Log chain - HF vs. TSC

[Putter]

If I a pulling with a length of chain or cable, I throw a heavy moving blanket over the chain near the midpoint. Read somewhere that this will stop any whipping back. Anyone else do this? You guy that have had breaks are very lucky. I'm sure there would be no time to duck.

 

[SPYDERLK]

I'm sure some of you will call this ridiculous, however,
an old farmer near me said that he makes a nick in his chains
with a triangular file on the link nearest his tractor. When I
asked him why, he said that if he is going to run the risk of
breaking a chain, he didn't want a long loop taking his head
off, so he put in a sacrificial link.

I guess whatever floats your boat.

Bill

Very smart! Bound to be pretty effective unless there is a more compromised situation elsewhere in the hookup. Hooks and sharp bends are an issue. Thats why the close coupled nature of the short link chains is so much more rugged in abusive use.
larry

 

[Diamondpilot]

I have a couple of them and so far so good from HF. That being said I I were to buy today I would get the 20' Grade 70 5/16 chains from Lowes for $30. Get 2, have them cut them in 1/2 and you are all set to secure a tractor for transport. Some spend the extra money on 4 more hooks which is fine but you really dont need them if you use for boomers.

Chris

 

[JB4310]

I'm sure some of you will call this ridiculous, however,
an old farmer near me said that he makes a nick in his chains
with a triangular file on the link nearest his tractor. When I
asked him why, he said that if he is going to run the risk of
breaking a chain, he didn't want a long loop taking his head
off, so he put in a sacrificial link.

I guess whatever floats your boat.

Bill

I wouldn't call it ridicules, not sure what I'd call it, no guarantee it would break at the nicked link though, unless you really compromised a link.

It's that shock load that makes it easy to exceed the chains rating, I rarely find myself needing to jerk the chain, but of course on occasion...

Does chain really fly as bad as stretched cable or those widow maker nylon straps ? I've never had it happen to before.

JB.

 

[ayelvington]

Chances are the TSC and HF chain come from the same factory in China. Unless you see a brandname product at TSC, you might as well save your money and go with HF.

The only (only) benefit of TSC is the return policy or travel distance (if it applies).

I get my brand name pet food at TSC....

 

[Diamondpilot]

In the tractors tool box I carry a 20' tow strap and a 10' piece of G70 1/4" chain. It does what I need most times.

In the shop I have 3 3/8" x 14' chains and they are nice for the tough pulls but heavy.

I also have 2 15' 1/4" chains. One has grab hooks on both ends like all my chains but the other has a grab hook on one end and a open hook on the other. Its great for pulling logs. Harder you pull tighter it gets. I did break it once 6 links from the end. I would guess it was from previous damage.

Like I said before, Lowes has the best deals on G70 chain in 20' lengths and 5/16" diameter. This will be more than enough for 95% of the owners on this site. Its made in America also.

While I am a American I do not think that always equates to quality. 2 worst vehicles I have owned out of about 20 were GM's made in America. Worst marine engines I have had were Mercury's, 2 of them, made in America. One 300HP and the other 330HP. Both were junk compared to the Suzuki's, Hondas, Volvo's, Johnsons, ect I have owned. Worst small engine I have ever had was a Briggs, made in America. Replaced it with $99 HF engine that can sit for a year and start second pull each time. Go figure???



Chris

 

[Diamondpilot]

Old farmer buddy of mine carries a heavy wool blanket with all his chains. He says he puts it mid span on any chain, strap, cable, ect. It will slow down the recoil if something lets go. In a pinch he has used the bed mat, floor mats, jacket, ect.

Chris

 

[SPYDERLK]

I'm sure some of you will call this ridiculous, however,
an old farmer near me said that he makes a nick in his chains
with a triangular file on the link nearest his tractor. When I
asked him why, he said that if he is going to run the risk of
breaking a chain, he didn't want a long loop taking his head
off, so he put in a sacrificial link.

I guess whatever floats your boat.

