can both measure what they got, but thought someone here might know for sure.


~Chuck

[diggerman]

I'm not for sure but I don't think so most of the time jeep patterns are more with Ford and Dodge,if no one gives you a forsure here call your local salvage yard they will know.

[mike48114]

Short and sweet : BFGOODRICH A.T. OR BFGOODRICH M.T.
there is no better with out putting tracks on your rig.

[Lazer]

Yeah, RIGHT!

I run BFG AT's in the summer. They may be the best all-around tire for 4 seasons, but are inferior to a true ice tire.

The new ones have a tinge more winter bite than the old ones did, but they're no snow tire.

[Chuck Smith]

I'm really surprised no one has mentioned "sipes", or having tires siped. From what I've read, they make a HUGE difference in traction on ice.
A sipe is basically a cut across the tread of the tire, about 5/16" deep. No material is removed, only "slitted". They are done every few inches around the whole tire.

That's why you keep hearing the Michelin ads saying "With Y sipe technology". They make tires that have sipes, but from what I've read, having them siped at a shop provides more traction.

I read that sipes were invented by a boat fanatic. He found by making small slits in the soles of his shoes, he didn't slip on the wet deck of the boat. Go figure!

~Chuck

[Alan]

Siping is an excellent traction booster. Only problem is finding a shop that can do siping, It's pretty much lost technology. The siping on those Michelins is molded in and nowhere near as good as cut sipes. I've run siped Bandag retreads and the "commercial traction" tread with siping was excellent for traction and seemed to wear longer than the unsiped version of the same tire.

[thelawnguy]

Ive plowed with hiway tread, all season tread, M+S tread snow radials, 7.50-16.5 "snowmaster" tread, they all worked fine, the real difference is how much weight is on them. It also depends on the type of snow. The A/T type tread is a good all-around compromise. The bias-ply snow tread tires are great but leave the truck parked between storms as they suck on wet or dry pavement.

I just put a set of Dunlop Rover R/T on my truck, we'll see what happens when the snow falls, though I think my truck would push ok with a set of baloney skins on it.

BTW anyone who thinks BFG A/T sucks in the snow ought to spend the money on a new set and leave the 80 per cent worn ones on the used tire rack. They are an excellent all-around tire, grip when they need to, arent squirrely in the rain, and have a 3-ply sidewall which really helps when you brush those concrete steps and curbs.

[diggerman]

The BFG A/T that I have, have worn like iron, and have been amazing in the snow.Saw some new ones the other day they look cool they now have tread creeping into the side wall

[Lazer]

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE BFG A/T's! I have 8 sets mounted right NOW in use, they're an excellent summer tire.

But when COMPARED to a high-performance SNOW/ICE tire like a Blizzak, they just can't keep the pace.

I guess I crave productivity more than most. ANYTHING that allows me to plow more snow in less time DIRECTLY translates to your bottom line.

A 5% increase in productivity is $1000-$1500 NET profit PER unit PER winter.

[Snow Pro]

Would any of you guys seriously consider buying Firestone/Bridgestone tires any more knowing what we know about them now?

[Lazer]

I haven't learned anything I didn't already know 2 years ago.

Are you referring to aquiring your knowledge thru news reports?

That tire was recalled in Mexico and Central America LAST summer, the folks I know that know tires all were privey to this imformation for quite a long time now.

Just because it's ON the news doesn't mean it IS news.

The government finally reacting to the situation doesn't mean they JUST found out about it, either.

[diggerman]

I have wilderness A/T on my Ranger and I'm just waiting to have my truck up and rollover.The one weird thing is that these tires seem to go flat alot,but the truck is a lease goes back in a year hope they make it.

[iowastorm]

Dig,

I'll trade you two SIMA stickers, one John Allin baseball card and 10 gallons of Magic for your Firestones . . .

[diggerman]

Throw in 55gals of Chucks toxic space shuttle paint,a set of Dinos urethane cutting edges,life size door poster of John Allin in his 1922 Ford plow truck(the one he started with),a years use of one of Geoff's 1 ton Ford 550s with the modified Boss plow off your Chevy 2500 and a $6000 stainless steel V box spreader(electric drive of course)and its a deal.Why so much you ask well these tire are going to be collectors items, especially since mine are still in one piece.

[Chuck Smith]

Then again Dig, those tires may end up being worthless like the case of Billy Beer I got in my basement.

(pssst tell him you want the John Allin rookie card!)
~Chuck

[John Allin]

I used to like coming to this site....

[JCurtis]

Hey John, don't let 'em get to you.

[iowastorm]

John: Glad you have a sense of humor. Anyone that thinks we're serious sniffed too much glue for dinner.

[John Allin]

You mean you guys have been kidding all this time ???

Wow, that's a relief.......

[iowastorm]

John: not to pat myself on the back, but I really think those baseball trading cards are a great idea. I can see some of the guys from this forum (duct) taping them above their beds so they can look at them before going to sleep. This could be a tremendous money maker for SIMA and promises a much greater profit potential than those stickers. Perhaps even a centerfold version too?

[John Allin]

We've never actually met - face to face - have we ??

You might reconsider the centerfold thing once you do.... unless I was hiding behind a Boss at the time......

[iowastorm]

I get your drift. But by reading some of the responses, a few of the guys around this forum would really like to get to know you better.

[nsmilligan]

I use CHEAP remolds. Don't knomw if you have them down there, but they're a retread, but done from the side walls all the way round. I always go narrower i.e on my gm's I run 215/85-16's in place of 245/75-16's. I stud my remolds, I know, what, about the marks on pavement. Hasn't been mentioned by any of my customers. These tires are only $80 CDN (about $50 us) each. They are VERY soft and I take them off (mounted on their own rims) if I going any distance at hwy speeds (60 MPH).
Try studs , especially if your're doing mostly commercial, You really have to work at getting stuck enough to need a pull!

Bill

[Five Star Lawn Care LLC]

Im thinking about geting a set of the new Goodyear Wrangler MT/R's for plowing. anybody ever heard anything about them or have any coments?

[Aspen Snow]

All traction king and Snow traction king by Cavalier (AKA BF Goodrich)

[a j]

why bury firestine tires?? The problem is a FORD explorer poblem and an air pressure pressure problem. We had a customer come in to check for recalled tires, he did not have the vd code, but we checked the tires anyway. WELL what a shock that he had only 20psi in his tires. gee I wonder why they come apart??? Explorers roll just as easy with goodyear tires on them. firestones wilderness wear like iron on ford products, but they are still an inexpensive tire. They have a "c" rating for temperature, so running low air pressure "26psi" on a 4000 lb vehicle that rolls easily is just asking for trouble. it is people needing to responsible for the maintenance on there vehicles also(checking air pressure regularly). Wearing seatbelts too. We mounted alot of these tires and NEVER had a problem as we always put in 32psi.

[justa hick]

Yes 6 bolt chevy wheels will fit a jeep 6 bolt pattern,
had jeeps and chevys swaped with no prob.