Odd paddles on the rear wheels.

[Ultradog MN]

My pal Kenny and I went down to SW Wisconsin a couple of months ago to look at a tractor. The trip was a bust - the guy wanted way too much for what he had. He did have some interesting stuff there tho. A couple of MMs that were good.
He had these paddles on one of them.
The tractor normally rode on the rubber tires
but these could be flipped up/out for added traction. They added sjgnificant ballast too.
Maybe these were common but I had never seen anything like them before.
Cleaning out some excess photos on my phone today and came across them again.

 

[TerryfromSWIowa]

I never seen anything like them.

 

[super99]

For operating in muddy conditions, supposed to be easier/quicker than mounting chains.

 

[Richard G.]

For operating in muddy conditions, supposed to be easier/quicker than mounting chains.

Exactly what they are for.

 

[Tony in SD]

New to me too.

 

[Bob Bancroft]

My pal Kenny and I went down to SW Wisconsin a couple of months ago to look at a tractor. The trip was a bust - the guy wanted way too much for what he had. He did have some interesting stuff there tho. A couple of MMs that were good.
He had these paddles on one of them.
The tractor normally rode on the rubber tires
but these could be flipped up/out for added traction. They added sjgnificant ballast too.
Maybe these were common but I had never seen anything like them before.
Cleaning out some excess photos on my phone today and came across them again.

Questions-questions-questions-
Did the ring of holes line up with and utilize existing wheel/rim fasteners? Or was some altering/welding done? The few bolts shown make it look like this is for show only. Can the legs be flipped by hand, or was some leverage required?

 

[oliverkid]

Most commonly referred to as sand lugs.

 

[Brown David]

Pretty sure I've seen pictures of those, or similar, posted on here before.

 

[Texasmark]

My pal Kenny and I went down to SW Wisconsin a couple of months ago to look at a tractor. The trip was a bust - the guy wanted way too much for what he had. He did have some interesting stuff there tho. A couple of MMs that were good.
He had these paddles on one of them.
The tractor normally rode on the rubber tires
but these could be flipped up/out for added traction. They added sjgnificant ballast too.
Maybe these were common but I had never seen anything like them before.
Cleaning out some excess photos on my phone today and came across them again.

Maybe he was a Rice farmer. We (Texans) grow a lot of Rice down in the coastal (Gulf of America) plains and steel spiked wheel tractors are everywhere.....the added plus on that occupation is that that is the end of annual migration for thousands of ducks and geese.

More of my sideline gossip: Dad and I used to hunt down there when I was young. Some of the farms had pits they dug in the ground with dried corn leaf, flat, covers that hunters could hide in (for a fee), adjacent to their decoys, for hunting Snow Geese....here you are, getting up at 4 AM, being driven 50 miles to a farm, drag your dekes, gun, and ammo, out to this hole in the ground while its still dark and are expected to crawl into a space you can't see into......ever hear of Diamond Back Rattlers, or Cotton Mouth Moccasins? Luckily I never heard of anybody getting whacked but it made the hair on the back of your neck stand up anyway! Snows were plentiful down there but they were very wary and you had to have things right to get them to come in on you.

 

[DavyH]

You can get something like those new here in NZ for working on hill country.