using a chain

[goodoleboy]

I use a chain with cleavis hooks to pull out trucks in the mud and rocks in the ground with my truck. whats the safest way to pull with a chain? Ive never had one "break loose" but it scares the crap out of me if one ever does break.
Keep in mind I attach the clevis hooks properly to the chain.

 

[Soundguy]

If you are talking about chain snap back, I think it is on everyones mind just a bit any time a chain is used under tension.

I'd laid a big thick moving blanket over a chain before, hoping to drain off some of the energy in case it did break.

One cool thing I've seen but not done is to get some old used fire hose from a fire station, and run your chain thru it.. should absorb energy pretty well, and have the side benefit of not scratching up the paint on your tractor if you use the chain to bind it to the trailer.. etc.

I'm sure you will get other good iteas as well.

Soundguy

 

[boustany]

I generally use a fairly long chain and don't worry about it. My understand is, unlike wire rope, a chain doesn't store up any tension.

I've had one break, and the chain more or less droped to the ground, with the broken end coming back a couple feet. I suspect that even that is because I hit the brakes as soon as the break happened, so I went back a bit and stopped and the end of the chain moved in my direction because of that, not tension.

Wire rope scares me so much I wouldn't use it for pulling, except in a dire emergency. That stuff gets nasty

 

[beenthere]

boustany
I think you have it right, and similar to my experience when pulling with a chain.

However, some have said they have had different experiences, and I think it is not the chain that causes the 'flying' problem, but what the chain is hooked to. If whatever the chain is hooked to stores up energy, and breaks loose, then the chain may get some momentum. For the most part, a chain doesn't store energy. It will stretch and the links will bend, but the links don't spring back to original (for the most part).

Now, we're no talking about jerking on a chain to get something to move, as that is not smart and is mis-use of equipment and can result in various problems. IMO

 

[boustany]

Exactly - a wire rope becomes a potentially lethal 'flying nightmare' when it breaks, but a chain just sort of drops. Obviously, if something heavy broke off while under way, and you hit the brakes, or whatever, that could hit you, but the chain itself is not the problem.

 

[Mark4510]

I like that idea of the old fire hose. I will have to see if I can find some and then give it a try.

Mark

 

[bczoom]

For most things, I've substituted the use of chains for tow straps. If you get the right ones, they're just as strong but a lot lighter (important for me as I get up there in years) and less dangerous.

 

[QueBota]

Don't know if they are the same thing as tow straps. We like to use the nylon recovery straps. They typically have loops at both ends and can be up to 4 inches wide and rated up to around 50,000 pounds. The work like a giant rubber band and are very good at freeing stuck vehicles. We usually use small sections of chain at the attachtment points to prevent damage to the straps.

Dave

 

[Soundguy]

I've seen chains fly, and nearly kill people.. but I think it was due to the machine applying the force, that jerked the chain once it broke, and the 'pulling' machine lurched forward suddenly.. not the chain itself storing the energy. I think a covering over wire rope would be mandatory for piece of mind..

Soundguy

 

[beenthere]

I don't mind if you use such straps, but if anything lets go that those straps are fastened to (bumper, broken hook, etc.) you will have tremendous energy built up in that stretched strap. Not my idea of fun, and I wouldn't touch one ever again. Pulled a boat lift out once with a very heavy nylon rope. The rope didn't break, but the steel bar the rope was hooked to let go, came by us instantly and penetrated a house wall that was the old fashion kind with wood siding, wood sheathing, etc. Pretty sobering thoughts went through our minds.

The 50,000 lb test may be enough, but it better be just as strong on both ends.

 

[QueBota]

Have seen straps break and is very scary. We always weight the middle of the strap with blankets, coats etc. and tether the ends of the straps to the attachment points with some high strength rope. Knock on wood, haven't had any problems doing it this way for many years.

Dave

 

[bczoom]

Most of the straps I use do have the loops at both ends. Others have slip hooks.
The loads I'm pulling are significantly lighter than the rating of the straps (probably never more than 20%) so I can't confirm, but I'm not seeing stretching.

 

[Joe1]

One way to keep the chain from flying if it did break would be to thread a wire or rope line through the chain with the line passing through links about every foot. A 35' line on a 20' chain would leave enough slack to tie off to the towing vehicle on one end and the towed vehicle on the other. There is no tension on the line, but with slack in the line so if the chain did break, the line would hold both broken ends in check with only a few inches of the lose broken ends to move around, and provide enough time to stop the tow. If the line broke, the energy would be gone from the chain and the chain would keep the line from flying very far. Cheap Insurance.

