[Shop-talk] Tire studs

[David Scheidt]

On Sun, Dec 20, 2020 at 6:07 AM Robert Rochlin <rrochlin at comcast.net> wrote:
>
> In my father’s repair shop we used to stud tires.  I had a Datson 240Z and studied both front and rear tires (then recommended) It was like perpetually riding on ice the car wandered terribly.  I spent a whole afternoon removing the studs.  I don’t believe that studded tires are allowed in Massachusetts anymore.  They did a tune on the asphalt roads, as unlike chains, people had them on full time during the winter, and many all year.
> Best,
> bob

Studded tires for road use are inferior to a modern studless snow tire
on all surfaces except ice.  Below 0F, they don't even work well on
ice.  They do, as you note, do a number on the pavement, and are
restricted by most states, and outright prohibited by a few.
(Illinois allows rural mail carriers to use them, but no one else.)
When I ran a shop, we put studded tires on the post offices LLVs drive
axles.  One year, we ran out of studs, and I discovered our supplier
would only sell us studs in 10,000 packs.  That's about 100 tires
worth, and we did six or eight a year.  We sent them out to be studded
after that.

For off road vehicles, the situation is a little different.  There
probably aren't good snow tires available, and studs work okay in
snow.  I use studded tires on my bicycle,  because falling hurts, and
studded bike tires have amazing grip on ice or packed snow.  They suck
the rest of the time, but there's often ice around in winter.

For a tractor, I suspect turf tires with properly installed chains are
superior to an improvised set of studs.

-- 
David Scheidt
dmscheidt at gmail.com