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Archiver > MEMORY-LANE > 2007-02 > 1171147455


From: "Mary Putman" <>
Subject: Re: [ML] Tire Chains
Date: Sat, 10 Feb 2007 14:44:15 -0800
References: <20070207.100831.3772.0.Wallace26@juno.com><004401c74b26$ca773940$e6822340@eozfaqvf><00ba01c74b4c$193b1a90$77ae1318@yourxhtr8hvc4p><65d66f240702101114t4527e402r2769390f3cb240e@mail.gmail.com>


I had a hunch someone would ask. Sawdust tires were regular rubber tires with heavy tread and impregnated with sawdust. On an heavy car like the old Buick, they would put you through heavy ice, freezing rain, or deep snow with no problems. I doubt they would do as well on today's lighter weight cars. I've told this story on the list before. Where we lived at the time, you had to go over a rather steep hill to get home, as the house was in the bottom of a canyon. My husband was coming home from town and it was terribly icy. He got almost to the top of the hill and several cars were off to the side of the road. He pulled up and stopped, in spite of everyone telling him not to stop. None of the cars could quite make it over the top of the hill. He told them that he would go get the wheel tractor, so just eased out the Buick and over the hill he went. About 10 minutes later, here he came on the wheel tractor and pulled everyone out and on their way. They couldn't believe that those sawdust tires would go at all on such a slick road. That Buick had that old slow Dynaflow system and you could floor-board it and it would just ease out at it's own speed, but once the car got up to speed, that car would pass just about anything on the road. I remember going to a wedding and coming in Harvey Shaw road. It was 14 miles to the pen, then through town about another 3 miles. I was driving 85mph on a 2-lane paved country road, but made it to where I was to pick up two more women on the south side of Walla Walla in 12 minutes flat. I would not drive any modern car at that speed. My husband said when he bought the car, he waited until it had over 500 miles on it, then took it out on a straight road west of Prescott and opened it up. He said that the Buick went 105mph that day. Wish I still had that car...that was one road-hugging machine! When we lived out there, the hill was called Crocker hill, nowadays, they still call it Putman hill, though we left there in 1960. Mary P. in Washington

----- Original Message -----
From: marilyn e brown
To: Connie
Cc: Mary Putman ;
Sent: Saturday, February 10, 2007 11:14 AM
Subject: Re: [ML] Tire Chains


Ok, I am going to show my ignorance.

What are sawdust tires?

Smiles,
Marilyne


On 2/8/07, Connie <> wrote:
I had never heard of them until you mentioned them. Interesting.
Connie

>
> We carried tire chains in every car we ever had and I still have a set in
> the ancient Olds. Had to put chains on only one time, when we were
> crossing
> Snoqualamie Pass about 1955 when we still had the '51 Buick. The Buick
> had
> sawdust tires all around, but the patrolman said we had to put on chains
> to
> proceed. My husband put on the chains, drove with them on about 5 miles,
> then pulled off the highway and took them off. With that heavy car and
> sawdust tires, we didn't ever need the chains, but to be legal and not
> argue
> with an patrolman, he put on the chains> Mary P. in Washington



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