Lifting Chain Length

[troutsqueezer]

14 ft or 16 ft chains would be about right for tying that tractor onto a trailer, so might as well buy for dual use (-:

Just be sure to keep the chains as short as possible when carrying anything and carry it as low as practical.
I see SO MANY times ONE long chain attached to a bucket center hook and to get the load high enough the bucket is 10 ft or so in the air.
Do the geometry if you need to, but that swinging pendulum can QUCKLY get the tractor tipping over sideways. Basically you can be introuble as soon as the load swings outside the front wheel track.

Two chains are almost always better, though not always practical.
At least with two you only have fore/aft swing.

:thumbsup:

 

[LD1]

5/16 Grade 70 from Ken's Bolt on Grab Hooks

Then 5/16 chain would be perfect:thumbsup:

They just looked a lot bigger in the pics

 

[JB4310]

I have alot of chain, some 20 footers, but mostly lengths 8-10 feet. I us those shorter ones the most, mostly 3/8 but recently did buy some 5/16 G70 since it was so cheap and well within the WLL of what I normally work with.

I would recommend OP to go with the G70, there has been some incredible deals at Lowe's and HF.

JB

 

[JB4310]

I got Ken's Bolt on Hooks last week and installed them. They really are a great product, glad I got them.

Now I'm ready for some chains for lifting.

I know a lot of variables go into it as far as the job you're doing but I'm just checking to see what is a good average length you guys are using.

I plan on getting 5/16 grade 43 chain with a slip hook on one end at Lowes this week.

Thanks

Sounds like you may be new to using your loader to lift with chain. You need to balance the load between the 2 hooks, at least for any substantial weight. Do not use just one hook for anything but very lite loads.

14 ft or 16 ft chains would be about right for tying that tractor onto a trailer, so might as well buy for dual use (-:

Just be sure to keep the chains as short as possible when carrying anything and carry it as low as practical.
I see SO MANY times ONE long chain attached to a bucket center hook and to get the load high enough the bucket is 10 ft or so in the air.
Do the geometry if you need to, but that swinging pendulum can QUCKLY get the tractor tipping over sideways. Basically you can be introuble as soon as the load swings outside the front wheel track.

Two chains are almost always better, though not always practical.
At least with two you only have fore/aft swing.

I think 2 chains are needed unless you have a center mounted hook.

That was the reason I went with the center mounted receiver, so I could use just one chain even with the heaviest loads I could lift. Must be a PITN having to use 2 chains.


JB

 

[Ken45101]

That was the reason I went with the center mounted receiver, so I could use just one chain even with the heaviest loads I could lift. Must be a PITN having to use 2 chains.

Where did you get the bolt on receiver? Or is that just a standard light duty automotive receiver?

Ken

 

[LHS Inc]

Sounds like you may be new to using your loader to lift with chain. You need to balance the load between the 2 hooks, at least for any substantial weight. Do not use just one hook for anything but very lite loads.





I think 2 chains are needed unless you have a center mounted hook.

That was the reason I went with the center mounted receiver, so I could use just one chain even with the heaviest loads I could lift. Must be a PITN having to use 2 chains.


JB

Thanks for the advice JB. I'm not new to loader work. Born and raised on the family dairy farm (sold the herd in 1998) with a JD 4010 with FEL so the common sense for loader work is there. It was always heavy and stable enough to handle any lifting.

Now these CUT's are a different beast altogether. I'm taking the safe approach and asking the questions to keep safe and the tractor out of the shop.

I'll be using one chain run thru both FEL grab hooks, center and hook it together and run down the center of the bucket for lifting. That way seems ok to me but if not let me know.

Not planning on hooking to one side only for any reason. From what I've read this tractors can get tippy.

You have a nice setup with your bucket. If mine was heavier duty I'd do the same thing.

 

[JB4310]

Where did you get the bolt on receiver? Or is that just a standard light duty automotive receiver?

Ken

I had this one made for me, obviously not to complicated, but as far as I know no one had one to buy at that time.
Now HF has one that would work perfectly for ~ $20.
5000 Lb. Capacity Step Bumper Receiver

Thanks for the advice JB. I'm not new to loader work. Born and raised on the family dairy farm (sold the herd in 1998) with a JD 4010 with FEL so the common sense for loader work is there. It was always heavy and stable enough to handle any lifting.

Now these CUT's are a different beast altogether. I'm taking the safe approach and asking the questions to keep safe and the tractor out of the shop.

