Truck Chain and chain binders are tough tie down device , all these tie downs are made from steel, the WLL of the chains and binders are higher than most comparable tie down straps , if we compare 5/16” grade 70 chain(typical WLL 4700lbs)to 2” tie downs(typical WLL 3333lbs) , 3/8” chain(WLL around 6600lbs) to 4” tie downs(5400lbs max.) , the grade 70 binder chains are tougher than ratchet tie downs and the system 7 chain binders are stronger than grade 70 chains, 3/8”-1/2” chain binder has WLL of 9200lbs, which is much stronger than 6600lbs of 3/8” chains . Most of the time, we call transport chains binder chains, since the transport chains come with clevis hook , the chains can hook into anchor points on the truck bed to restrain cargo on the truck.
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.
As we stated above, grade 70 chains , or say binder chains are used on a lot things except for overhead lifting. There are people who use these chains to tear trees, to tow mobile loading docks, a lot of forestry services use large quantity of these grade 70 steel chains and binders . The most interesting application for these chains and binders are in trucking industry, the most prominent sue is for heavy equipment.
To wrap it up, these chains and binders are heavy duty and weather resistant truck tie downs, people use them for all kinds of purposes, they will work where other tie downs most likely won’t work, sometimes these chains and binders even can be used as rescue tools. Since they are so versatile, we love to use the chains and binders whenever and wherever possible.