What, or how much weight?

I live in northern Ontario, and am curious what you carry for weight for traction in the winter, and about how much?
I found some railroad tracks, >1' long, ~50lbs each. Used to carry 2, but thinking 4 now. What worries me about these is making a quick stop, and the damn things coming through the cab.
Sand bags would probably be a better idea, eh?
Anyways, just wanted to hear what others do.

 

I carry a lot of gear most of the time, but I've found that the weight of my fiberglass topper is sufficient for winter traction. Good tires are by far the best thing you can do for traction, but you should still have some weight on them.

 

The railroad tracks would probably be OK if you could secure them.

I've used sandbags before. About 300 pounds was great, but I found myself constantly taking them out so I could use the bed so I took it out.

Something thin like a sheet of steel or a few horse stall mats would work.

 

I used 300 lbs of sand in the winter when I lived in Upstate NY, it worked great for my 2wd ranger.

 

I put in 2-3 tractor weights. Small and heavy as baby boo boo. They work great. Easy to store in the garage during summer. You can find them cheap on the classifieds. Or a tractor shop usually has some old ones laying around.

 

On my old 2wd Mazda I used to have one of those Rubbermaid 50gal storage bins filled with sand, and boxed it in with 2x4s to prevent bent tailgate and whatnot. Super effective. I bet it was easily over 800lbs after getting water logged.

 

i went with a more simple method. shovel some snow in the back. as the snow melts it will just melt away to. works mint

 

2wd or 4wd?

Do you run real winter tires?

 

2 80lb bags of sand over the axle.
I have a bed mat so they stay put.
The tonneau keeps them dry so I have sand if needed.