Cable or Chain??

[BigEddy]

Forgot to mention - don't take those numbers as the chain breaking strength - those numbers are the breaking strength of 2!!! chains of that size. i.e. they are 2x the breaking strength of the chain. Ontario law states that you must have 2 chains each with a breaking strength equal to the weight of the trailer, so this is the ministries peculiar way of showing it.
In case I mislead anyone, working limits are below in lbs
Grade....... 30............ 43.............70
3/16......... 800
1/4........... 1300.........2600.........3150
5/16......... 1900.........3900.........4700
3/8........... 2650.........5400.........6600

 

[puter]

Not all chains/cables are the same... winching cables are certainly strong enough for your application. You may want to check places like this to make sure whatever you get is appropriate. If you think the forces you'll be applying to a cable might be excessive, throw a heavy tarp over the midpoint (or bind it with rope/velcro). HTH,

- Mark

 

[Lou_B]

Chain seems to work best the uses us tractor folk will put it to. A length of chain with a grab hook on each end has endless uses.
Chain holds up well when used for dragging stuff around. Cable will fray and develop "hooks" after a while.

Cable is best when you are doing lifting or in applications where it needs to be spooled onto a drum or run through a sheave. Winches, cranes and rigging equipment use cable exclusively.

I had to try them both. My 3/8" cable got used once and put into the shed two years ago. 5/16" and 3/8" chain seem to get used all the time.

Lou Braun

 

[GerardC]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Winches, cranes and rigging equipment use cable exclusively .)</font>

Not true. Larger boats and ships use chain for their ankers. They are operated by what? G

 

[Steve_Miller]

Every one has there own opinion, so just use what you are comfortable with but do some research and size your chain or cable accordingly and you shouldn't have any worries. It is always a good idea to inspect your chains, cables, clevis, etc... and you find something that is going to be a weak spot. Breakage is usually due to fatigue, misuse or undersized for the job.

Steve

 

[Richard]

I've got a fairly tough chain (gr-100). One thing I'd never thought of, nor seen commented on here was abrasion on a CHAIN. (only seen it mentioned on straps & fraying of cables)

I was dragging an entire tree down the road a bit (asphalt) and then took the tree to my "to be cut" pile.

upshot, the weight of the tree was grinding the underside link into the asphalt. Today, about 4' from the end, I have a single link that is about 1/3 worn through with a flat spot on it. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

I didn't notice this until AFTER I was done with the movement of tree. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[SPIKER]

richard: yes dragging of chain is the # 1 cause of failure as any real scratch or wear reduces it's ability by a lot and creats stress fractures form any scratch/gouge in it...

back in military it was a right up if you drug the chain on the ground!!! that was for our lifting chain which had to be inspected with magnetic NDI every 6 mo or after every heavy lift!

Mark M /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[StoneHeartFarm]

If you like the ease of the choker, but still want chain, couldn't you buy a short piece of cable, say 3', and make up a choker that could be attached to the end of the chain?

Steve

 

[fire72]

Here's my $.02 from my own logging/towing/rescue experience:

Chain, cable, and straps all have their place. I attended a training session for firefighters put on by our state operating engineers (heavy equipment operators) union training center, the basis of which was giving us an understanding of working with rigging and cranes on structural collapse rescues. The instructor spent a great deal of time covering choosing the correct rigging for the lift at hand, and emphasized that there are often multiple ways to rig a load safely.

With that said, my personal preference is for chain and straps. For most of my lifting, towing, and logging, I use 20' 5/16" grade 70 chains with grab hooks on both ends. With my truck or tractor I'll lose traction long before I even approach breaking strength, and my loader, rated for 1000#, won't get anywhere close to the 4700# rated strength of the chain.

Straps are especially handy for vehicle recovery. They are light, store easily, and are a lot less likely to ding up the vehicle you're working with. The slight amount of stretch in many straps helps absorb the shock load if you take out the slack too quickly or have to "bump" a stuck vehicle to get it moving. The slack does have a downside, as I discovered years ago while pulling small shrubbery stumps on a landscaping job. The taproot on one stump came loose all at once, and strap slingshot the stump and rootball off the back window of the truck. Straps are also particularly vulnerable to abrasion. In the event of breakage, straps are a lot lighter and softer than either of the other options, and less likely to cause damage or injury.

For whatever it's worth...