Paint your chains!

[WVBill]

I put a couple of high-strength magnets on the metal fenders of my Kubota so when I pulled hitch pins for changing implements, I could just toss them up on the fender anywhere within about 6 inches and they would stick.

 

[turnkey4099]

Wednesday I lost chains pulling posts so today (after wasting a couple hours looking) I painted them. Every 2ft or so alternate chrome, fluorescent red, yellow. Won't be hard to find now!View attachment 580160View attachment 580161

A few years ago I lost a new chain, bright and shiny. Used it once to pull a log not over 50 ft out into a field. Haven't found that 'easy to spot" chain since.

 

[CADplans]

A few years ago I lost a new chain, bright and shiny. Used it once to pull a log not over 50 ft out into a field. Haven't found that 'easy to spot" chain since.

I was hauling ground tree branches a few years back, and using it as compost in the garden and around the fruit trees,,
The wood had been processed through a 650 horsepower "tub" grinder,,

When I dumped one load, I spotted something,, it was a 3/8" chain that had to be 30 feet long, with hooks on both ends,,

It was quite rusty, and it needed 4 hours in my tumbler, but, it came out perfect,,,

I would have thought that it could not have made it through the tub grinder,,
and. maybe it didn't, it might have just been "lost",,

Anyways, I got a great chain,,, I painted it silver,,,

 

[flyerdan]

A while back I did my chains, it's amazing how well they can chameleon into grass or dirt, or a tree branch they were hung in "so they won't get lost" in their natural state.
I had part of a can of florescent pink, which doesn't appear anywhere in nature. Not very durable, but incredibly garish.

 

[BoneStock]

I put a couple of high-strength magnets on the metal fenders of my Kubota so when I pulled hitch pins for changing implements, I could just toss them up on the fender anywhere within about 6 inches and they would stick.

That would be a good idea, I may toss a magnet out back to hold pins.

I pull with orange or yellow rope, 1300 lb test. My log chain I’ll wrap around my hitch/receiver to hook the rope to. Would definitely paint if I used a longer chain.

Need to run around property with a magnet like mentioned, I’ve mowed up barbed wire on several occasions.

 

[Threepoint]

A fishing magnet! They're powerful and have a loop for a rope. Like this one...a bunch of them on ebay, Amazon,etc.
View attachment 580199

Two others from HF:

250 lb: Retrieving Magnet, 25 Lb. Pull

150 lb: Retrieving Magnet, 15 Lb. Pull

Looks like they would cover a wider area when dragged along than the disk-style fishing magnets. :scratchchin:

Not sure why the html link text renders as "25" and "15" lbs.

 

[Mace Canute]

Years ago I was doing some plowing on my buddy's acreage with my John Deere "R" and a Case 5 bottom plow and somehow my wallet worked it's way out of my pants pocket. Surprisingly, I found it again by walking the field where I had plowed. I also lost a crowbar in that same field and that one I found with a metal detector I borrowed from work. That was buried so I would never have found it without the metal detector. We also made a proper carrying fixture for the crowbar that same day.

We also have a couple of very strong magnets that we've used to pick up stuff dropped in deep grass. These magnets were used to hold the man ladders on the inside of wind towers so as you can imagine, they are VERY strong and measure 8" x 2 1/4" x 1" with a single threaded 12 mm attachment stud sticking up in the middle.

My buddy is in the habit of tossing his chains in the bucket of the FEL and one day he went to use them and remembered that he had filled a very big and deep hole in the yard the last time he used the FEL and realized he had left the chains in the bucket! They are well and truly buried some place in that hole...

 

[bcp]

I have a couple of these rectangular magnets on the quick hitch. Very handy.



Bruce

 

[Mace Canute]

I have a couple of these rectangular magnets on the quick hitch. Very handy.

View attachment 580263

Bruce

That's one great idea! :thumbsup:

 

[sixdogs]

A couple years ago I was cutting a tree on the edge of a hayfield. I stopped to change the chain and I dropped the nuts that hold the bar on into the hayfield. They vanished immediately. I went to the local repair shop and they said they were special nuts, have to be ordered from the manufacturer. I bought a cheap metal detector on Amazon for $50 and found them in a few minutes.

I don't always find what I'm looking for but it's paid for itself many times over.

Yes I just picked up this junk from along the old fence line with a magnet. We'll go over it several more times again.

