Old school binders aren't supposed to be tightened with a cheater to prevent putting too much preload on chains and binders, but what's right on ratchet binders? I just pull things snug, although it's hard to resist giving the handle a few extra pulls, but I see a lot of guys putting everything they have into tightening binders down. I've even seen bent "D" rings on trailers. How do you do it?
Tight. If I'm going more than 50 miles (which isn't very often), I'll stop after 15 or so and and give each binder a couple pulls.
Old skool snap binders have a perfect handle for 1 1/2 pipe extensions, I would say its by feel, knowing how much your stuff settles and shifts, and yeah, 10 mile check is good or around there. Ratchet binders, give them a good tight tugging to allow for the initial settling then re-check. Stuff like connex boxes don't move much, rubber tired stuff is all over the place.
Yeah, usually hauling stuff on rubber. Fortunately most of the roads here are so crappy that you don't have to go far before you check for tightness. Then I generally check again at about the 20-mile mark. Isn't the reason for not using a cheater on snap binders that you "use up" most of your chain and binders load capacity, so that in an accident your tie downs fail?
1 1/2" pipe cheaters on snap binders have caused a lot of injuries and a few deaths. The factory made cheaters for them are much safer but not 100% safe. When hauling anything w/ rubber tires it's a good idea to utilize the little hole in the snap binder handle to wire it to the chain. Mike
Who said snap binders are not supposed to be tightened with a cheater?
I think if snap binders were used properly, they would be just fine. Problem is, some guys either don't hook them properly, or don't secure the handle. If I have to use them, I make sure that the end of the chain to the trailer passes thru the d-ring and back to the bottom hook on the binder. That way each link you go tighter is actually a half link. Another advantage is if you're using 20' chains, and the tie-downs are short enough, one chain can do two tie downs.
Use a 30" pipe to help assist on " snap binders " . If I don't use the pipe the chain will be to loose , I aint as tough as I used to be . On the threaded turnbuckle " ratchet " style binders just twist on the handle between 40 to 50 pound pull on heavy tracked equipment . Also keep the threads well lubed with oil so they work proper . Light equipment seems to give me the most trouble . Have to use more tie down points on the lawn mower than the dozer to keep it from bouncing off the trailer . Everything is different & just have to use your own judgment depending on the load .
That's about what I do. More seems like too much.
I'm not claiming anything one way or the other but you would have to go a long way around here to see a snap binder wired shut. One day the boss insisted that we wire them and I thought I would die of old age and there were wires getting strewn everywhere. After a while rachet style ones appeared. I don't know where they came from but it beat using wires.
I only use binders a couple times a year, but when I got them new in 2001, I lashed a piece of 16 ga stranded wire through the little hole with two half hitches and will secure it with a square knot, haven't even broken the wire yet.
Generally just wrap the excess length of chain around the " snap binder " or use a tarp strap to help secure it . One other item I use to help keep chains tight is short 7" X 9" rail tie ends for " chocks " . Jamb them under the tires / tracks front & rear sure helps keep the load in place & chains snug .
I'd rather use a pipe on the snap binders than the winch bar designed for it. How do you measure the pull on the ratchet style? I'm with Shimmy, I tighten them tight. Overtight, and why not, think I can tighten them more than a car crash would? Should be able to flop over in a ditch and not have a load shift. Tracks are easy, tired machines suck. Almost need two binders per corner. I'd like to find extra long travel ratchets.
My memory gets foggy, wasn't there a snap binder that had a fat coil spring on it, you'd latch it so the coil spring was mostly compressed.
Yeah fast_st , found a couple . http://www.truckntow.com/lever-style-load-binders-spring-loaded.html Have to open up the checkbook a little wider on the Crosby but probably worth it in the long run . https://www.hanessupply.com/itemDet...Lebus+Snubbing+Load+Binders&CategoryText5=N/A Thought I saw some hanging in the local hardware store last time I was in there . Have to check it out next time .
The ones with the spring are so da** heavy you don't need to snap em, the weight of em alone holds the load...lol.... I have that style but don't use em anymore... rachet for me!
