# 212 traction advice



## ejg593 (Mar 8, 2014)

About a year ago I moved to a new house w/an acre lot. Picked up an '83 John Deere 212 (brand new engine) to help w/the chores. The only issue I've had with it is traction- slips a bit on wet grass, but most problems in snow going up any incline. I plowed the driveway without much issue, but deep snow or uphill & I just spin. It has turf tires, but also has the concrete wheel weights that help...just not enough. What do you guys suggest to give me the extra grip I'm looking for? Different tires (like bar/lug), tire chains, rubber tread chains (like TerraGrip), more rear weights...? Thanks in advance!


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## jhngardner367 (Apr 5, 2011)

The chains would help,but how much air pressure are you running in them ?


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## tcreeley (Jan 2, 2012)

Tire chains and weight. 
I had a plow on a sears GT500. It had the power, but it could not push the snow well because of spinning tires. I kept chains on all of the time, summer too. Helped in muddy areas.
Look for a snowblower for it. 
Goodluck.


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## Thomas (Nov 1, 2006)

Chains,also plowing up hill try not taking full blade.


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## ben70b (Aug 29, 2012)

I always try and find a way to push the snow down hill if I can, it's easier to push with gravity on my side and when it melts I don't have to deal with it again in liquid form. 


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## gJacksonN (Mar 9, 2014)

Anyone know how to post a question?


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## Thomas (Nov 1, 2006)

gjacksonN.
"Anyone know how to post a question? "

Okay I'll bite..what are you asking.


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## Fluid (Nov 28, 2013)

gJacksonN said:


> Anyone know how to post a question?


Are you asking for advice on how to ask about a John Deere or other brand ? Or are you asking on how to start a thread, add to one or what?


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## gJacksonN (Mar 9, 2014)

Yes. To them all


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## Fluid (Nov 28, 2013)

Do you have gravel drive, concrete, asphalt? If its gravel you can use chains and weight with turf tires. If its paved and don't want to scare it up with chains you can change your tires and add weight. You said you were having trouble with traction on the wet grass going up hills. I don't use chains to push snow and my paved driveway is about 1/4 mile long, I have a big parking area plus lots of other areas that I plow and snow blow. Most others on here don't agree with me on my choices of tires. If you are interested reply on the post


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## Fluid (Nov 28, 2013)

gJacksonN said:


> Yes. To them all


One way is on this post scroll down to the bottom and on the right side is are the words forum jump, click on it, read the list to what you want, brand tractor, ect, click on your interest, the next page will come up, on that page on about mid page there is a blue oval with the words New Thread, click on it, put a title in the title area and so on. If you don't want to start a new thread look below the New Thread oval at the subject that you like and click there also. Or you can go to the home page and click on Today Posts, New Posts, ect. I hope you get the hang of it, if not the people that run this forum can help you more. I'm new to this forum stuff myself, if you mess up, someone should come along and help you out. Good Luck; Fluid


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## gJacksonN (Mar 9, 2014)

Thanks you


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## ejg593 (Mar 8, 2014)

Like I said, I do have the concrete wheel weights, but may look into adding suitcase too. As far as air pressure- I've had a slow leak in one of the tires, so I keep em full just in case. My concrete drive is pretty flat & level, but I've plowed for a couple of neighbors that have slopped drives. I always push downhill, but what goes down has to go back up & I spin out on snow-pack. This tractor originally had a snowblower attachment before I got it, but they parted it off long before it was mine. Still, a snow blower won't help w/traction on wet grass or pulling a trailer loaded up hill.


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## ml4wheeling (Apr 8, 2014)

Not sure if you already fixed the problem but I had the same issue with my 214. I made a weight bracket for the rear and it added 100# but still needed a little bit more. I was using gains they worked good in snow but not too good in the yard for mowing. I upgraded to bar tires and fixed all issues. This winter was the first using them and did not have any traction issues. I can now mow my hill just after it rained with no problems. Hope this helps. Oh I use a snow blower and plow no problems with either. 


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## ejg593 (Mar 8, 2014)

After much consideration, I think I've solved my problem. Even though adding more weight was an option & suggested quite a bit, I thought I had plenty (tractor + wheel weights + me + any attachments = 1,000 lbs or more), just no grip. Before I spent a bunch of money on new bar tires (& probably another set of wheels) I ordered some Turf Tread chains I found on sale online. That seems to do the trick. There are several steep hills on the property that I've never been able to drive, but now I can w/o any spinning. I don't have to get a running start on the smaller hills to climb em. I can even stop & start in the middle of a hill w/o any problems. Last weekend I towed a large, heavy trailer full of mulch around doing chores & later pulled a dead bush out...all w/o any spinning- which would've been impossible before. So for now, I think I'm set. I may eventually upgrade to bar tread, but for $50 I got a solution. Thanks for all the input guys.


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## Ed Williams (Jun 13, 2019)

-20 washer fluid will give an extra 100 lbs of ballast on the rear, plus your wheel weights. Euro style rear chains will add another 25 lbs or so per tire and give the max traction for any chain design. much greater thsn ladder chains and better than H links. A little pricey though. There i a YouRube video of a 6000 lb tractor pulling a 14000 pound tractor all over a parking lot. Euro chains on smaller tractor. ladder chains on big tractor.Very funny video.


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