Length of chain

[RobertN]

Cool! They have Mcleods for $52. Those go for over $100 at the Ace hardware here. Not many people know what they are, but they sure are handy!

In case you are wondering, they are "hoe like", and used for wild land firefighting. They are great for clearing and moving grass and small brush. They are a hoe, with a edge 9-3/4" wide, six rake teeth 3-1/2" long and a handle 4' long.

RobertN in Shingle Springs Calif

 

[gordon]

Along with Baileys here is another top quality company. More for chainsaw stuff. http://www.madsens1.com/
Gordon

 

[dullpain]

WVBill - Let me know if anyone tells you of source for those "WELDABLE" chain hooks for the FEL. I'm looking for some too. Have seen em in the past but now I have a need can't find em.

MChalkey - I tried to beat you on your answer to Harv on his chain hooks. My "Hoot & Holler" phone system out here in the sticks bounced me off. I love modem connections. You must have a HST keyboard.

Harv - Agree completely with Chalkey's findings on your hooks. I posted somewhere a while back my disappointment in looking at like items in my local TSC, Co-Op , Farmers Supply. Everything from China or India and of low quality. Don't chuck em just be aware of their limitations.

 

[Harv]

McCallum -

Thanks for the comments.

Okay, I won't chuck my chain hooks just yet -- maybe I'll see what it takes to break 'em.

It's possible my little 'L' is the weakest link. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[ERNIEB]

I've picked up several chains and booms from pawn shops. Most of it is the type used to chain down loads on flat beds./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif Good chains at a reasonable price.
ErnieB

 

[LazyK]

Ernie, did you get binders and shackles included?
Really good find if so. I scrounge garage sales and flea markets always on the look-out for that one good 16' 3/8 or better rigging w/ good binder(s) and hell for stout hooks...all for $15.
Yeah right...the scrounge goes on. Never thought to check out the pawn shops. Good lick!

Lazy K - Chip

 

[TomG]

Yes, I recently ended up with two 'made in China' 5/16th grab hooks. Everything about them is thicker (perhaps due to softer steel than U.S. made hooks).

Anyway, the thicker pin loops won't allow the hooks to rotate fully on standard 5/16th grade 70 chain. The 'made in U.S.A. hooks I bought last summer from the same tractor supply don't do that. I bought the chain there as well.

I somehow think that hooks should be able to rotate freely around the end link in which they're attached. It seems like a safety issue, and I wonder why sale is allow of supposedly standard items that don't work with other standard items. Maybe I've got some 1/4" chain the hooks will work on, but I think I'll just toss them.

 

[TomG]

I use something sold as a '1" clevis' on my draw bar as well. The top plate is off the drawbar to accommodate a backhoe mount, and I don't have any pull implements anyway.

I think the loops on shackles and clevises are different shapes. I believe that shackles are designed so the loop fits around a shaft and the load is attached under the pin. A clevis is designed so the pin fits through a hole, and the load is attached through the loop. The pin on a clevis also has a safety pin (Like the pin on a trailer hitch receiver, which is called a 'whisker pin maybe) rather than the threaded pin on a shackle. Clevises are much easier to put on and off, but each will work. For some reason, I find clevises better with chain and shackles better with cable.

I ended up mounting my seat belts to shackles I put on the fender support shafts. Harv’s pic 'F' things (something else I don't know the name of) fit neatly under the shackle pins and through the seat belt ends. I didn't want to use a case bolt for the mounts, and I figure this arrangement is stronger than holes drilled into the fenders.

 

[TomG]

I've got a pair of 1" cable hooks on about 15' of 1/2 or 7/16th aircraft cable that I use for a choker. A loop through one hook goes around the load, the other hook goes through a loop of chain that runs through the clevis on my drawbar and is secured with a grab hook.

Cable slides through the hooks easily and seldom comes out of the large 1” hooks when taking up the slack. It's also easy to change the length of the line with the grab hook on the cable loop. And, if I need a longer line, there are grab hooks at both ends of the chain. I can make a loop at either end of the chain rather than a single loop, which halves the length of the chain.

I suppose a real cable choker may work better, but the hooks and cable is what I had. I do have a grab hook/slip hook length of chain, but I have an impression that cable chokers work better than chain ones for many types of loads.

 

[TomG]

And when you need an even longer length, there are always those double link things that join two lengths of chain. Or, even faster, is just grab hooking one chain to another.

I don't like carrying stuff much myself. I stick to 20' lengths of 5/16th grade 70. I'd rather join several together the few times I need something longer than lug the longer stuff around. And, untangling the longer stuff isn't a good time. How does chain get knotted anyway? It’s a mystery.

I do have some 3/8th grade 70, but I figure that most times, if I have to worry about breaking 5/16th chain, I should start worrying about breaking the tractor instead.