4 Wheel High or 4 Wheel Low in Snow

[magik235]

In conditions like those in the pictures below is it better to use 4 wheel high or 4 wheel low?

Stuck.

Unstuck thanks to my new shovel.

Turning around.

14 bolt FF drag marks.

 

[imiceman44]

High will give you better traction.
But sometimes if you have the right tread and it's deep enough you could get some wheel speed by going low.
By the way your light weight in the back doesn't help much for traction.

In conditions like those in the pictures below is it better to use 4 wheel high or 4 wheel low?

Stuck.

Unstuck thanks to my new shovel.

Turning around.

14 bolt FF drag marks.

 

[sweetk30]

drop the air pressure. and cut/grove the tires for more traction.

and watch the wheel speed. to much will dig you to china real quick.

and extra cooling for lots of heat from playin in snow . thay get hot faster in the cold wet stuff belive it or not.

 

[dirtygoat]

Yep, air down in low...

Creep and float...

Wheel speed just digs holes...

If you can stay on top, then you can gain some speed... But if you start to dig and come to a stop, don't throttle... Back up and creep on top again...

That's just my experience...

 

[blazinzuk]

I have a somewhat different opinion. Our snow will change from very very dry to semi wet depending on the elevation alot.

In dry dry snow, its kind of like sand. You need some wheel speed to keep forward momentum going, but if you start digging you back off immediately.

On the wetter stuff or something that has a crust, slow as you go. Creep and let it pack or try to stay on top of it.

Most of our snow is like wheeling in granulated sugar, it doesn't pack well and it takes 4 rigs to get a really good track going through it. It also requires a bit of wheel speed.

Even on the wetter snow I have used wheel speed to keep going. Snow is such a dynamic terrain that it really truly depends on how the snow is.

So ummmm to answer your question both

But your pics looks like the snow was packing so I would say low and creep and let it pack

 

[plumber mike]

4lo, weight,chains and a v-blade set about 6" off the ground

 

[thatK30guy]

4-hi around here any time. Low range is too low in snow in these parts. Just use high range and downshift the tranny if you need to. Its easier and quicker shifting the tranny when you need a certain range.

 

[djtejas]

4lo, weight,chains and a v-blade set about 6" off the ground

Yes, chains...

 

[owenst7]

I read somewhere that one of the Alaskan native languages has like 30 words for snow...it's so dynamic you kind of have to assess the situation. Unless you can hit solid ground before getting high centered though, a bigger footprint will always get you farther. The difference between 10 and 5 psi is insane...get a small compressor and put fittings on it to pump up a portable air tank. You can seat beads if you pull the schrader valve pretty easily this way without having to get a bunch of money or sacrifice your AC pump.

 

[plumber mike]

I most certainly agree that there are many different kind of snow all of which require their own finesse.

And if you haven't already, shaving the 14 makes a big difference in the white stuff, especially if you are dropping pressure.

 

[Ronnie4wd]

I have a somewhat different opinion. Our snow will change from very very dry to semi wet depending on the elevation alot.

In dry dry snow, its kind of like sand. You need some wheel speed to keep forward momentum going, but if you start digging you back off immediately.

On the wetter stuff or something that has a crust, slow as you go. Creep and let it pack or try to stay on top of it.

Most of our snow is like wheeling in granulated sugar, it doesn't pack well and it takes 4 rigs to get a really good track going through it. It also requires a bit of wheel speed.

Even on the wetter snow I have used wheel speed to keep going. Snow is such a dynamic terrain that it really truly depends on how the snow is.

So ummmm to answer your question both

But your pics looks like the snow was packing so I would say low and creep and let it pack

X2

 

[noJeepshere]

In two feet of fresh powder, it is possible to wheel a stock Yukon on 32's up a hill. In 4hi and 1st gear and some momentum. Had I stopped, I would have been screwed.

 

[sledheadak]

slow you have to ask the snow permission to cross it with out sinking.i could take my patrol over 4 ft of snow by moving slow an easy

 

[diesel4me]

I very rarely use 4-LO in my 4x4 trucks--I find when plowing it makes the wheels spin much too easily,since you have tons of torque in low range--your better off using high range and feathering the throttle,keep the tires from breaking loose--the higher gears makes it harder to get wheelspin than in low range...I sometimes have gotten unstick by putting it in low range and goosing it a bit and it climbed out,when in high range the wheels wanted to spin too fast...I find it hard to plow in 4-lo for another reason too--it doesn't want to STOP,there is so much torque in low range it can easily overpower the brakes--and its too "lurchy" too,plus you can bust an axle joint easier with the multiplied torque in low range....