I have a 2002 Kodiak 400 and currently have blackwaters and I am wondering what tire you recommend for deep snow and good trail riding I do allot of trail riding and allot of snow riding in the winter.
I am considering the mudlits.
Almost every body in my area Canada rides maxxis mudbugs but I am worried that they will have a bad rid on hard pack.
In addition, I am worried that the mud lites will not have enough grab in snow for my needs.
Which tire has more grab?
In addition, witch tire has a better ride on hard pack.

 

If you really want a tire for "deep" snow, then what ever you choose should be as wide as possible, for floatation... the ( I believe its Pure Sports ??? ) Realtor, or IMO the Interco reg. Super Swampers in 12.5" width would be the best combination tires...the realtors say that they can be run in either direction, for digging, or floatation... I don't have any expirience with these tires though, this is just "claimed" info... the Super Swampers, I do have experience with, & highly reccommend...they are much smoother on the trail than expected, perform well in the mud, & if you get the regular swampers instead of the Vampires, the are a very flexable, light, 4 ply tire ( the Vamps are much stiffer, heavier & a 6 ply tire )

If your snow is not really "deep" ( meaning you're not riding on top of it, rather you need to reach the ground ), then I reccommend as tall & narrow a tire as practical...for over a year I ran a set of 26" X 9" X 12" Goodyear Mud Runners on all 4, & can't say enough about how good these tires really are...I noticed they rode stiffer ( than my stock 2 ply dunflats ), but nothing I didn't get used to, they were great for trail riding, I took several 1st place trophies in mud bog races beating 28" Outlaws with these tires, I did a bunch of winter riding last winter with them, in northern Wisconsin...on the trails, I was cruiseing much easier than my riding buds, & I was in 2 X 4 mode, & one of the other guy's could barely keep up in 4 X 4 with 27" Black Waters...

I would think that the new ATR's would be a good winter tire, being radials...but they are a little shouter than claimed ( I heard 24" tall actual ), but a set of the rear 10" wide mounted all the way around would probably function well during both winter & summer riding...

Hope this helps, Have A Good One ...WAM

 

I would also look at the Bearclaws and Spider Tracs, they also float very well. Another tire I saw in a snow shootout was the 589's they were ranked very high. I can't remember the mag off hand, if I remember I will post. And from personel experience my gators have never failed me yet in the snow, two or three ft. or less.

If you ride in really deep snow you don't want a tire that will dig, you get high centered everytime. You want something that will FLOAT on the snow.

BTW all these tires do well on hard pack!

Spark

 

How deep is deep? Are you on hard packed skidoo trails? Are you driving through deep powder snow? When I say deep I mean 3 feet of snow or so. If the snow is sticky, then your best tire are stock tires or some sort of radial. If the snow is powder go for a big mud tire. I have had the best riding experience with my stock tires, they are way better than my outlaws in the snow as they do not dig nearly as fast. The outlaws act like shovels, once you start spinning them in snow your basically done for, you go straight down. The stockers don't dig near as fast.

I recommend stockers or radials.

 

2 t0 3 feet soft then 1 foot of hard pack under that, it caves in some times.

 

I saw a snow tire report last winter. I ran BearClaws for along time and they worked good in crusty/icey snow but not deep fluffy stuff because they dig a bit to much. I'm running SuperSwamper TSL's and they work real well, ride nice too. The Blackwater's you have now ranked really high on the snow tire report.

 

I found that my stock recon tires did very good in the snow, they didn't dig down due to deep aggresive lugs but they where so narrow they would sink more. The wider the tire is better and tires with deep lugs will dig down to much and you wont go anywheres. Bearclaws do pretty good in the snow but they do dig down more then my stockers did.

 

01redrecon
i live near buy you in edmundston, i bought my kodiak in fredericton.

 

My Vinson has 27" ITP 589 that rip through snow around up to2 feet. I got stuck one time in a hard pack snow drift about 3 foot deep b/c they dug in to much.

 

The Goodyear Mudrummer or the ITP 589 would be my two choices.