What size chain?

[Slade]

What size chain would be adequate for pulling trees, etc. with the drawbar on a Kubota L5740? Would a Campbell 5/16 inch with a 4700 lb load limit be sufficient?

 

[daBear]

I do not see what the grade of that chain is on Lowes site. You do not say what size trees and are you dragging them or what? I would think that is a bit light. 3/8 or 1/2" grade 70 is what I would prefer to use dragging heavy stuff.

 

[dknarnd]

What size chain would be adequate for pulling trees, etc. with the drawbar on a Kubota L5740? Would a Campbell 5/16 inch with a 4700 lb load limit be sufficient?

I use 3/8 for the tractor and 5/16 with the ATV. Although I don't know what grade the 3/8 is I have used it for dragging trees out of the woods, or anything else for that matter, for many years and never have had a failure with it. Now the old 5/16 chain I have around is in two pieces!

 

[LD1]

I agree that 5/16 is too light. 3/8 or 1/2 is better. I use 3/8 gr 70 for my
l3400 and when using a truck. I think it's load is 7100lbs. We have broke 3/8 chains before when pulling big logs, 5/16 would just break more often.

 

[Window Geek]

What size chain depends on how much you're trying to drag at one time and what conditions are like. If it's big loads over rocky stuff, you'll wear the chain quickly. Get a high grade 1/2" chain.
If you're skidding a few cords a year over level, soft forest duff, one or two 10" trunks at a time, a 3/8" grade 43 chain will last near forever.

Check out these guys below for skidding ideas. I don't own their stuff, but you learn a lot from the pictures. The skidding cone looks like something I'll try, but for now, I just cut and trailer my firewood on the felling site. My chainsaw lasts a lot longer when I'm not cutting through dirt covered bark.

NovaJack

 

[Slade]

Thanks guys, I'll go with the 1/2 since I'll be pulling big fallen trees and good sized stumps out.

 

[SPYDERLK]

Thanks guys, I'll go with the 1/2 since I'll be pulling big fallen trees and good sized stumps out.

Half inch chain is hugely heavy. Thats bulldozer territory. The work load you quoted for the 5/16 tells me it is a grade 70 chain. Its minimum breaking strength is 19000 pounds. These are tough chains. Iv used them for years. You wont find a tractor under a hundred HP that will come close to breaking one w/o a running start. Iv done jerk pulls with a 6000 lb tractor - straightened 3/8" slip hooks or just stalled the tractor if the load didnt come. Chain didnt give a bit. Iv done steady pulls to the limit of traction with a 11000# tractor. No problem for the chain.
larry

 

[Timber]

I have to agree with Larry on this. It will be more work setting you chain than pulling the load. If it is too heavy to drag with that chain than your probably going to have to log up some rollers anyway. I also would invest in a chain block, very handy if you need to pull off a strait line

 

[have_blue]

Agree with spyderlk. 1/2" chain will wear you out. 5/16 gr 70 can hold back a good sized dozer. In fact, I've made a JD 650 just sit there and slip on dry ground. Just make sure your hooks are gr 70 or 80.

 

[Farmerford]

I am with Bob, Larry, and Timber:

My D3B (over 15,000# drawbar pull) kept breaking 5/16 Gr 43 chain when pulling stumps. So I bought 50' of 1/2" Gr 70. After a week of pulling the 1/2" and struggling to get it around the trunks, I bought 3/8" Gr 70 and the links have never even closed, much less broken. The 1/2" still hangs on the chain rack on the rear of the dozer in case the 3/8 breaks, but I expect it will rust away first.

Most tractors have a drawbar pull a bit under their actual weight, with great variation due to soil type, tread type, etc. If your tractor weighs 5,000#, you might get 4700# on a steady pull, and perhaps half again that much if you jerk it. If you are going to be using it much, I would buy 5/16" Gr 70 for the weight saving over 3/8" Gr 43. The 5/16 may cost a bit more, but in the long run you will get more done (at least if you are an old coot like me).

Also, you will save a lot of re-hooking the chain if you get the slip hook with the restricted throat that keeps the chain from escaping unless it is turned just so. Don't waste your money on the spring loaded catches; they tear off by the third pull.

 

[3RRL]

I am with Bob, Larry, and Timber and now Farmerford on this one.
I have 5/16 and 3/8 chains using them interchangeably. I can tell you even the 3/8 chain is that much heavier than the 5/16, let alone the 1/2 chain. I too have had the 8,000 lb Kama slip and lose traction and not bust a 5/16 chain. I double up where necessary, but I think 5/16 or 3/8 max will serve real good. It gets old real fast hoisting and dragging the lighter chains. I can't imagine what 1/2" would be like for an all day pull fest.

 

[have_blue]

I think a 3/8 gr43 and a 5/16 gr70 are about the same rating. The real cadillac is a 5/16 gr80. Expensive, but nice and light, and it would take an awfully big tractor to hurt it.

 

[Lewiston]

3/8" gr 70 chains have handled everything I've thrown at them using 50hp and less tractors.

Rik

 

[SPYDERLK]

I think a 3/8 gr43 and a 5/16 gr70 are about the same rating. The real cadillac is a 5/16 gr80. Expensive, but nice and light, and it would take an awfully big tractor to hurt it.

The problem with nearly everything that is very strong for its size is that these things deform elastically and thus store energy. Youre not likely to hurt a 5/16 -70 or 80 with any tractor, but if the attachment lets go there will be more snap back than with the similar strength 3/8 - 43. I think thats the reason the 43 is called a 'logging chain' in the vernacular.
For me its the 5/16-70. I have two very nice ones with short links that I was fortunate enuf to get from HF way back before things got so cheapened. Verry supple and very resistant to hook damage but a little heavier than standard due all the extra links.
larry

 

[Rara Avis]

Chain Binders, Load Binders, Ratchet Binders, Grade 70 Chain

 

[John_Mc]

Also, you will save a lot of re-hooking the chain if you get the slip hook with the restricted throat that keeps the chain from escaping unless it is turned just so. Don't waste your money on the spring loaded catches; they tear off by the third pull.

That type of hook is known as a choker hook.

A lot of logging/forestry supply type places sell pre-made chokers 6 or 7 feet long with a choker hook on one end, a 10" or so long pin on the other (easier to fish under the end of a log), and 5/16" or 3/8" grade 70 chain in the middle. I've seen a few places selling 9/16" grade 70 chain on these chokers. You then hook the choker to a the cable on your skidding winch, or a longer chain (or directly to the tractor).

I'm going to try a couple of the 9/16" with my small logging winch... it's rare I skid out a really large tree (not many of them around in the Northeast), and the weight savings sure is nice when you're at it for a long day, carrying 3 or 4 of them with you. We'll see how they hold up.

John Mc