ATV Chains - Ladder or Diamond? V-Bar or Studded?

[lazyMlazyK]

Hey everyone, while plowing some snow the other day with my old 200 TRX, one of the v-bar chains that goes across the width of the tire broke.  I tried welding the link shut again, but no dice.  Shopping for new chains right now and can't make up my mind, as the only experience I have with any tire chains comes from the set that just broke down on me.  I'm looking at either going with a 2-link ladder v-bar or a diamond-style studded set.  These will be used on a two-wheel drive Honda FourTrax TRX with weight on the back for added traction.  Half of the time I use this to clear snow in my driveway and the other half of the time it's used for icefishing.  As far as ice conditions go, it can be smooth glare ice, heavily drifted in, or windblown ice that's very bumpy and rough.  What do you all recommend for this setup?  2-link v-bar or diamond-style studded?  The driveway is cement, and I'm a bit worried that the cement may get beat up by the studded...just not sure and this is my first year using the ATV for snow removal.  The original 4-link v-bar chains worked pretty well for icefishing, but if there's something out there that I'll be happier with, I'd love to hear about it!

[Fisherman 1]

2 link and diamond will give you about twice as much traction and  damage to the cement driveway.  Dammed if you do, and dammed if you don't.

[tbern]

Not affiliated in any way, but if you go to a site called tire chains .com  they have a nice chart showing the different style of chains and how they work on different surfaces.

[JonPerry]

they carry replacement cross chains as well.

[Jkoht]

I'll always put my vote behind v-bar chains. I run them on my honda 3 wheeler and can go just about anywhere.

[muskyon46]

I run the 2 link v-bar chains on the rear and 4 link on the front on my 2 wheel drive polaris 250 trail boss for ice fishing and have been very satisfied. Atleast when there's less than 6in of snow. Then it's time for the sled

[SnowPlane22]

I'm a big fan of 2 link tire iron.  Not into all the v bar and stud hype, but a good square link alloy cross links are the way to go.  Once you have your first set of chains you can rebuild them, either all at once or as the cross links break. It's pretty simple.