I'll be using one chain run thru both FEL grab hooks, center and hook it together and run down the center of the bucket for lifting. That way seems ok to me but if not let me know.

Not planning on hooking to one side only for any reason. From what I've read this tractors can get tippy.

You have a nice setup with your bucket. If mine was heavier duty I'd do the same thing.

I don't completely understand what you mean, but I agree you could use 1 longer chain to make the 2 drops. But you still have to, fool around balancing the load. For me I wouldn't consider anything but the center mount, if My bucket wasn't up to the task I'd beef it up.

The 2 grab hooks would come in handy for stabilizing a large bulky load in the bucket, can't do that as well with the single center mount.
But look at all the other options available with the receiver, the ease of using just one chain for lifting is just one benefit.

I had the 3/8" weld on grab hooks in my hand, but decided against installing them on my bucket for the reasons mentioned. I know they are still all the rage so I don't want to criticize them too much

JB

 

[LHS Inc]

I had this one made for me, obviously not to complicated, but as far as I know no one had one to buy at that time.
Now HF has one that would work perfectly for ~ $20.
5000 Lb. Capacity Step Bumper Receiver



I don't completely understand what you mean, but I agree you could use 1 longer chain to make the 2 drops. But you still have to, fool around balancing the load. For me I wouldn't consider anything but the center mount, if My bucket wasn't up to the task I'd beef it up.

The 2 grab hooks would come in handy for stabilizing a large bulky load in the bucket, can't do that as well with the single center mount.
But look at all the other options available with the receiver, the ease of using just one chain for lifting is just one benefit.

I had the 3/8" weld on grab hooks in my hand, but decided against installing them on my bucket for the reasons mentioned. I know they are still all the rage so I don't want to criticize them too much

JB

I'm not the best at explaining things so let me try again. Standing in front of the raised bucket you take your chain and run it thru both hooks and leave enough of one end with a hook to hang down at the edge of the bucket. Take the other part of the chain and hook to it. You'll have a triangle of chain between the grab hooks and the front edge of the bucket with a long length hanging down to lift.

If anybody knows what I'm talking about and can explain it better feel free.

Another subject, JB I like what you did with your ballist box with the stone and pipes. When I get one I'd like to do the same thing. Does it give you enough ballist that you feel comfortable with? What size pipes did you use?

 

[JB4310]

I'm not the best at explaining things so let me try again. Standing in front of the raised bucket you take your chain and run it thru both hooks and leave enough of one end with a hook to hang down at the edge of the bucket. Take the other part of the chain and hook to it. You'll have a triangle of chain between the grab hooks and the front edge of the bucket with a long length hanging down to lift.

If anybody knows what I'm talking about and can explain it better feel free.

Another subject, JB I like what you did with your ballist box with the stone and pipes. When I get one I'd like to do the same thing. Does it give you enough ballist that you feel comfortable with? What size pipes did you use?

OK I got it now, that does sound pretty simple, couldn't picture it cause I never did it.

As far as the ballast box. I have since filled it with concrete to within 2 inches of the top. seems to be the perfect weight, even with the pipe in it. One 4", one 3" and four 1.5" pvc schd 40.

You might want to consider steel pipe, I thought about it to late but thought with plastic if you broke one you would be stuck with the short hole. So far I've had no problems, pvc is pretty tuff but the smaller ones are vulnerable, not so much the larger ones.

Maybe consider a way to drop the pipe in the concrete with a slightly larger formed hole, so you could take them out or change them if necessary.
That may be overthinking it, But for sure the pipes come in handy.

Good luck,

JB

 

[LHS Inc]

OK I got it now, that does sound pretty simple, couldn't picture it cause I never did it.

As far as the ballast box. I have since filled it with concrete to within 2 inches of the top. seems to be the perfect weight, even with the pipe in it. One 4", one 3" and four 1.5" pvc schd 40.

You might want to consider steel pipe, I thought about it to late but thought with plastic if you broke one you would be stuck with the short hole. So far I've had no problems, pvc is pretty tuff but the smaller ones are vulnerable, not so much the larger ones.

Maybe consider a way to drop the pipe in the concrete with a slightly larger formed hole, so you could take them out or change them if necessary.
That may be overthinking it, But for sure the pipes come in handy.

Good luck,

JB

Was there a reason besides the weight difference that you went from stones to concrete in your ballast box? What was the weight difference between the two? With the stones did the pipes shift around any? What type of concrete did you use?

Sorry for all the questions. Yours really does look nice.