Bill

I wouldn't call it ridicules, not sure what I'd call it, no guarantee it would break at the nicked link though, unless you really compromised a link.

It's that shock load that makes it easy to exceed the chains rating, I rarely find myself needing to jerk the chain, but of course on occasion...

Does chain really fly as bad as stretched cable or those widow maker nylon straps ? I've never had it happen to before.
JB.

Hi strength chain has much more elastic stretch than low strength chain. This elastic stretch stores the energy beyond the point that the regular chain starts to give and if it finally lets loose it has more to give back by flying. Both chains of like size act the same until the weaker gives plastically. At that point, if both were released they would rebound the same. The stronger one is still stretching like a spring tho, and if taken to its elastic limit or beyond, has a lot more energy to release. ... Another source of springback comes from the elasticity of the tractor itself. Everything, particularly the tires wind up in a hard pull. If the chain breaks or releases at the load that bit of stored energy comes to play as well. The thing that makes a chain dangerous is not so much that it stores a lot of energy in comparison to other tension members, but that its denseness delivers an intense blow -- and it is so supple that it can easily wad up [collapsing without dissipating much energy like a cable would] and become a real hammer.
larry

 

[wolc123]

When I busted the 3/8 chain pulling the Suburban out of the mud hole, it wasnt that bad. No where near the "nightmare" situation that some may have you believe reading these posts. A chain dont stretch much, therefore dont store a lot of energy, and its heavy weight prevents it from flying around wildly after it breaks. In my case,the only way I knew the chain broke was that the tractor just kept going as I released the clutch rather than lugging to a stop in a foot or so as it did each time the chain held. I just hooked what was left of the broken chain with a bolt and kept pulling the truck out, a foot or so at a time. I suspect that the number of folks who have been injured due to broken chains is very small compared to straps and cables.

 

[SPYDERLK]

When I busted the 3/8 chain pulling the Suburban out of the mud hole, it wasnt that bad. No where near the "nightmare" situation that some may have you believe reading these posts. A chain dont stretch much, therefore dont store a lot of energy, and its heavy weight prevents it from flying around wildly after it breaks. In my case,the only way I knew the chain broke was that the tractor just kept going as I released the clutch rather than lugging to a stop in a foot or so as it did each time the chain held. I just hooked what was left of the broken chain with a bolt and kept pulling the truck out, a foot or so at a time.

At about what point in the span of the loaded chain did the break occur?
larry

 

[wolc123]

It broke about 1/3 of the way from the Suburban to the pulley on what looked to be an old repair link. The chain was about 15 ft long. I had one end of a 50', 1/2" cable attached to a tree, then back thru the pulley, and the other end on my tractor's drawbar. The tractor has loaded rears and a loader so probably weighs well over 6000 pounds. The load on the chain and truck would have been double the load on the cable and tractor so the pull force was probably well above what an 11,000 lb Mahindra could generate on a direct pull.

 

[boggen]

*been there done that* chains can and will whip just like ropes and cables.

i have a dent in back of the s10 blazer back door from a chain breaking and wipping back into it. when i tried to pull out some bushes.

555c TLB, a few weeks back, trying to pull a root ball of a tree up and out of a creak area. snapped the only thing that saved me, was i hooked off to edge on FEL, and pulled at an angle. if i was pull straight back, i would most likely not be here typing this up. that chain wipped back in some waving effects.

over the winter. i need to get the trailer out, so i hand dug around tires, and worked my way to the front with the 555c TLB clearing the 2 to 6 feet snow dirfts. got things what i though was cleared. hooked s10 blazer up to it. and got it stuck. ran short chain between tow hook on blazer to hook on top of bucket of the 555c TLB, chain poped, thankfully it snapped near blazer and chain all snapped back into bucket. if it snapped near hook on the bucket. i would most likely would of needed a new windshield. and had a few dents in the hood to fix on the S10 blazer.

