I have an older Craftsman snowthrower which is about 20-25 years old (still starts on the first pull!) It has the old style hard rubber tires with chains. I was wondering of anyone has replaced these with the newer style air filled tires that don't require snow chains. The mounting of the wheels to the shaft seems pretty straight forward with just a bolt going through the shaft. It would seem as though the hard part would be finding the right wheels and tires to fit. Thanks for any input.
Steve
My experience here in New Jersey is that no matter what the tires are made of or what they look like or how big the knobs are you are still going to need the chains. Without the chains, my MTD with big-ass knobby air-filled tires used to slide all over the place in even moderate snows. I got chains.
The reason I got interested in doing this is because both my neightbor and my father have newer Ariens snow throwers that use this setup and I have found it to be far superior to the jostling and damage to my driveway cause by the chains. I'm suprised they don't work well for you, I've found sometimes they have too much traction and force the front of the machine up and over the snow bank. Anyways, I have done some investigating on the web and have found several companies that sell replacement wheels but I need to find out how to make them work with shaft on my Craftsman. Also, I was able to find "snow hog" tires that appear to come standard on new snow throwers. Thanks for the reply.
Steve
You may have better luck than I did, and I hope you will. But you are reading about it; I've got practical experience. "Snow hog" tires are what came with mine, but the thing slips and slides without chains ... even when I pin the wheels so both are powered. I can hold the front down with the handlebars to keep it from climbing drifts, but the only way to keep the wheels from slipping is to back the blower up and try it again at a different angle ... unless I've got chains on.
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