i am in need of purchasing some chains to haul my excavator and am wondering what will be the best it is a 20 ton machine i did a search and didn't come up with much also what do you use for chain for pulling out stuck equipment? and where would you suggest purchasing it from
For tiedowns I reccoment at least grade 80, but best to use grade 100 chain. 3/8" will do fine for that, and use ratchet binders. Stay away from the fold overs. Ratchets are much safer and easier to get tight. I hate to pull on stuck things with my tie down chains, as it is a good way to not have anything left to tie the load with. Also, you end up with a bunch of junk chain, even if it is not broken yet. Stretched links are no good for tie downs. For retrieval cable is best, but you can use 1/2" grade 100 chain as well. The common sold "transport chain" is only grade 70, and I will not use it for heavy equipment. Seen too many broken chains in that grade. It is fine for chaining down light loads, but that is about it. Grade 100 costs more than grade 70 by a fair amount, but it lets me haul worry free.
so 1/2" grade 100 will be on the safe side for retrieval? i would sooner pay more now and have no worries
Be sure to price cable for retrieval. I was surprise at how cheap it is compared to chain of similar strength.
Safe within reason. Anything can be overloaded, or break if improperly used. I reccomend reading up on a riggers handbook to learn of the strength and weakness of different pulling arrangements. For heavy pulling always double or triple or more the chain. More legs pulling equals less risk of breaking it. Know the working load and how much what you are pulling with can pull. Then decide how many wraps it takes. Buy the good stuff now instead of after you break the cheap stuff. It is easier that way.
We use 1/2" G80 chains and IIRC 12K binders. Wirerope for recovery it much easier to see if its damaged and if it breaks its not as ugly.
I use 3/8 g70 chain for tie downs on the lowboy for everything from the lawnmower to a 25 ton dozer.Never had any trouble with them,just use a few more tie down points on the dozer .As for recovery jobs it just depends how big the piece of equipment is and how bad it is stuck.I carry 5/8 chain and a few cable blocks on the truck to rigg with on recovery jobs .I get my cable & rigging supplys from these folks www.vernoncorp.com Good people to deal with and they know all about chain,cable ,& rigging.
I only use chain only on my excavator to tie the bucket down. I hook the ratchet binder hook to the track on the excavator and hook the other end to the rail of the trailer, not the rub rail, ths sode of the trailer. Nothing to work loose that way, all four corners are secure. Works good for me!