Tie Down Chain and chain binder is heavy duty tie down equipment , according to NACM and ASTM all these chains and binders are made from carbon steel, the WLL of the chains and binders are higher than most comparable Tie Down Straps , say we compare grade 70 size 5/16” binder chain(which has 4700lbs WLL) to 2 inch tie down straps with WLL 3333lbs , 3/8” chain(WLL around 6600lbs) to 4” tie downs(5400lbs max.) , you will see that compare to tie down straps, binder chains are much stronger, and chain binders are even stronger than same size chains, for instance, 5/16”X3/8” binder has WLL 5400lbs which is stronger than 4700lbs WLL of 5/16” system 7 transport chain . Most of the time, transport chains also are being called binder chains, because these chains come with slip hooks most of the time, the chains can hook into anchor points on the truck bed to restrain cargo on the truck.
To tie down big rigs such as forklift, bulldozer is what we use grade 70 transport chains and binders for, tie down straps have no chance against these tough guys, the only choice is binder chains and binders , 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 chains can be used for any purpose except overhead lifting. You can use these chains for tearing down trees, tow heavy objects, we some times use these chains to tow our mobile loading dock. We’ve seen forestry service companies use a lot of these transport chains and binders in their work as well. The most frequently seen application for these chains and binders are in trucking business, the most obvious use is for hauling big tractors.
In the end of day, we probably can tag these chains and binders as all purpose and all weather tie downs, they can be used anywhere we want, even under extreme weather conditions they will work well, under some circumstances you even can use them as emergency tools. Sometimes these things are so versatile, you know your cargo are safe when you put chains and binders on.