ARS | Publication request: FORESTRY TIRE TRACTIVE PERFORMANCE: NEW, WORN & WITH CHAINS

Submitted to: Applied Engineering in Agriculture
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: July 1, 2000
Publication Date: July 1, 2000
Citation: Vechinski, C.R., Johnson, C.E., Raper, R.L., Mcdonald, T.P. 2000. Forestry tire tractive performance: new, worn & with chains. Applied Engineering in Agriculture. 15(4):263-266.

Interpretive Summary: Traction aids such as chains are commonly used in the forestry industry. These devices are used to protect the tires and to aid in forestry operations. An experiment was conducted to investigate if forestry chains might have any tractive benefits for forestry tires. A new tire and a tire well worn were both used with and without the chains in uncovered soil, soil covered by sod, and soil covered by pine straw. Results showed that little benefit was gained from using traction aids in good traction conditions, such as the uncovered soil. However, forestry tire chains improved tractive performance in unfavorable traction conditions, such as firm clay soils with surface covers of sod and pine straw. The research shows that traction aids, such as tire chains, can offer tractive advantages in soil conditions similar to forest floor conditions, but are unnecessary in good tractive conditions.

Technical Abstract: The tractive performance of a new tire, a worn tire, and a worn tire with forestry tire chains was measured in four soil conditions. The worn tire with and without chains had higher net traction than the new tire. Tractive efficiency was highest for the worn tire without chains in all soils. Constant load tests illustrate differences between "laboratory" and "field" conditions. The Decatur clay loam and the Norfolk sandy loam are typical laboratory test conditions. The Oktibbeha clay with a layer of pine straw and the Sharkey silty clay with sod cover approximated forest field conditions. This research showed that there was a tractive advantage associated with using tire chains in the Oktibbeha and Sharkey soil bins but not in the other soil conditions.