China Chains...Good or NOT?

[Sully2]

HI,

I know many have voiced opinions that Chinese grade 70 (and other grades) are inferior to USA products.
But are they really?
Aside from opinion, anyone have any experience where they broke a Chinese chain, in a situation where they are sure they did not exceed its rating?
How does one measure good VS bad?
Are there any statistics or test results somewhere that shows that these third world chains (China, India, wherever) don't not meet grade specs they are sold under?
I'm not saying anything one way or the other. I am just curious as to what we have to back up the belief that Made in USA is superior when it comes to chains as sold in the marketplace today (not in yesteryear).
Anyone?

Good or bad? I look at it this way.

If I HAD some sort of "overhead lift"..where I HAD to take HEAVY items DIRECTLY over the top of someone / thing that was then "dangerous"..Id use nothing BUT the highest grade..US made product that I could find.

But for pulling my JEEP out of the mud should I get it stuck in the yard; dragging a short log out of the woods ( and I dont mean some 5 ton log either.....) or hooking a grubbing tong to so I can pull out some roots of various weedy shrubs that I want to clear out...then whats wrong with a Chinese chain??

A person should buy or make the TOOL fit the application..not a generalization that "X" isnt "right".

"Snap-on" tools better than Craftsman? Then why isnt EVERYONE using Snap-on tools? Craftsman better than Harbour Freight sockets? Then everyone needs to use Craftsman then...right? When I needed a set of impact deep sockets...metric..that I'll probably use about 3 times in their life..total..which ones do you think I bought!!!

And I..ME..always buy Harbor Freight Chinese made ..grade 43 ( I think it is??) 5/16th chain..WITH their hooks..when its on sale

( No different than the Kubota $220 top link for my tractor or the $21.95 "China" toplink!! debate )

 

[jayhaitch]

Ah, capitalism at it's best. The customer is always right! What is something worth? Whatever someone is willing to pay for it.

The balance between price and quality is entirely up to the individual, and what they're planning to do with the purchase. Cheap lower quality Chinese stuff clearly fills a need. IMHO though, too many times people forget "To buy cheap is to buy twice." Personally, I'd rather have a few really good quality items than a lot of cheap stuff, but I've bought Taiwanese impact sockets myself. And no, as a tinkerer not a professional mechanic, I don't own any Snap-On tools either

 

[goodoleboy]

Depends, I had a tow strap rated at 4500 working strength, well it busted and almost hit a buddy when tried to pull out his atv, its a $1.99 strap.

Now we used a $6 ratchet tie down to pull out the same atv multiple times and it never snapped it was rated at 1500 lbs Breaking.Both were made in china. Go figure.

 

[Sully2]

Ah, capitalism at it's best. The customer is always right! What is something worth? Whatever someone is willing to pay for it.

Im not sure what "the customer is always right" has to do with anything here??

The balance between price and quality is entirely up to the individual, and what they're planning to do with the purchase. Cheap lower quality Chinese stuff clearly fills a need.

And many times...its fills MY NEEDS...but not always of course.

IMHO though, too many times people forget "To buy cheap is to buy twice." Personally, I'd rather have a few really good quality items than a lot of cheap stuff, but I've bought Taiwanese impact sockets myself. And no, as a tinkerer not a professional mechanic, I don't own any Snap-On tools either

BIG DIFFERENCE between "cheap" ( low cost) and "cheap" *( meaning junk quality)

 

[mjncad]

"To buy cheap is to buy twice."

I love that saying.

Not knowing any better at the time, I bought a Ryobi split boom gas string trimmer. What a pile of junk. It would take 10 to 20 minutes just to get it started, and then if I could keep it running the thing vibrated so badly that it beat me up using it. Of course that was on a good day when I could get it going and I still had some steam left in me to use it. I paid $180 for the thing from Home Despot. I finally got so fed up with it that I literally threw it into the trash after I bashed it around a while on the concrete.

I went and got a Deere split boom trimmer, which if I recall correctly was about $360 not counting the additional accessories I've bought for it over the years. The Deere starts on the first or second pull and doesn't give me grief to keep running. I may still get beat up from the vibration over the course of using it; but no where near as bad as the Ryobi.

I'll never buy another Ryobi product again, and they earn my "Just say NO to Chinese made crap!" bad housekeeping seal of disapproval.

Bottom line...my $180 trimmer turned into a $540 trimmer because I bought cheap and bought twice.

 

[Sully2]

I'll never buy another Ryobi product again, and they earn my "Just say NO to Chinese made crap!" bad housekeeping seal of disapproval.

Bottom line...my $180 trimmer turned into a $540 trimmer because I bought cheap and bought twice.

I made the MISTAKE of buying a Ryobi fishing reel TWICE.. ( The first time and the last time..? That IS 2 times isnt it?...lol)

Ryobi "tools"... You cant even give them to me..let alone ask me to PAY for one.

 

[SkyPup]

Roybi tools soon end up in the trash....which is where they belonged to begin with....

 

[GeneD14]

Speaking of chain made in foreign countries:

Do you ever remember watching "The Wide World of Sports" on Saturdays in the 1970's? In the opening of the show they showed the "agony of defeat":a skier tumbling down a mountain, over obsticles, through spectators, and finally to the bottom.
I read that he was on the (then communist) Yugoslavian ski team and after that mis-hap he was forced to work in a Yugoslavian chain factory for years. I'm not sure that I would want Yugoslavian made chain either if he was making it.

 

[mjncad]

Maybe the Yugo had a Yugo ball and chain on his foot while making Yugo cars. About 2 to 3 years ago I went to a 50-caliber machine gun shoot in Cheyenne Wells, Colorado. One of the highlights was shooting up a Yugo loaded with propane tanks. The tracer rounds made it interesting. Cheyenne Wells is on the Colorado-Kansas border and is desolate as all get out. A friend of mine from Nebraska said that CW made the trip across Nebraska on I-80 look down right wonderful.

On another note, I needed some #3 and #4 rebar for a small concrete job. The stuff I got from Doh's (Lowe's) was made in Egypt of all places. Unlike the Home Despot rebar, which I think came from Turkey or India; the Egyptian rebar had sharper ridges and grade stampings and was nicer over all in appearance. Whether it was 40k rated as stamped I don't know. I'm not sure I would use the Egyptian rebar on a critical concrete project because they may do like the Chinese do...stamp it whatever the manufacturer places an order for and hope nothing bad happens like pot metal Chinese flanges I mentioned in an earlier post.

 

[HRS]

After hearing that so many still consider China made stuff to be subpar, here is a recent discovery I made. Has NOTHING to do with chain, though. While visiting my local sporting goods store, I noticed that all the climber style deer stands were stamped with "Made in China". This really irritated me. I just shook my head as I walked off. Would not think of trusting my rear 18 feet up in a tree to that thing. And where exactly is the savings. Not being passed/offered to me. What I was looking at cost as much as one made in US a year ago. Someone's pocketing a few $$$. Not so sure it has anything to do with providing customers with cheaper products.