Using steel cables can be a fright. In 1970, while on active dury as a Naval Officer, it was 1:30 in the morning, I was the Officer of the Deck on a replenishment ship and we were resupplying a 2,200 ton Destroyer with fuel oil. Our ship was a 56,000 ton AOE (fuel, ammo and food supply ship) We were moving at 12 knots about 100' apart. The fuel line was suspended between the two moving ships on a wire rope 1 1/8" in diameter. Without warning, and in a matter of seconds, the Destroyer took off at a 30 degree angle at 12 knots away from us. My ship rolled about 5 degrees until the span wire parted and we rolled back upright. Fortunately, that wire did not hit anyone, or it would have been fatal. It sounded like a gun going off when it let go. The fuel hose pulled out before it could be released, and we gave the Destroyer a black oil bath from a 3" hose at 40 psi.

I'd rather use an oversized chain with a safety rope or wire through it.

Just my thoughts on this matter. If someone sees a problem in that theory please say so.

 

[RichNJKubota]

I had a chain break once. Whipped back with great force. If it had hit anyone, it would surely have been tragic. So I don't take any chances anymore. I make sure that the chain is secured and dampened.

Rich

 

[banjobj]

My experience has been that people generally use a chain that is too small. I do like the suggestions that have been given by the TBNers.

 

[PineRidge]

I hate to rain on your parade guys but I saw a chain snap back from a truck trying to pull start a drop-dead gorgeous antique Cadillac in Hershey PA. The chain literally wiped out most of the forward lamps on the antique. The guy who owned the car also owned a Cadillac dealership in Akron, Ohio and laughed the incident off.

The rest of the spectators that were near the car when it happened didn't think is was so funny however.

Be careful with chains. I use some 20 to 40 feet with a pallet puller when unloading semi trucks. I use the chains attached to a pallet puller and carefully drag the pallets one by one to the back of the trucks before I gently lift them off using my pallet forks. I drape a blanket over the section of chain closest to me and I am always vigilant and move as slow as possible to eliminate kinetic energy biting me when I least expect.

 

[Bird]

When I was on the volunteer fire department, a truck pulling a mobile home got stuck in soft dirt, so the movers decided to pull it out with a tandem axle, loaded dump truck, and they had over 100' feet of chain. The chain broke, snapped back with enough force to strike a spark from rocks which ignited the dry grass, and we had a pretty good sized grass fire to fight; burned off about 10 acres, but we did save the truck and mobile home from any damage.

 

[8NTX]

A number of years ago, I hired the young men who mowed my lawn to clean out my front flowerbeds. There were stumps from some shrubs in there. They used an axe until the handle broke. I was gone, and when I came back they had about a 30' heavy chain wrapped around the stump of a shrub, and the other end wrapped around the trailer hitch ball on their Jeep Cherokee on the street. Tried to jerk it out; chain broke, whipped back narrowly missing one guy but it did manage to break out the rear window of the Cherokee and dent up the tailgate pretty good. Probably would have killed the guy standing there.

Steve

 

[slowrev]

Jerking on anything with a chain is not a good idea as previously stated. The old firehose on the chain is the best soloution I know of to control a breaking chain, again as previously stated.

Another thought on this is maximum drawbar pull would be nice to know for a given tractor then you could figure the max pull without jerking and know how sturdy of a chain to use more safely. For example if the maximum drawbar pull for your tractor is 4,000 lbs, get a chain well above that limit. And before someone picks on this post, I realize that maximum pull will vary somewhat depending on tires, conditions, etc. But if we had the Nebraska drawbar HP.........

Also don't trust the hooks to not come loose on the chain, use a clevis or screw locking link to keep the chain together. Don't ask me how I know this /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Ben

 

[arkydog]

Pulling truck and car frames for a living, the best idea we used was to throw a heavy blanket over the chain. Its not the chain itself that does most most of the damage, its whats hooked on the end of the chain that does the damage, hooks, other chains, chain hooks. The frame machine we use has more tha 30,000 lbs of pulling power and when something comes loose, breaks, or tears, the blankets always prevents damage from happening elseware.

arkydog