I currently have the Goodyear Rawhide Grips on my 2002 RSE 500 HO. While fine on bare ground, they tend to "dig in" in hard-pack snow. What is the best snow tire out there? Appreciate any recommendations.

 

I am a little confused with "dig in". That is what a snow tire is supposed to do, dig down until it hits something that it can make traction with. I do have the Rawhides and think they are great in the snow. What exactly are you trying to do?

 

I have had real good luck with the Goodyear (Tracker P), in mud, snow, or for trail.

 

xcrider, you definately don't want a quad tire to "dig down until it hits something that it can make traction with", at least not here where's there's snow. If you have a tire that digs down all that will get you is ALOT more stuck. The tires will only dig down until the quad is hung up, and the tires are still a couple of feet above anything they are goign to get traction on.

In truth, this question is impossible to answer, because it depends on local snow conditions that can change from one week to the next. Any "winter tire" you get will help you in some circumstances, but limit you in others.

 

Being a cold weather "snowy" rider, I can definitely agree with "thenewfiebullet" when trail riding on "crusty" snow a light throttle touch is more important than tread design. Lighter machines also help here to ride across the crust. A rider who likes to pin the throttle and tear through the snow with wheelspin is not somebody that I would care to ride with. Those guys will get you all stuck, especially if they are at the head of the pack. (500HOs with Vampires are a recipe for snowy trail failure)

If you ride in a group on snow. If you can... put the light throttle people, with light quads and standard tires in the front and the throttle pinning hot dogs in the back... your group forward progress will be much better.

 

Thanks so far. The last two repliers are correct. What I meant to say is that the Rawhides are too agressive and easily start digging down into the snow. We still have several feet of snow on the backroads here, and while I have no trouble on the flats/downhills, going uphill is where I run into problems. I am not spinning my wheels or trying in any way to get stuck. I would gladly get a set of tires that would be better for these "late winter" conditions. Again, any real-world tests/recommendations for snow tires appreciated.

 

Ok my point for the Rawhides come from plowing snow. You need to dig to get somewhere. You're not going to push very deep snow with the "trail float" set up.

Hell if your trying to stay afloat and trail ride you better shed a lot of weight and make the tire profile real wide.