What style Load Binder(s) do you have?

kcm.MN

Well-known Member
Location
NW Minnesota
Since joining YT, I've learned that these types of load binders are not even legal anymore in certain states. Then in another post, someone was mentioning how they secure their binders, in a way I had not seen before. So I did a web search and found several styles but noticed that some binders I picked up at auction some years back didn't show up in the results.

So with all the variations of load binders out there, thought maybe it would be interesting to see what different styles the YT members have and use.

Yes, I have more than 3 binders, but these are the different "styles". The first two are basically the same - only real difference seems to be one manufacturer put a hole in the end. The binder on the right came from auction, and I never grab them unless I have to as I don't have experience with them. Which brings up the question, what are the good points or bad points of each design? What do you do to ensure that the binder always stays secure?

There's quite a few folks who join YT that don't have any experience using load binders or hauling tractors/larger equipment, so hopefully this thread will help others (myself included) secure their loads better.

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This last photo is how I secure my handles to ensure the binder cannot possibly pop open. When I didn't have any chain to wrap around, I have even used several wraps of duct tape to secure the handle. What do you use?

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Here in Alberta, the lever style binders are still legal as long as you have a binder lock of some sort securing the handle to the chain so it can't come open on its own.. I use the little cable ones from Dynaline, here's a picture.

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As to the binders themselves, I use the style in the middle of your pictures. Can't speak to the one on the right, never seen one like that before.

For hauling heavy equipment, I prefer using ratchet binders, as it's easier to keep them perfectly tight. But if I'm hauling a couple of my own tractors, it takes waaay too long to mess around with ratchet binders. Hence, why I still run lever binders on my own trailer.
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Here's a ratcheting binder with a twist. Sure hope those red parts aren't made of plastic! :shock:
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I've heard several say that it's easy to over-tighten using the ratchet-type binders. With the old style (over-center), it's easy to feel how much tension is being put on the chain, load, and trailer so as not to mess anything up.
 
If that ratchet binder is built strong enough, that's a heck of a way of doing things! And yes, I agree with you about being able to feel how much tension you're putting on everything with a lever style binder.
 
I use only US made binders of the style in your pictures. If I have enough chain I wrap them and I always wire them with #9 wire. I have hauled many miles and never had one un snap.
 
I use over center binders on front of tractors and ratchet on rear and put tractor in neutral and use ratchets to pull tractor down tight.
a172339.jpg
 

I have both the over-center style and the ratchet style. Over-center binders are the best for tractors or anything else with rubber tires. Ratchet style is the best for something that has no give, such as a 3 point, fully mounted plow. Ratchet STRAPS are used when hauling lumber, fence panels, crated machinery, etc.
 
I use over center binders on the front and ratcheting binders on the rear when hauling my tractors. The front ones are used to take up excess chain length, and the rear ratcheting ones cinch everything tight.
 
I have found out that you don't need a bar for the over center binders on front when you use ratchet binders on rear.
 
i have both ratchet and over center types, i normally use the ratchet style for over hiway transport, and over center for low speed in town or on a ranch hauling, but there is nothing wrong with using the over center type for hiway hauling, as long as the chains are tight and the binder handle is positively secured, my chains are long enough that i completely wrap the handle with them, ive never had one come open, and i use a 4 foot pipe to tighten the chains
 
U*Se to use ratchet binders, but since I stop showing, and the most I haul is a lawnmower now, I just use straps. I do haul my 154
LoBoy occasionally, and just use the 10000lb rated straps.
 
(quoted from post at 08:05:23 09/20/17) I have found out that you don't need a bar for the over center binders on front when you use ratchet binders on rear.

Of course not!!! When the load is fee to move from front to rear the front binders are simply chain links.
 
(quoted from post at 19:05:34 09/19/17) over the center and a 4' pipe

I'm with my buddy Stonerock. Have you ever encountered "pal nuts" when removing rods from an old engine? They are obsolete because they were needlessly redundant. Nuts and bolts torqued to the correct value using the correct procedure don't need additional dot-dads to hold them. Get your boomers tight like they are supposed to be and no amount of bouncing is going to pop them. You get a little wear or road grime on those ratchet binders and they can get so tight that you need a four foot pipe on the handle while the chain is still loose.
 
