ice bites or bear paws for skidder chains

[minn firewood cutter]

I have not used what i call ice bite chains only used bear paws what is the better of the two? we log mostly flat ground with very little hills. which has a longer life span. We are going to buy a new set. looking for some ideas of which is better? Thanks

[HiTech]

Hard to beat bear paws for all around use. On frozen surfaces the ice chains are superior. For mostly flat ground I would say bear paws. At least they are a little cheaper. Many use bear paws on the front tires and the ice chains on the rear tires. Best of both worlds. lol

[Firewoodjoe]

I love ice chains. They climb right over down wood where ring chains tend to slid if not hit squar. Both work good though. And u can drive on a driveway without pulling large circles out of it.

[BargeMonkey]

 Do you have any chain on now or just buying this 1 set ?  They both have good and bad, I think ring chains kept right will last a little longer but if your not in the rock and hills ice chain will do just fine. Ring chain works better in deep snow and mud, ice chain just packs up in the mud. My 460 has double diamond and single diamond ice, and my 440 has ring and single ice, more of a personal preference. Around here it's almost always ring on front and ice on back. Ring chains are about like ice skates on thick ice with a heavy hitch behind you, especially if you have nothing on back.

[deastman]

On the big grapple skidders I ran close rings on the front and triple diamonds on the rear. I liked the tire protection you got from the ice chains.  Bought a set of Pedno ice chains once that had mini rings with deep cogs everywhere the diamonds came together.  What a set of irons, put them on the back of a 648E  and the operater said he never had to lock the differentials in after that

[Sggirb]

Went through the the same debate recently. Have ring chains on 440, went with ice picks on 540b I bought this fall. Excellent on flat ground no bouncing when driving and solid traction. Easy on pavement as well.

[coxy]

if your going to run bear paws get a good helmet with lots of padding so when your head hits the side of the roll cage from bouncing side to side on frozen ground  jmop if that was the only chain to buy I would go with out  :D 8) 8)

[BargeMonkey]

 The close rings ride a little better than the economy ring, but it's still a nasty ride on hard packed ground especially in higher gears. I like the ice chain from TCR, I've got a set of trygg 23.1 ice for my forwarder and it's ok, but I had it on my franklin and I wasn't impressed.

[cutter88]

to me on "flat ground" Ice chains are rather pointless there substantialy more money... if it's hilly and frozen trail then yes Ice chains are great... just my thoughts :)