Installing OFA - EKO 8 & 9 Studded Chains

[OrangeAgain]

I recently bought my OFA chains for my Kioti RX7320PC farm tractor and am installing them. I am not experienced with installing chains on anything and although I have viewed the instructions and videos, I have the following questions.

What are the two holes on the end of the side easterners for? A cotter pin? ?

Once the two ends meet when installed on the tractor, I have about 22 left on each side. What do I do with the extra length?

 

[Gordon Gould]

I have the same chains. The two holes are for a safety wire which will prevent the hook from coming undone. Stick a short piece of fence wire thru, wrap it back and twist the two ends together. When you have the chains fully mounted the way you want them or are sure about how they will mount and fit cut the excess chain off with an angle grinder and thin cut off disc. On new chains I usually leave some extra links on the side chains for future adjustments if needed. After I run them a while I cut the extra off.

I ran mine w/o safety wires for two years and they stayed on fine but last year I did lose two shackles which also have safety wire holes. Now I safety wire everything.

gg

 

[OrangeAgain]

Gordon; Where are you in NE Vermont? I am in Albany, VT.

I have the same chains. The two holes are for a safety wire which will prevent the hook from coming undone. Stick a short piece of fence wire thru, wrap it back and twist the two ends together. When you have the chains fully mounted the way you want them or are sure about how they will mount and fit cut the excess chain off with an angle grinder and thin cut off disc. On new chains I usually leave some extra links on the side chains for future adjustments if needed. After I run them a while I cut the extra off.

I ran mine w/o safety wires for two years and they stayed on fine but last year I did lose two shackles which also have safety wire holes. Now I safety wire everything.

gg

 

[Gordon Gould]

Waterford - Between St. J and Littleton, NH

gg

 

[John_Mc]

I ran mine w/o safety wires for two years and they stayed on fine but last year I did lose two shackles which also have safety wire holes. Now I safety wire everything.

Interesting. 2 years was how long I went before I lost my first shackle. Not having any safety wire handy, I put some thread locker on each of them.

BTW - good luck getting replacement shackles out of Reed Supply. I put a hardware store one on mine. It's a bit different shape than the original, and I'm a bit worried about it wearing on the tire as a result. I've been waiting several months for Reeds to send me some replacements. (They've been very responsive for everything else I've dealt with them on.)

 

[Imold]

Mechanic Wire next best thing to Gorilla Tape.

 

[Gordon Gould]

Interesting. 2 years was how long I went before I lost my first shackle. Not having any safety wire handy, I put some thread locker on each of them.

BTW - good luck getting replacement shackles out of Reed Supply. I put a hardware store one on mine. It's a bit different shape that the original, and Im a bit worried about it wearing on the tire as a result. I've been waiting several months for Reeds to send me some replacements. (They've been very responsive for everything else I've dealt with them on.)

I never thought to go back to Reed's. I went the hardware store and McMaster-Carr root and couldn't find any long narrow ones like you said. Finally found some on a sail boat rigging supplier site and ordered them. In the mean time I had to use the tractor so bought some standard cross chain hooks. After putting them on I didn't see why I needed shackles any more. It seemed to me that the shackles were just for the initial adjustment in case you had to move the last couple cross chains. I bent over the hooks and made them permanent and they match the rest of the chain. So I have a couple spare expensive stainless steel long skinny shackles.

Cross chain hooks

https://www.autozone.com/snow-chain...n-dia-heavy-truck-cross-chain-hook/492469_0_0

gg

 

[LouNY]

I try and keep some spare shackles on hand as I have lost a few,
I just ordered 10, 1/4" and 10, 5/16" the 1/4" are $2.82 each where I ordered from.
5/16" Stainless Steel Screw Pin D Shackle

 

[John_Mc]

I try and keep some spare shackles on hand as I have lost a few,
I just ordered 10, 1/4" and 10, 5/16" the 1/4" are $2.82 each where I ordered from.
5/16" Stainless Steel Screw Pin D Shackle

Thanks, Lou. I'll order a few myself. My OFA EKO 8 chains have the 5/16" (8mm) size. I found some inexpensive ones on Amazon, but they were 304 stainless. 304 is corrosion resistant, but 316 grade of the ones you linked is more resistant, and is especially resistant to chlorides (including road salt).

 

[OrangeAgain]

Is stainless steel necessary? I would think that galvanized would work fine.

I try and keep some spare shackles on hand as I have lost a few,
I just ordered 10, 1/4" and 10, 5/16" the 1/4" are $2.82 each where I ordered from.
5/16" Stainless Steel Screw Pin D Shackle

 

[LouNY]

Is stainless steel necessary? I would think that galvanized would work fine.

Probably not but the threads don't rust up while in use or in storage over the summer,
and I like stainless :cool2:

 

[nyone]

Stainless is usually a softer metal and the threads can gaul easier. Unless your pushing salt in a shed or storing the chains in a puddle normal steel will be just fine.

 

[kco]

Something else that might work is a pin coupler as shown here:

Tire Chains Equipment Pin Repair Coupler

I got mine at a local industrial equipment shop at a much cheaper price than tirechains.com. I believe they are 10mm for my rear chains and 7mm for the fronts.

Attached are photos of them on my rear chains.

Although I have spares, I have used the same couplers for 4 winters with no problems.

My tires have worn since then so I replaced a side chain link on each side with shorter pin couplers. They make a compact, secure connection.

 

[Gordon Gould]

Something else that might work is a pin coupler as shown here:

Tire Chains Equipment Pin Repair Coupler

I got mine at a local industrial equipment shop at a much cheaper price than tirechains.com. I believe they are 10mm for my rear chains and 7mm for the fronts.

Attached are photos of them on my rear chains.

Although I have spares, I have used the same couplers for 4 winters with no problems.

My tires have worn since then so I replaced a side chain link on each side with shorter pin couplers. They make a compact, secure connection.

That is what I would use too for circumferential chains if I had to cut off the special Chinese Puzzle connection hooks to make them fit or move where a cross chain connects to the circumferential chain.

gg

 

[John_Mc]

Stainless is usually a softer metal and the threads can gaul easier. Unless your pushing salt in a shed or storing the chains in a puddle normal steel will be just fine.

The 304 and 316 alloys of stainless steel used in bolts (including the 316 stainless that LouNY linked) are stronger than unhardened (grade 2) bolts. Since 304 or 316 stainless are low carbon steel alloys, they cannot be heat treated to harden them. However, even without heat treating, they typically have the same tensile strength as grade 5 heat treated steel bolts (125,000 PSI in the size ranges we are talking about here). A grade 8 steel bolt is stronger than a 304 or 316 stainless bolt.

In this application, the screw pin straight d shackles in 5/16" diameter have a working load limit of 1500 for galvanized steel, or 1300# for 316 stainless steel. Both are far more than needed for a side chain link. Yes, the threads on stainless are subject to galling. However, that happens during installation, as you are screwing them together (not from just sitting around after they've been installed). Galling is easy to avoid: work slowly and don't overtighten (use a thread locker or safety wire to keep them from coming apart, rather than attempting to "muscle them together" so tight they won't come apart.