Logging Chains

[sherpa]

Have you ever lost a chain in the woods or even in the yard?
Once you throw a chain down somewhere it is hard to find it again.
I have about 7 different chains of different sizes and lenghts.
I am thinking about painting some blaze orange on my logging chains.
Anyone else mark their chains so they are easy to find?
Any suggestions on what kind of paint to use?
Is there one color better than the others.
It there something you use that is better than paint?
sherpa

 

[JOE G]

Painting them a color you an see will def help, I know I have tossed a chain down then had to stare at teh ground for a bit to find it, I don't know how the paint will hold up, Prob have to re do it once in a while.

 

[Woody65]

Try tying a couple of pieces of surveyors tape to a few links. Preferably the fluorescent colors. That vinyl tape is pretty tough and should last awhile before you have to replace them.

 

[Chilly807]

I painted the hooks on mine fluorescent orange, that's enough for me to find them.

Sean

 

[gwdixon]

I work with other folks that have chains on the same job. Painting the chain makes it easy to tell them apart when packing up.

Just painting the last foot or so of the the chain on both ends, including the hook is enough to find and sort them quite easily.

Tractor Supply has "Majik" paint (or something like that) that is really tough stuff but it takes forever to dry. Anyway, the last foot of each chain is painted Kubota orange and the foot above that is NH blue for my chain color combo. The paint will stay on the chain amazingly well because the nooks and crannies don't slide on the ground that much. Over the five years since painting the chains have not needed a repaint.

Just that little bit of orange will show through slash and piles of bark enough to really make it visible.

 

[DFB]

Yup on the hooks for me too...John Deere Yellow!

Pretty close match to safety yellow too


I would think any Hi Viz color would work ok

By coincidence found this

In its Safety Color Guide, The Sherwin-Williams Company says,
“Yellow is the most visible of all colors. Its attention-compelling
power is universally recognized.”

 

[gwdixon]

My comment on the color choice is to choose something other than a dominate color that the leaves turn. Even in growing season the leaves turn when the limbs are cut off of the trees.

Here in CA the leaves mostly turn yellow so that is not a preferred chain paint. Leaves don't turn orange here.

I believe safety vests and hunting vests are made in colors that make the wearer stand out against the background.

In New England there would be an entirely different range of choices, of course.

 

[tawilson]

I paint a lot of my stuff flourescent pink. I like it because nobody else uses it.

 

[sherpa]

Thanks, these are all good post with good advice.
Sherpa

 

[rmorey]

Pink is better than orange, especially in the fall leaves.

 

[crazyal]

Between the mud and hard use paint has never really worked for me. I always count the number of chains I start off with and either keep all the chains in a 5 gallon bucket or find a tree or rock that I designate to be the one and only location to put chains. I like large rocks or ledge because the chains stand out better than near the base of a tree or stump.

 

[KenB2920]

I lost a chain for nearly the whole summer. Drove me nuts and it was about 5 feet from where I was looking. I picked up some orange rust oleum and painted the hooks and a few end links. I haven't had a problem since.

 

[KenB2920]

Sorry, double post

 

[sherpa]

It is really interesting reading about the same issues you folks are having with your chains as I have.
sherpa

 

[pacerron]

I'm sure no one else has had this problem, but I sometimes forget to pick them up till I get clear back to the barn, then have to go back and find them.:ashamed:
My solution, whenever possible is to, put them in the backhoe bucket with a hook over the lip. That's a good height to handle heavy long chains without getting them tangled together and they are always handy. You could raise or lower the bucket if it is not. Front end loader bucket works too, if you have your chainsaw and other stuff in there as well.
If not you might dump the chains unless you hook them over the back edge of the bucket.

 

[kco]

Like others, I paint chain and cable hooks and clevises fluorescent orange. I also painted handles of rakes, loppers, a pitch fork, and wrenches and screwdrivers, pliers, etc, carried in my tractor toolbox fluorescent orange.

I tried to remember which neighbour had my pitch fork for two years before finally finding it leaning under a tree where I had been burning brush piles. The handle was terribly cracked/checked but still OK. The orange paint on it is disgusting but I sure see it better.