Tie down chains and ratchet chain binders are tough tie down devices , both chains and binders are made of carbon steel, compare to tie down straps, the chains and binders have higher working load limit , let’s look at 5/16” transport chain(WLL 4700lbs) vs. WLL 3333lbs 2” ratchet tie down straps , 6600lbs 3/8” transport chains vs. 5400lbs 4” tie down straps , you can see that the chains are much stronger, and the load binders are even stronger than same size chains, 5/16”-3/8” load binder(lever or ratchet type) has WLL of 5400lbs and 3/8”-1/2” binder has WLL 9200lbs. Another reason chains and binders are considered heavy duty, is their design factor is 4:1 while webbing tie downs have 3:1 typical design factor, see “Design Factor” for reference .
The material recommended by National Association of Chain Manufacturer to make grade 70 chains is carbon steel, the criteria for base steel is Carbon 0.35% max; Phosphorous 0.040% max and Sulfur 0.050% max. When chain manufacturers make their chains to the specification of NACM, and these chains meet or exceed DOT(or CHP, or some other local requirements ) requirements, these chains can be used on the commercial truck to haul heavy loads, such as backhoe, forklift .
These chains and binders are mostly used to haul big, heavy equipment, such as backhoe, bulldozer, these things are hard on straps, only carbon steel chains can sustain that kind of abuse , the most popular chain size for these kind of load are 3/8”, for some light equipment which is still too heavy and hard for straps 5/16” will be ideal chain size. 1/2” and up are mostly for really heavy stuff, for example, military applications, say to tie down battle tanks, you will definitely need 1/2” even 5/8” grade 70 chains to tie those bad boys down.
Grade 70 tie down chains can be used on anything but overhead lifting, you need at least grade 80 alloy chains for overhead lifting. We see people use transport chains to drag the trees, tow the docks, and to tie down the logs out of the the trees, you can go around to find more creative uses of these chains and binders.
