I have been using a combination of these four this winter.
Schwalbe Dirty Dan
Specialized Hillbilly
Geax Datura
Schwalbe Magic Mary
None of them can be described as light weight trail tyres, the Dirty Dan and Hillbilly are dual ply DH versions too!…but they’ve been great.
I have only just put the Magic Mary on the front as it has a fairly conventional tread pattern and i’m not sure it would’ve coped with the worst of it a few weeks back…the other three are classic mud tyre tread patterns…typical motocross style with large gaps between the spikes/blocks which allow the mud to be flung of the tyre fairly easily.
The spike/block depth varies with the Dirty Dan being the most aggressive and it can get squirmy over hard packed terrain giving a floating feeling as it sits up on the spikes…not great, i took it to BPW like that in January but took it off after the first run and put a Minion on the front instead.
I tended to use the Datura and Hillbilly on the back, they dug in and kept the bike going forward through the worst of it and cleared well too, they have more shallow spikes/blocks and could’ve doubled up as a front option if i’d had two of any of them!
PSA:
Geax Daturas are available at On-One at the moment for £10….frankly ridiculous for such a good tyre, folding and tacky compound too…26 inch only though i’m afraid!…i ordered again today to stock up for the HT and next winter already.