I've never really given it alot of thought, but what is the best air pressure setting for the tires when snow riding and plowing.

With my old Kodiak, I just kept all 4 tires set at 5 psi. My new Grizz with 26" Mud Lites is basically set the same.

Saw a thread somewhere that suggested 1.5 psi is good in deep snow. Seems low to me, what do you think?

 

Low pressure is better everywhere except on ice. On ice, you want the smallest contact patch possible, with the greatest amount of weight possible concentrated on that patch. But, you have to be practical. ATV tires are low pressure anyway, and most of the time letting out even a little air, makes them so flat that they just hold you back. You just have to experiment for yourslef.

 

I usually run about 5PSI in mine also. They recommend 3.2 - 3.8 (in manual) but I found that makes the steering harder. Sure you get more traction because at lower PSI more of the tire comes in contact with the ground but it costs you in fuel economy and ease of steering. Plus I think stock tires "roll" to much at low pressure. Now if you have radial tires I don't think running low pressure would really gain you much since with radial the same amount of tire is in contact with the ground no matter what psi you run.

So if you want to slide and be lighter in the snow...More PSI. If you want more traction a lower PSI would be in order. Don't think I would run much lower than 3 PSI or you can run the risk of the tire seperating from the rim if in a hard turn that grips it enough.

I run 5PSI all year round and I have plenty of traction in snow. No problems for me.

 

On the kodiak i run 3.5 in the back and 4.5 in the front.Steers good and good traction and i run in deep snow with a trailer on the back and i never get stuck and its a big trailer that i tow the bike in and i ride in snow about 3 or 4 feet deep.

 

I've run as little as 3.5 pounds when snow blading. I usually run 4.5 - 5 on normal trail riding. I arrived at 3.5 by reducing the air pressure until most of the width of my 589 MT tread lugs made contact with the surface. If you reduce too much though, you run the risk of causing your tires to "cup" which means the middle of the tread will lift from the surface, leaving only contact on the outside edge of your tread, leading to uneven wear. You can also potentially cause flats, as the tire pressure helps hold the tires side wall to the rim.

 

sounds like a bent rim for me

I run radials, I think I'm around 5.5 psi now. Works better than any playing around with pressure did with my bias ply tires.

I'm trying to figure out if I'm going to tungsten carbide stud right now. One row - right down the middle. Not for holeshot, but just for traction on lakes. I don't know, these things are fun to just wip around on the ice and I'm not sure if it would damage my tires in the long run. But coming around a corner and finding a smooth frozen puddle....even worse one with a layer of snow on it, makes me think it might be worth it.

 

Hey Propnut, don't tell me you have already had enough snow to plow. We haven't even got a flurry yet here in southern Indiana. I guess that is a good thing, I haven't got my plow finished yet, but plan to work on it tomorrow if it is a slow day at the firehouse. Anyway I look forward to pushin a little snow this year with my Kodiak. I did get to use the Kodiak Monday to pull out a deer. A 9 pointer, about average for this area.

 

that's a picture of my old Arctic Cat captain. That had the Titan 489s. Didn't even need chains with a 60" plow. Good all-around tire, but not as good as the radials. I kept the tire pressure up when plowing too, I seemed to penetrate the snow with the lugs and get down to the pavement. Soft tires would just kind of float on top and spin more when you were pushing a lot of snow.

We did get 3" of heavy wet snow on Thanksgiving. Took a little blast through the woods, but I haven't bought a plow for the Rubicon yet. Waiting for the right deal. I bought a new snowblower after the AC and before the Honda so I haven't needed a plow yet. The snow was so wet yesterday a plow would have been much better (quicker) - so I'm looking.

How are your tires doing? Me, no plugs yet, the sharp corners on the lugs wore off kind of quick, but the wear seems to have leveled off to a reasonable rate. Very happy with the all-around performance - compared to stock and a friends 589s.

I think that airing out tires would only help if you were trying to stay on top of a crusty base or surface. Not sure how much weight you can cheat by airing from 5 to 1.5 - and I'm not doing the math

 

Tire Pressure greatly depends on Machine & Rider weight, tire size and terrain.

If your riding in snow up to about 12" or less, then ideally you want to bite down to the hard surface for traction, so a narrow tire aired up works well, same situation for plowing.

If you have alot of snow, and want flotation to stay on top (because when the snow is 3-4 feet or more, digging to a hard surface is only getting you stuck), airing down is a must for most tires.

The amount you air down to depends on the tire/weight. My stock dunlops, 25x10x12's (rear) were still at 3 PSI with the tire contact patch flat across the tread without cupping. To get this same effect with 27x12x12's I needed to air down to about 1.5 PSI. Sounds bad, but with a very hard and taller sidewall then stock, bent rims havent been an issue.

Same therory for the front, they usually more pressure then the rear in both cases, as the front is heavier and is on narrower tires.

Experiment and see what works for you in a riding condition. Carry a tire guage and a 12v compressor and find the combo that works best while your out, its time well spent.

 

The tires are doing pretty well, they have begun to show some wear, but considering how much road riding I do, I think they have held up well. I have about 900 miles on them, almost 1400 on the Kodiak. I checked the tire pressure Saturday and it was down to about 2-3 psi in the fronts. I guess with the weather change they lost a few pounds. I aired them back to 5 psi to try. I did get the new plow mounted. It is a refurb from a snapper lawn tractor that I got for free. Our church got a new tractor and the blade wouldn't fit, so they gave it to me. We custom made a mount for it at the firehouse Saturday, and it is a couple inches wider than the width of the Kodiak. I have about $20 in the whole thing, so if works I think it was a pretty good deal. I will take some pics of it and put on my pic page so you can check it out.