Tire Chains

With the problem I had getting stuck in my own yard last week, and the continued soft conditions, combined with several other who have had similar problems, has any one used tire chains or the modern equivalent to negotiate soft, muddy terrain? 
Has it worked? 
Any particular style? 
Any cautions? 
Am I nuts to consider this?

I would not put chains on an RV nor would I put an RV into a situation where chains were needed. Chains can do a lot of damage to the wheel wells and items near it.

if your truck is a dually you may not have sufficient clearance to use chains. They are not really effective in soft muddy conditions, they need a firm surface (ice or hard packed snow) to bite on and you will hate taking them on and off.

SeilerBird said:

I would not put chains on an RV nor would I put an RV into a situation where chains were needed. Chains can do a lot of damage to the wheel wells and items near it.

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Lol chains go on the rear wheels of the truck not the RV . Gordon try a couple of 2x10s back up on to them them load the trailer onto the truck save you a lot of grief

Try these instead:  gotreads.com

I have seen others that are NOT fold-able but, these can store almost anywhere.

steveblonde said:

Lol chains go on the rear wheels of the truck not the RV . Gordon try a couple of 2x10s back up on to them them load the trailer onto the truck save you a lot of grief

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    We?ve put chains or cables on our 5er several times. I want it to stay behind me on icy roads, or on muddy dirt roads with a lot of angle toward a drop off. I?ll chain or cable the trailer before the tow vehicle.....if we need to stop, the trailer will stop everything while keeping it in a straight line!

  Depends on the conditions. If you had a thin layer of thawed slime on top of frozen ground, then chains could be effective, totally thawed ground.....probably totally useless. Diesel trucks are so front heavy, in soft muddy ground the front end sinks lower than the rear. This angles? the truck nose-down so you are basically trying to push the truck down into the ground, effectively chocking the front end. There is simply too much weight per square inch on the tire contact area. The use of boards or other devices, as suggested,  to spread out the weight per surface contact area in mud is about the only reasonable option. Personally, I try to never take my big truck off hard surfaces, but it?s easy to get caught off guard due to weather, etc. I?ve been stuck plenty in my years.

You can also try to make a roadway with stall mats. you don't need to go 10' wide, but just lay down two strips at your track width, each about 2' wide to help provide support.

A 4WD truck is the only effective solution I know of for that.  I don't think chains will be of any benefit of soft, mucky ground. Just digs deeper ruts.

Memtb said:

    We?ve put chains or cables on our 5er several times. I want it to stay behind me on icy roads, or on muddy dirt roads with a lot of angle toward a drop off. I?ll chain or cable the trailer before the tow vehicle.....if we need to stop, the trailer will stop everything while keeping it in a straight line!

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I would never try that in a million years - chains are for getting traction when stuck on icy surfaces and will most often come with an instruction sheet that says -" To be installed on drive wheels only"

If you used them a different way and it worked for you good for you lol i would also never let my trailer do the winter braking either - thats ballsy on icy roads and we just did a 2500 km trip 1600 miles of solid winter driving in places that have snow piled 10ft or more at the side of the road and through avalanche country with snow piled 30 feet or more picture was taken March 12 in Rogers Pass hwy 1

steveblonde said:

I would never try that in a million years - chains are for getting traction when stuck on icy surfaces and will most often come with an instruction sheet that says -" To be installed on drive wheels only"

If you used them a different way and it worked for you good for you lol i would also never let my trailer do the winter braking either - thats ballsy on icy roads and we just did a 2500 km trip 1600 miles of solid winter driving in places that have snow piled 10ft or more at the side of the road and through avalanche country with snow piled 30 feet or more picture was taken March 12 in Rogers Pass hwy 1

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    I set my brake controller, so that the trailer does the “majority” of it’s braking....either on dry or slick surfaces. “If” the tow vehicle does the majority of the braking for “both” vehicles...the likelihood of the “towed vehicle” attempting to pass the tow vehicle>”jack-knife” is increased.  Though if set too aggressively...the trailer may lock the brakes causing a skid. A good reason to have a much traction on the “towed vehicle “ as is practical.

As a trucker for over 50 years going into ranches all over the west, I have chained up many many times in all kinds of mud. Chains work in mud.

jubileee said:

As a trucker for over 50 years going into ranches all over the west, I have chained up many many times in all kinds of mud. Chains work in mud.

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    Thank You jubilee!  It?s good to see someone else that?s ?thrown iron? a few times. It?s never fun, something I ?don?t? look forward to.....but sometimes necessary!

    On the trailer.....chains for the mud (if in steep country), cables for the icy roads.....seems to work for me!

  I can see how chains on a trailer with brakes could definitely help for braking in bad traction conditions.

  I have to digress to the semi truck driver with lots of years of experience with chains in muddy conditions, I have no expertise in that.

  When I was  younger, my dad had a couple large Timberjack log skidders. We always put huge chains on the tires in muddy conditions. But they had huge tires and normally didn?t sink, but a few times we even got those hung up in mud and had to bring the dozer to pull them out.

  I was just giving my opinion based on my experience with several different diesel pickups over the years, all of which were four wheel drive. Except for the one I own now, I got every one of them hung up in mud at some point.....not doing stupid stuff, just things I needed to do related to farming.  But I have tractors in the barn for plan B, so never considered chains for mud. I do own chains and they are awesome in snow and ice.

I have to digress to the semi truck driver with lots of years of experience with chains in muddy conditions, I have no expertise in that.

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I have to agree with Jubilee. I don't have nearly 50 years of trucking experience, but what I do have was mostly in the oil fields of southern Illinois, where we often chained up to go through mud. That works great, if the mud isn't too wet, slick and/or deep. But often we'd have to get a CAT to pull us in to the well site, and on one occasion they used a mud boat -- that is a large heavy sheet of steel, turned up in front, that you drive up on to, then get pulled by a CAT.

Memtb said:

    I set my brake controller, so that the trailer does the ?majority? of it?s braking....either on dry or slick surfaces. ?If? the tow vehicle does the majority of the braking for ?both? vehicles...the likelihood of the ?towed vehicle? attempting to pass the tow vehicle>?jack-knife? is increased.  Though if set too aggressively...the trailer may lock the brakes causing a skid. A good reason to have a much traction on the ?towed vehicle ? as is practical.

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agreed ive just never tried it on icy roads to that extent - very cool