If you have to use a 4 foot bar on a ratchet binder it's your fault and it's poor maintenance on your part. If you keep them clean and out
of the weather when not in use you won't have any problems and get many many years of use out of them.
 
well D beatty not all of us can keep our binders dry, [4 semi's] chains and binders hang off the back rack exposed to the weather all the time. w-d 40 and a 4' cheater pipe is your best friend out on the road...... PS, keep your chains tight
 
I drove semi for 38 years mostly pulled van bodies. My cousin pulled nothing but loads of steel and carried his chains and binders in an enclosed rack behind cab.
 
I "always" get my binders tighter than what I can using just my hands. However, the MAIN reason I use a cheater pipe with binders is to protect my knuckles!! :shock:

When I hauled that little skid loader home, I didn't make the chains as tight as I normally would. However, just from that 4-hour drive home, the tension was still enough to where I need to weld a repair on a rear corner of my 20plus-year-old trailer. Never had any problems with over-centers rusting up and locking. That's just negligence.
 
The binder on the right in the picture is an EZE-PRO the Company I work for run 70 OTR trucks pulling flatbeds. That style is a cam-over design which when releasing the tension takes a lot of the recoil out of it. Our driver will not use the old style binders like the 2 on the left any more. The EZPRO are quite a bit more expensive but if they save a work-comp claim well worth the money.
 
THAT'S IT!! :D

Thank you for the ID on that binder. Wow, guess I did better than I thought getting them. Maybe now I won't be nervous about grabbing 'em. And yes, they "do" cost a bit more. ...Almost wanna go out and try it running a chain between a couple of trees. *lol*
 
Showcrop, I agree for the most part, good and tight is the key. I use the binder lock cables mostly for looks in case I get stopped. However, I wish I did have them when hauling logs, as I have had a binder come loose and somehow get royally bent out of shape. I was running a tandem with a pole trailer, and had a load with a broken bottom log, so I threw two additional cable/chain wrappers in the middle, on either side of the break. Tightened down with binders, but no locks. Had to tighten them a couple times, being as the logs shift and settle during the run, but the binders stayed closed. Last load check before the mill, I couldn't believe my eyes. One of the binders was open, and bent sideways into almost a horseshoe. Luckily the broken log stayed put. That image kind of stays with me every time I secure a load.
 
So what state has outlawed snap binders. I have run all over the continental US (lower 48) and have never had anybody at a scalehouse or during an inspection tell me they were not legal to use. I use them in conjunction with ratchets. First pull the snaps then finish with the ratchets. Nothing comes loose and no pipe needed to make it tight.
As for the screws rusting I use old transmission oil to oil mine with. I have worn out about a set of the ratchet binders in 14 years of use. Only broke a couple of snap binders. So which one is better it is a toss up both work fine.
 
instead of binders in the front,,,being you say you use the ratchets to pull it tight,,,why not leave the binders off the front and just use the chain??
 
At least in Minnesota, you need to have binders for all chains. I would think what you're saying would work, but the law says otherwise.
DWF
 
(quoted from post at 18:12:20 10/25/17) At least in Minnesota, you need to have binders for all chains. I would think what you're saying would work, but the law says otherwise.
DWF

DWF, you really ought to check your information before you post. Do you know how to cut and paste? please look it up and paste it here.
 
Well, I didn't look it up, but I also use a binder on every single chain. If a chain is wrapped around an object such that it might not have equal tension along its length, then I'll use multiple binders on the same chain.

Had never actually thought about this before - was just something that seemed common-sense.

One thing I like about a binder on every chain is, in the event your load gets any slack at all, if that slack is on that front chain, then you can tighten up the binder. Without a binder there, the hauler might be tempted to just "get by" with things the way they are rather than having to dig another binder out of the back of the truck. It's fairly normal for me to end up using at least one more load binder than the number of chains I'm using.

