If your driveway is concrete-probably not, but chains may mark it some. Asphalt--well, ya might get some marks or gouges. Dirt or gravel-well, if the ground is frozen, you might not get some digging, but if it is soft-yep, ya might get some scratching and diggin'.

My thoughts are that it's always helpful to provide information to those who you are asking a question.

Knowing the make/model of your tractor along with the type of driveway you have allows respondents to provide you with a more indepth answer.

Perhaps you would be wise to not have chains but since we don't know the type of surface you are trying to clear, we can't say one way or the other.

Maybe Ag tires would work better but once again... who knows?

Do you phone up the doctor and tell him "I'm in pain. What pill should I take?"

On balance, it seems unlikely that the chains would do either much good or much harm. That is, assuming you're talking about a lawn tractor or ride-on mower weighing no more than around 300 kg. If you're talking about a farm tractor weighing 3000 kg, the answer may be rather different.

If your tractor is the garden variety, your counter weight plan on the hitch is spot-on. It needs to be substantial enough to shift significant weight from the front overhanging snowblower, back to the rear wheels. Wheel weights and/or filling the rear tires can also help.

points taken, its an asphalt drive about 3 yrs old. Tractor is Simplicity Conquest.

On that same question: My neighbor comes over and plows my flat parking area, if the snow gets to 8-12 inches. He uses a Craftsman lawn tractor, with a homemade plow on it. He uses wheel weights and chains, and has no trouble on flat or easy grades! The guy across the road has a medium steep driveway, and the other neighbor with the tractor has no trouble getting back up it. Our driveways are gravel, not concrete.

How do you feel about your asphalt surface at this point? If you spin tires with chains, it will mark good solid asphalt but rarely will it harm it unless you sit in one spot spinning a wheel.

Does your Simp have diff lock? If so, that would reduce the opportunity for the spinning. Engage it when you are making a straight run down the drive blowing snow and release it when turning around. I agree with the need for some counterweighting behind the rear axle to offset the weight of the snowblower but I also urge you to load your rear tires with windshield washer antifreeze or RV plumbing antifreeze or a product called Rim Guard made from waste beet material.

In addition, put the heaviest set of wheel weights available for your tractor. If you are concerned about marking your asphalt, loaded tires plus wheel weights and a counterweight will likely do the trick as long as you stay off ICE. There are rubber chains but those are expensive compared to steel chains.

In drag racing, they say: "there's no substitute for cubic inches". When plowing snow: "there's no substitute for weight on the drive wheels."

Cub3204 with super lugs, 5 suitcase weights and wheel weights...work excellent under most conditions..watch video

{{gwi:314396}}

Here is a link that might be useful: Tractor pictures

Well, the driveway is only a few years old so I would rather not mess it up. The tractor has a diff lock and you make a good point there.

Once I get the blower delivered and set up I will go in increments, weights and see at which point what works and go with the chains if I have to.

Not too many folks around here have tractor mounted blowers from what I can tell so its not like there are alot of people locally to ask. Thanks for the advice.

Sorry cant edit the previous post with bad link

http://machineunderground.com/shade-tree-lounge/3510-dec-20th-snow-storm-action-shots.html

Here is a link that might be useful: Tractor action shots with snow blower

Try it without the chains, see how it works. You might do fine without them.

The counterweight would be the first move. It will put weight on the back axle and lift some of the weight off of the front axle. You don't want too much counterweight or you will affect steering control when the blower is sitting on the ground.

If you are still having problems, then load the tires. It's easy for you to do this yourself and it does not cost much. You can leave the loading in all year round unless you have really soft turf. If this doesn't cut it, then buy the heaviest set of wheel weights for the rear and install them.

Leave the chains as the last resort if you don't want any marking.

Kompressor - thanks for your thoughts on this. I was doing some net searching and came across "rubber" tire chains for tractors. Any idea if these things work? They were a bit pricey, about $125/pair. If they actually work and don't wear out too fast they might be a good option if I have to resort to chains, but I agree with you, try the weight first and see how that does.

I have not personally used the rubber chains but I know people who have used them and are happy. As for longevity, I have not seen a post complaining that they are short-lived. Best I can do.

hi i got a snowthrower for my craftsman and i was wondering if i need weights on the back or if i have to get chains, i really dont want to get chains since we park it in the garage when not clearing snow, will weights be enough traction or do i even need weights?? help please! ( tractor is a 2001 craftsman ltx1000 weighs about 500 pounds and im 184 pounds)

Weight behind the centerline of the rear axle counters weight that has been placed forward of the front axle's centerline. It's the old teeter-totter effect. If you add a snowblower, then when it is in the air it will lift weight off of the rear tires.

When you buy any lawn tractor, it is designed to cut grass because that's its main purpose. If you want that lawn tractor to do a different job, then you must redesign that tractor for the new task or it will fail to deliver the expected performance. Trying to find traction to mow a lawn isn't difficult. Trying to find traction to plow or blow snow IS difficult unless you accept the reality that you have spend money to make it happen.

Because most of the LT's of today use rear rims that are either 8" or 12" in diameter, it's very hard to add enough in the way of wheel weights to make the needed difference. Therefore, you not only need the wheel weights maxed out but you also need to load the tires with fluid to 80% of their volume. On many tractors, even these two efforts are not enough so putting as much as you can in the way of rear weights on the tractor is necessary.

However, when you add rear weights, you are taking weight off the front axle because the rear weights are behind the centerline of the back axle. You don't want to lose steering traction when the snowblower is down on the ground. Steering control can be improved by changing the type of front tires from the turf tread to something far more aggressive.

All of this costs money but what's worse???

Spending the money needed to make your tractor do the job or not spending the money and sitting in the middle of your snow-covered driveway spinning one wheel? Don't bother buying a snowblower unless you are prepared to buy the rest of the goodies needed to convert your lawn tractor into a snow tractor. And yes.... chains work but they will scratch interlock, asphalt and stamped concrete.