To Chain or not to Chain, The Question

chaining in the snow HAHA, you want fun chain up for MUD. by the time you have them back on the rack, you're gonna have some mud on you too. and if you manage to shred one and you have roll around underneath for a while..... working off road its a way of life just another day in the oilpatch. last week I had 4 sets of triples on my tractor, pulling a 3 axle trailer, that only weighs in at about 75% of legal. the hill was steep enough i still spun out fully locked. the grader came down with full skidder chains on all 6 wheels, with me helping he was still spinning to get me moving. as fat as any kind of tarp straps.... total waste of time. tighten the center link as tight as it will go, then tighten the side rails the same way. roll it 50 feet retighten the side rails. then and only then tighten the cams. i have a special tool about 3x longer than the 1 that comes with the chains, it also grabs the end boomers and really lets you snipe them down. as far as the cams go, just put decent pressure on the tool the then tap the end of the cam with a normal hammer to pop it over. when you are done you don't need a bungee that just stretches from the centrifugal force

 

Yeah, what he said.

 

Only put chains on twice. One time I could understand why, but the other it was just slush in one lane and the other two lanes were dry.

 

Did anyone mention the truckers chain up tool? I think a Teamster driver in Utah sold them. Some of the drivers in Utah would chain up 30-40 times a year and its a real help. If you dont like the cost you could make your own! Its just a bent piece of flat steel with 3 s hooks to hook to the chain. It works pretty well though. Watch the videos. http://www.chainuptool.com

 

Looks pretty impressive.

 

That looks like the way to go. Thanks, truckinusa, for posting that. I carry, and use, my chains years round. Soon as I can lay my hands on a pair of those things, they'll be riding with me.

 

I've always used the simple rule that if things are bad
enough to chain up it's time to shut down.
'nough said.

 

we had 1 crew a few years back that ran 50-80 miles on the highway on jewellery. before they even got to the side roads. thats stupid if its that bad DON'T LEAVE HOME. chains are for getting you through a tough spot, not for getting you to a tough spot.