I hear ya gramps ! These chain & ratchet binder combo sets look interesting . Price is good . http://www.awdirect.com/under-reach...ab-hook-ldrur38/load-binders-and-accessories/ I like the idea that its all in one piece saving steps back & forth while loading & unloading . Might even save a little space in the chain box ?
Good question Josh . Probably from years of torqueing heads & tossin hay bales . :beatsme
Well,, you can always use a fish type scale for checking them..... you'd have to use the one I use for my fish and not the little ones willie59 uses on his guppys. lol :falldownlaugh
Well.....with big iron and 1/2" or 5/8" chain I would tighten them all I could and sometimes a half turn with a cheater. Smaller chains and iffy tie down places I'd get them tight but not so tight I'd pull the rub rail off the trailer. For the most part the handle won't give you enough leverage to over tighten them. It all comes with practice. Junkyard
Tight as Dick's hatband, Crank them tight!
I go based on size too. For the 3/8", I don't put them nearly as tight as the 5/8" ones. I think the key is, if they are always tight when you go to take them off, they are fine, if they are always loose, they need to be put on tighter.
I was stoped by the dot i was hauling a junk combine and i had the cranked it down thinking it would losen they felt the chajns and one you could move. He said it wasnt to bad were he would write me up but wanted me to tighten it and i did with a cheater but theirs no way i could have made him happy with it unless it was at the point of to much. After that i got to thinking how would they judge straps.
If the binder too tight on the load removes the chain potential then the chain is too small to start with. Load shock hit on a loose chain is going to snap it into weight and snap is the key term. Tight chain loaded and stop sudden all it does is shift weight into chain. You chain down a 20-30 ton load have to use enough equipment to make it safe enough to take accidents. Coil loads sucked worse. Not enough room to use more chains and the customers did not want damaged edges. Haul suicide the coil could roll thru cab, haul roll over and hit a corner too fast it would flip you in the ditch.
I used to work with an old operator that said he used to lock his snap binders down with the longest, heaviest cheater he could find. He wanted to be able to strum them like a guitar. Until he slid a D8 off the side of his lowboy in a busy intersection in Maryland. Said the local law enforcement wasn't too happy with him. "Have you ever seen what a D8 does to pavement turning, and walking it onto a trailer?" Haha. After that he got them just Snug when hauling tracks. Rubber tire loads seem to need more, but the tires probably absorb some of the shock loads so the chains can handle a higher pre-load. It seems to me that the ratcheting versions would work better on rubber tire loads because they should let you get more tension on the chains. I have a hard time getting the chains tight with snaps. If they are loose enough to hook on the chain, then they don't take up enough to be Tight, but you can't get another link of the chain to hook! The bigger the tires, the bigger the problem.
I have a soft spot for snap binders. Nothing more frustrating than being fully stretched, standing on tip toes,winding away on a ratchet only to find it has run out of travel and the chain is still not tight. It is probably covered in bull dust and not lubricated as well as it should be, so is binding up and twisting the chain as well. Much easier to grab another link or two with a snap binder.
I have one snap binder in my trailer toolbox. It actually gets used to suck up slack so I can put a ratchet binder on then it goes back in the box. I know its been hashed, but I tighten till i can thump the chain and it sings on anything but rubber tired equipment. Rubber tires get tightened until the tires squat noticeably.
Wow this thread was started in 2016. Snap binders remind me of the old jackall jacks. Get a good grip or pow right in the kisser. I prefer the snap binders with the hinged handle, especially when taking them off. A guy upset a float near here with a 400 Hitachi about 10 years ago. He wasn't going fast, but a car cut him off and he ended up in a duck pond on his side. The 400 never moved, and the only chain that failed had a ratchet tightener on it.
I hauled a complete rear snip from a tandem truck (tires and all) up from the coast a couple years ago. I forgot to grab a snipe and it took 2 of us everything we had to get the chains tight enough. Made it up the Smasher without it rolling off at least lol.