Yesterday I went to take the garbage container out to the road and the ice was about 1/4" thick and it was raining on top of that. It was so slippery that I could not walk on it at all. Put my Ice Grabber boots on and took the garbage out on the ATV in 4WD. Even it slid sideways. It got me to thinking......

I know on some snowmobiles, guys have ordered and installed carbide screws that have a hexhead on them with a cluster of carbide chunks annealed to the heads. The screws themselves have a threaded area comparable to that of a sheetmetal screw. These are screwed into the snowmobile track lugs for traction on ice. They have been known to work even on hard surface at high speeds.
Has anyone tried these on lugs of an ATV tire? It would seem to me that they would work, but maybe the lug on an ATV tire would be too soft to contain them at higher speeds.

I knew a fella out of St. Louis who used them on his 700 Arctic Cat snowmobile and snowmobiled all over this country and Canada and he swore by them..

Any comments appreciated.

 

bobpo i've heard of a few who have used them on their , infact i read a post a few months ago that put them on their quad for ice fishing on frozen lakes ; the only concern i would think of as a problem is that it might weaken the tires when they're removed for summer riding especially if your tires have very much wear on them already !

If your tires are in new or almost new and have good thick thread lugs it might work out well for you , someone will jump in and give you a better view of this suject than i can soon ; the only time i've had the need for something like this to get around here in N. Ga. was the " Blizzard Of 93' " i could've used them back then but we haven't had that kind of extreme weather since !

Good luck with this idea and i hope you had a Very Merry Christmas , and have a good new year ; with many more to come with the reccession we are all in !........

 

You can get ice screws that are ATV specific in a variety of lengths. They are used for ice racing. If you want to make it easy on yourself and you only need a little extra traction to get up and down your driveway then just go to the local hardware store and get some #8 hex head sheet metal screws. Get ones short enough that they don't puncture your tire since you're not planning on leaving them in or subjecting them to the rigors of racing. Running long screws helps keep them from ripping out but you're not going to be running it hard anyways.

John

 

Have a guy in our club that has them on his 2wd machine kicked my butt on the ice. Do a google search for atv ice screws and you will find lots of info. There are many companies that sell them. From shett metal screws to hardened head to carbide inserts to last longer. I use the carbide insert ones on my sled, have never lost one & that turns alot faster than a tire does.

 

The track on a sled is made of a harder plastic than an ATV tire, that's why they don't get spit out of the track like they do on an ATV tire.

 

I run the carbide ice spikes during the winter months. I used to run tire chains but since I used the spikes, I won't go back.

 

Well I couldn't wait to try it after reading you folks' remarks. Having been born in the 30's, I vividly remember when the tire manufacturers installed holes in their tires for tire studs. Here in Ohio, you could run ice (tire) studs from November through the end of March, then they had to come out.

Well, you can't do that anymore, but the mere fact that it worked back then is good enuff for me.

So, yesterday evening, I installed 13 stainless Pan Head Steel Sheet Metal Screws in the outer lugs of my tires, making sure there was enough rubber so as not to penetrate the tire. I used 1/2" screws and installing them was done with my cordless drill at slow rpm. They went in great.

I then ran the ATV in slow tight circles on concrete and then out on the paved road watching the movement and then as fast as 50 mph.

When I got back to my shop, I noticed that there had been contact with the pavement judging by the scratches on the heads of the screws. Not one of them came loose.

Now I made sure that the head of the Pan Head screws just came into contact with the rubber. No more.

I seems to work Great (for me).

Thanks again for all your input.

DISCLAIMER........I don't recommend this to anyone. I am experimenting with it myself only....

P.S. THIS IS NOT AN ENDORSEMENT OF INSTALLING SCREWS IN TIRES AS I AM SURE IT COULD REPRESENT A DANGEROUS SITUATION IN SOME CASES. SUCH AS THIN RUBBER, WRONG SCREW THREADS, RIDER IRRESPONSIBILITY AND MANY OTHER FACTORS....

 

Glad to hear it worked for you. Just wait until you get an ice storm and you can take the quad out on the slick roads. Better yet, if you have a frozen lake or pond near you hit it up with your studded tires.

John

 

We were supposed to have ice this am, too warm. But it's coming I'm sure. I have a 1/2 acre pond and the ice is building, but it'll have to be a foot thick before I take "Big Red" on it.

I'll let you know how it does.

 

The actual studs will last you longer and also, I wouldn't recommend running it on any cement surfaces that you do not wish to have deep gouges in as they will really dig into it. I don't like putting my ATV in the basement when I have my winter tires on. Also pretty tough on a wooden floored trailer. The studs coming out depends on your tires. We have found that the softer the rubber, the more studs you lose. It also helps when you have deep treads so you can use the longer studs.