I plow with my Polaris Ranger 900 and it's been doing fine without chains. However I'm having some trouble getting around in the snow on the frozen lakes for ice fishing. I'm talking probably 10 inches of snow drifted in spots. I take the plow off before these trips for a couple reasons. One it adds considerable weight to the front and if it does get stuck that's just more weight to deal with. Two you never know where anything might be on these lakes. If you are driving along at plow speed and hit a place where someone had previously drilled holes and the slush on top is now refroze and you hit it it's going to do some damage.

I have Sedona Rip Saw tires on with a aggressive tread more for mud and dirt driving. I'm not going to drop 5 grand on a set of tracks for a lot of reasons. They make dedicated snow tires but I've heard mixed reviews and they are not cheap either. So do any of you winter riders use chains? If so how much do they help? Do you run them on the front rear or all four? What chains are you running? Thanks in advance for any replies.

Interesting to read your post because I was just out on my Mule Pro MX cutting a downed tree and it was struggling in 8-9" of snow. I was on a side bank trying to follow the trail which turned up the hill and the front (to a lesser extent the rear) kept wanting to plow straight or even slide sideways. On about the 10th attempt I was just able to get it turned up the trail while just missing a tree. I'm thinking chains on the front would probably have helped in my case. But most of the time with our UTV's having the ability to lock the rear axle only, probably having the chains on the back would work best in snow and ice.

I don't use chains on my Polaris 4x4 4 wheeler, but I do on my diesel tractor while snowblowing.

Granted, I'm not breaking trails in deep snow with my wheeler, or using it for plowing either. I feel like if I were doing those things I might want chains, at least on the rear axle.

I never use them but I just use my Polaris to plow the driveway and zip around for fun on the streets. I don't really go too far off road when the snow is deep.

If it's a concern I would buy some dedicated off road tires used for the snow and put some grip studs in the knobby section of the tires

Perusing some of the atv/utv forums it would seem quality chains will help a good deal. Most those guys all have or suggest tracks and be done with it but I'm not going that route.

I do not.

I do have icebreaker screws in my ranger's winter tires (stock set) that I use to plow my street and driveway. I need to put some more in...

I have not operated a wheeler in deep snow, outside of plowing and driving on the road to neighbor's houses.

I have a set of sedona rip saws on my ranger for summer. I like them a lot. They hand snow quite well, but for plowing I prefer a smaller diameter tire and I remove all my wheel spacers.

We use snow machines for deep snow. These rangers don't float on top very well. In your case, I wouldn't hesitate to run the rip saws. Mine are 30", and I run a 3" bracket lift all around. Throw some screws in the treads for ice traction.

I have chains on my Arctic Cat Prowler that I use for plowing and scooting around the acreage and the lake. I also have 3 tubes of sand in the box. It seemed to do okay before I put the chains on it, but now I have them on, I fear no ice, snow, or windrow.

I figure that for the money, what can it hurt? They're not that expensive.

I always used chains on all 4’s on my Honda ATV. Traction is so much better.

Polaris Ranger XP 1000 with a Boss V-plow here. Much of my 5 acres is up and down a steep driveway, and I needed more traction. My solution was 60 gallons of RV fluid/water ballast in the ass end; I think it would climb a tree now.

Yeah, putting weight in the rear end as some folks here have done will make a huge difference in the snow. I really don't know if that would be better than chains but it is something I would try first.

I take our UTV out in the snow if I have to and it does just fine but we really don't get that much snow here as you northern folks do.

I thought of adding weight to the back end as well. But I need the box or transporting fishing gear and my insulated house mounts to the box so there is no room for sand bags. I looked but I couldn't find if they made a weight box for these that you could put in the hitch receiver and add weight to it. I probably could have something made I have a buddy who is a fabricator savant.

I have a heavy duty plow which has some weight to it so that also takes some traction away from the rear wheels which is another reason I don't leave the plow on. I'm going to purchase a good set of chains it certainly can't hurt.

Thanks for the responses.

If you could get a second set of rims/tires you could "load" them (fill them) with either antifreeze or beet juice. Adds around 10 lbs per gallon.

That what a lot of the tractor guys do to offset the front end loader weight.

quote:

Originally posted by Gibb:
If you could get a second set of rims/tires you could "load" them (fill them) with either antifreeze or beet juice. Adds around 10 lbs per gallon.

That what a lot of the tractor guys do to offset the front end loader weight.

I had a old John Deere tractor that had a bucket on the front that I think had sodium water in the tires. Also had to watch your speed. If you got that water sloshing out of synch with the other tire you'd be all over the road. Every inch of my garage space is used. I don't have room for a extra set of tires and rims laying around for 6 months doing nothing but being in the way. One of the main reasons I won't consider tracks besides the cost.

quote:

Originally posted by lastmanstanding:
I thought of adding weight to the back end as well. But I need the box or transporting fishing gear and my insulated house mounts to the box so there is no room for sand bags. I looked but I couldn't find if they made a weight box for these that you could put in the hitch receiver and add weight to it. I probably could have something made I have a buddy who is a fabricator savant.

I have a heavy duty plow which has some weight to it so that also takes some traction away from the rear wheels which is another reason I don't leave the plow on. I'm going to purchase a good set of chains it certainly can't hurt.

Thanks for the responses.

I know guys who add horse mats to the bed of their atv’s for additional weights. This still allows them to use the bed but helps with traction..and their relatively cheap and can be cut to fit.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/...all-mat?cm_vc=-10005

^^ that's where a winch comes in handy. I have one on my Ranger. I carry a foot long piece of 4X4 with a eye bolt through the middle. If I really get it buried on the lake where there are no trees to hook you're winch cable too I can drill a hole in the ice out just about 6 feet short of where my winch cable will reach.

I hook the winch hook to the eye bolt of the piece of lumber. I push the lumber below the ice where it will try to float and then get caught below on the ice because it's larger than the hole. I can use that to winch my self forward 30 feet or so and hopefully out of trouble. If not rinse and repeat until you get out of the mess.

My Boss plow weighs about 500#, and with 600# of water/RV fluid ballast in the trunk the machine really has no problem in deep snow and ice. Not ideal; the tank takes up most of the bed, but I was tired of loading/unloading 80# bags of sand whenever I wanted to check or change the oil. Now I just drain the poly tank into a galvanized stock tank, do my oil thing, and pump it back into the Polaris poly tank. I was too cheap to buy another set of winter wheels and tires for the Ranger.

These are the chains I went with. Diamond Back U-Grip Studded ATV-UTV Tire Chains. Not exactly cheap at $240 a pair but they seem to fit my exact application. If these seem to help the cause and are worth the money I may get a pair for the front as well.