I check my load EVERY SINGLE TIME I have to pull over - for gas, to stretch my legs, whatever. Wife has gotten to where she does it also. *lol* Will have to pull in somewhere and let her "[i:1418f15adf]run inside[/i:1418f15adf]" :wink: , and I'll check the load, tires, hitch, and the lights. Then she'll come out and we'll go through it all one more time! *lol* I don't even tease her about it. I'd rather be safe than sorry, and it only takes a minute.....X2! :lol:
 
(quoted from post at 18:01:59 10/26/17) Well, I didn't look it up, but I also use a binder on every single chain. If a chain is wrapped around an object such that it might not have equal tension along its length, then I'll use multiple binders on the same chain.

Had never actually thought about this before - was just something that seemed common-sense.

One thing I like about a binder on every chain is, in the event your load gets any slack at all, if that slack is on that front chain, then you can tighten up the binder. Without a binder there, the hauler might be tempted to just "get by" with things the way they are rather than having to dig another binder out of the back of the truck. It's fairly normal for me to end up using at least one more load binder than the number of chains I'm using.

I check my load EVERY SINGLE TIME I have to pull over - for gas, to stretch my legs, whatever. Wife has gotten to where she does it also. *lol* Will have to pull in somewhere and let her "[i:cc1242b42c]run inside[/i:cc1242b42c]" :wink: , and I'll check the load, tires, hitch, and the lights. Then she'll come out and we'll go through it all one more time! *lol* I don't even tease her about it. I'd rather be safe than sorry, and it only takes a minute.....X2! :lol:

KCM; that is all very good but you do not try say that it is the law as DWF did. What I am referring to here is the reference to something being the law, when I am pretty sure that it is not. I see a pervasive tendency on this forum to try to make various FMCSA rules much more complicated and detailed than they are, usually by going from heresay rather than actually reading the rules. When you actually go and read them you see that they are written to make compliance easy by giving the driver a lot of leeway to use his own judgement.
 
True, I didn't state anything about the law. Fact is, I don't ever remember reading anything about chains and load binders. I go only on what I've learned and from my own common sense thinking.

It makes sense to me that if a chain is wrapped/routed around something, there is a chance that not all of the tension can be worked out from one side. So I keep an eye on that, and always check multiple parts of each chain as a tension comparison.

If I found anything in the laws, I'd probably get ticked because now they'd be listing some specific tension amount, which would cause me to have to go out and buy yet another tool/instrument/gauge that I would rarely use! *lol*

I know that lots of information out there gets touted as being "legit" or "law", or whatever, but I also understand that the mind and the memory can play some truly baffling tricks on us! There are things that I remembered perfectly clear from just a few months earlier, only to go back and hear a recording where I heard myself saying the exact opposite. ....Fortunately I was listening to this by myself, but still felt like crawling under a rock! :oops:
 

This is the first time I have ever heard of lever binders not being legal. Makes about as much sense as someone saying greasing fifth wheels is illegal because the grease is too slippery and the truck will jack-knife. ;) read the handbook, I bet it doesnt say anything about the binder type.

I would talk to a flatbed hauler at a truckstop to get a little closer to the action.


But, if you dont like that style, let me know how much you want out of them and I would be interested, especially in that one on the right, and if any of the others are Lebus.

Also, the pic of how the chain is fastened is not how I would do it, nor do I think its legal.

I always hook the chain to the rail, as if things get so loose the binder hops off, there is still a loose chain that would at least keep the load somewhat contained to the trailer. (Condensing the wreck? :) ) I am thinking this is how the DOT will see it too.

As far as slack, I will wrap it around the handle, and then take a bungee cord and hook it to the load or the side-rail and hook to the middle of the chain that is hanging loose after being wrapped.

To answer your question, my chainbox is filled with lever binders primarily, both spring and non-spring binders (the ones with coil springs on them for maintaining tension) but I do have at least one ratchet style.