==================
not chain related, but rope and cable.

setup a small drag harrow to pull across a lake to remove most of the moss. using long heavier duty nylon rope. i would assume approx 300 feet of total rope. made from 3 or 5 individual ropes. i would always put a smaller size rope near back of s-10 blazer. so if it would snap, hopefully the smaller lighter duty rope would snap first. a couple times it did, but once it broke near drag harrow. 300 foot of stretched rope, is no funny matter. thankfully i pulled at an angle like i normally do, and it all just whipped pass rear end of the s10 blazer.

a few years back using nylon rope to pull some bushes. rope got cut by a branch and came whipping up pass side rear view mirrors. ((thanking my lucky stars i didn't have my head out of the window.))

trying to pull some large branches and logs up out of the woods were i would not even dare to drive tractor down into. whipping of that cable was enough to say ok, time to pickup things and forget about those branches for good. the cable snapped through a 2+" other branch on other tree and still had plenty of force to take out me or another branch if it wanted to.

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just when you think you are well below the load strength of the chain/cable/rope. you normally are, but something happens. and that is when things can go quickly wrong.

the oh POO factor normally hits me when i get in the driver seat, when i am about to pull something, which makes me double think and then get back out and double check everything one more time. and make sure i can pull at an angle vs direction chain/cable/rope is hooked up to. so if it does snap. it will be less likely flying directly back into me.

 

[bcp]

I once read about tying a nylon rope(1/4 inch?) to the end of a chain, then threading it through a chain link about every foot until reaching the other end of the chain where it is tied again. Supposed to keep the chain from flying if the chain breaks. The rope probably breaks harmlessly after suppressing the chain break, if the pull isn't stopped in time.

Never tried it or heard of it, except the one article. Anyone else?

Bruce

 

[JB4310]

I once read about tying a nylon rope(1/4 inch?) to the end of a chain, then threading it through a chain link about every foot until reaching the other end of the chain where it is tied again. Supposed to keep the chain from flying if the chain breaks. The rope probably breaks harmlessly after suppressing the chain break, if the pull isn't stopped in time.

Never tried it or heard of it, except the one article. Anyone else?

Bruce

Sounds like a plan, leave enough slack in the rope, and the rope shouldn't break, but would prevent the chain from flying back.

How about the fire hose trick,put the chain inside a fire hose, or wrap the hose around the chain in a few spots. Anything thrown over the chain around midway should do the trick.

JB.

 

[Dr_Zinj]

I once had a cheap "made in china" chain snap and come through the cab. breaking glass and missing my melon by about 6 inches. Up to you, but "made in USA" is better quality.

I'm constantly aware of that possibility. Chains, cables, ropes, and belts under tension enough to break are almost worse than an IED going off underneath you.

 

[LittleBlueTractor]

Does chain really fly as bad as stretched cable or those widow maker nylon straps ? I've never had it happen to before.

JB.

I had the same question and it didn't take me long to find this:

MSHA - Metal and Nonmetal Mine Fatal Accident Investigation Report

Don't know if it's "as bad", but it's bad enough.

 

[wolc123]

Reading that account will cause me to be more carefull with chains. Maybe I was just lucky when I broke one pulling out that truck. I always say: "I would rather be lucky than good", and I have been more times than I can remember. I still feel safer with chains than straps or cables. It appears that the chain in that account was not properly loaded and the failure resulted in part from contact of the failed link with a push bar. I wonder how many more fatalities there has been since 1998, when that one occurred, compared to from failed straps and cables.

 

[SandburRanch]

A re-enactment of the hitch showed that the failed link was most likely in contact with the outermost bottom corner of the steel push bar at the rear of the trailer. The loading on the failed link would have been in direct tension from the pull of the chain and bending from the reaction caused by the corner of the push bar. These two combined effects caused the link to bend inward on the side in contact with the corner of the push bar. These forces resulted in the failure of the link along its side.
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It seems to me that same type of bending force could be exerted on a chain link to some extent by doubling back through a clevis albeit possibly a lesser force. It sure gives something to consider.