Years ago I bought a nice Whites metal detector. I found Dad's wedding ring he lost. Across the road I was demonstrating it to my farmer friend and thought we found a treasure chest in his front yard! Digging down two feet or so there was about 20 sections of tin roofing someone had buried years ago.View attachment 580162

A metal detector has saved my bacon many times and is something we should all have. Years ago a lost part in the grass could mean an hour of searching. Today, a minute with a metal detector and I'm back in business. Nothing ever gets lost and occasionally I find some long forgotten vital part. Get a metal detector and also get a magnetized small work tray from Harbor Freight to put parts in before you lose them.

 

[sixdogs]

Two others from HF:

250 lb: Retrieving Magnet, 25 Lb. Pull

150 lb: Retrieving Magnet, 15 Lb. Pull

Looks like they would cover a wider area when dragged along than the disk-style fishing magnets. :scratchchin:

Not sure why the html link text renders as "25" and "15" lbs.

I bought a BIG fishing magnet from HF and it's so powerful I have a hard time disconnecting it from whatever I stuck it to for safekeeping. The smaller one works better and for picking nails out of burn piles I first put it in a plastic bag and then it stays free of mud and muck. Just pull the bag off when done and nails and crud come with it. Way better than trying to pull small nails off a powerful magnet.

 

[Diggin It]

I've lost a few things and found them with either a magnet or detector. This was an old farm house and property many years ago, and it seems they buried most of their trash. I've found and dug up everything from roof tin to bed frames, fender and bumper parts, wheels, implement axles all the way down to fence wire, nails, screws, bolts, etc.

Oh, yeah, a few chains too. No pallets though.


Maybe we should be installing GPS tracking devices on our chains so we can find them with our phones in case they fall though a hole in a floor?

 

[oosik]

I've taken my metal detector out in the old homestead buildings area. The metal detector will lite up like Las Vegas at Xmas time. The old homesteader never knew a nail/spike that he didn't like. I can remember from my first trip here in 1948. There was a small garage where the Model T was kept - a large chicken coup - a shed for his sheep - a fairly good sized two story barn. All that remains are memories.

I can still remember how the old man smelled - he smoked a pipe and smelled of pipe smoke and pipe tobacco. Mr Jacob Martin.

 

[Fuddy1952]

Two others from HF:

250 lb: Retrieving Magnet, 25 Lb. Pull

150 lb: Retrieving Magnet, 15 Lb. Pull

Looks like they would cover a wider area when dragged along than the disk-style fishing magnets. :scratchchin:

Not sure why the html link text renders as "25" and "15" lbs.

I looked at those HF ones last night and wasn't impressed. I have a bunch of magnets I saved off of bad speakers over the years. The telescoping magnet I like because as you slowly walk just wave it back and forth 3-4ft.
Other wheeled one works well also. Fishing magnet good to carry...if you drop hardware it's going to be close enough to find in a few minutes.
Definitely I'm going over my place also. I don't like flat tires!

 

[ruffdog]

Another upside to painting chains...different colors...is you can identify the chains by color. It is very hard to describe a chain to my wife so she knows which one to grab, whereas, I could tell her to grab the "red" one and we are good to go!

 

[quicksandfarmer]

A metal detector has saved my bacon many times and is something we should all have. Years ago a lost part in the grass could mean an hour of searching. Today, a minute with a metal detector and I'm back in business. Nothing ever gets lost and occasionally I find some long forgotten vital part. Get a metal detector and also get a magnetized small work tray from Harbor Freight to put parts in before you lose them.

Love my HF magnetic work tray!

 

[sixdogs]

Love my HF magnetic work tray!

The longer rectangular one is lots better than the small round one. More surface to catch and hold the errant part.

 

[groundcover]

Friend of mine used to ace military truck inspection, he would mix OD paint 50-50 with gas and dip his tire chains and hang to dry.

 

[Fuddy1952]

Here's my detector, a pretty good one but not by today's standards. You can get a really good one today.
This is some stuff I found around here. The slag a Civil War buff friend said it was common for Confederates to melt stuff down if they knew the Yanks were coming.
At my homeplace I found lots of things, a steam whistle, watch fob chain with a tiny judge's gavel, etc.
View from upstairs garage windows.

 

[sixdogs]

Friend of mine used to ace military truck inspection, he would mix OD paint 50-50 with gas and dip his tire chains and hang to dry.

I put my chains in the backhoe bucket once a year and spray with a mix of clean oil and diesel. They get a nice darkish color that resists rust and for whatever reason I can see them on the ground when in use. Maybe it's just the color contrast of things around here but it works for me.