My chains are usually 1/4 inch grade 70 (rated for over 3000 lbs working load, much higher breaking strength) since my cargo is primarily combine headers, but I always have at least 1 5/16 in the rack, and will add more if I know I will be hauling a decent sized tractor.

I also have at least 3 or 4 2-inch straps, and then 4 1 inch straps.
With the straps, duct tape is for rookies. ;) I was taught by a trucker how to loop the slack back in on itself, and its able to self-retain itself, and is easily unlooped so you can tighten the ratchet without cutting duct tape or zip ties.
 
I started to write a detailed reply, then I thought about just ignoring that post....but this is a site for folks to learn from (including me), so here goes. As I mentioned before, I don't know the letter of the law - never have claimed to, and can pretty much guarantee I never will. BUT, I know my trailer! Bought it brand new in Ft. Worth in the early 90's. Safety chains weren't even mandatory then -- at least not there.

You say you would connect to the railing. On this trailer, not a good idea. The railing is very thin angle - thin enough that I can push it laterally by hand. It has vertical strength, but even that is limited. Where I hooked the chain to is heavy angle, and actually makes up part of the framework of the trailer. The chain could not possibly slide off, and if I were in an accident, I would wholeheartedly trust that connection point over the rail.

"[i:d20251c816][color=blue:d20251c816]As far as slack, I will wrap it around the handle, and then take a bungee cord and hook it to the load or the side-rail and hook to the middle of the chain that is hanging loose after being wrapped.[/color:d20251c816][/i:d20251c816]"
When I have excess chain, I'll wrap it all around the binder handle. When I only do one wrap, the chain slides close to the pivot point of the binder, which offers the least amount of safety to prevent the handle from popping open. Using multiple wraps (when chain is available), the wraps extend further out towards the end of the handle, providing more and better security. Also, I can see instances where a bungee could fail, then you have slack in that excess chain and, depending on how much excess chain there is, could potentially become a lethal weapon. ...I'm not saying it "would" happen; only that it's less likely for the chain to fail rather than the bungee.

"[i:d20251c816][color=blue:d20251c816]I also have at least 3 or 4 2-inch straps, and then 4 1 inch straps.
With the straps, duct tape is for rookies. Wink I was taught by a trucker how to loop the slack back in on itself, and its able to self-retain itself, and is easily unlooped so you can tighten the ratchet without cutting duct tape or zip ties[/color:d20251c816].[/i:d20251c816]"
Sounds great! Feel free to post how this is done, or even make a new thread dedicated to the use of straps. I haven't seen such an idea, but am very interested!!

Back when I spent much time around truckers, these kinds of ratchet straps weren't yet on the market. Still learning tricks about using them, and what works best for me. However, I don't use straps a lot, so the learning part is rather slow.
 
When you actually go and read them you see that they are written to make compliance easy by giving the driver a lot of leeway to use his own judgement.

The driver's own judgement doesn't count at the weigh/inspection station. If the DOT officer's own judgement isn't the same as the driver's own judgement, the driver gets a ticket.
 
(quoted from post at 07:44:46 11/01/17)
When you actually go and read them you see that they are written to make compliance easy by giving the driver a lot of leeway to use his own judgement.

The driver's own judgement doesn't count at the weigh/inspection station. If the DOT officer's own judgement isn't the same as the driver's own judgement, the driver gets a ticket.


I don't think that many of us would lump weights in with FMCSA regs, LOL. And anyone that thinks that the inspectors are making up their own rules needs to get off their training wheels.
 
(quoted from post at 09:33:45 11/01/17)
(quoted from post at 07:44:46 11/01/17)
When you actually go and read them you see that they are written to make compliance easy by giving the driver a lot of leeway to use his own judgement.

The driver's own judgement doesn't count at the weigh/inspection station. If the DOT officer's own judgement isn't the same as the driver's own judgement, the driver gets a ticket.


I don't think that many of us would lump weights in with FMCSA regs, LOL. And anyone that thinks that the inspectors are making up their own rules needs to get off their training wheels.

The inspectors do not make up their own rules, but each inspector interprets those rules differently. They are only human.
 

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