Chains are best. Anything will work till you have to make a sudden stop, then you will find out you should have used chains. Seen guys load a $20,000 tractor and put one strap on it. Couldn't believe the stupidity of it.
 
(quoted from post at 06:59:08 10/18/11) Do you use nylon straps or chains to tie down equipment. Which is best.

Tractors always get chained. Other farm equipment might either get chained, or strapped, depending on the configuration of it. Basically, if it can roll, chaining is best.
 
CHAINS only. I think if I remember right D.O.T. regs. say chains also but been to many years out of the truck to be 100% sure. I do use straps on things like lumber but on any thing made of metal I use metal to hold it in place
 
I prefer chains.

The rules are indifferent between straps and chains. The basic requirement is that whichever you use, they have to be rated for the load they're securing, and in good repair. The regs do require that straps be protected from chafing edges.
 
I know I'll catch h-ll for this, but I have used straps for over 20 years. Years ago I did it on a daily basis when I had my excavating co. Was inspected by DOT many times and never got so much as a warning. The problem is not what you use, it's how many and the rated strenght of each tie down. A properly loaded tractor/loader/backhoe needs at least six tie downs---one on each corner of the tractor,one one the loader, one on the backhoe.
 
Amen. Chains are only my preference, but then I'm known to be a little hidebound, stubborn (if not outright mulish), and stuck on some old ways that were handed down to me. Still, I'll use properly-rated straps in good condition if that's what my load calls for.

The "good condition" part is important. Straps can be weakened by knicking and chafing, UV damage . . . But it's not unheard of for a load to be red-tagged for stretched chains, either.

You've hit it on the head, John. Either will do the job while satisfying the regs.
 
it's all in the love of your equipment, family, friends,,,by that i would say depending on size/weight, of what you are hauling, what would make you feel comfortable....knowing that it wouldn't fall off the trailer and injured family/friends, etc....i use more than enough straps to hold the forward/backward movement snug when taking off/stopping....it'd your call...my $.02
a51798.jpg
 

I use both. On a heavy piece just chains. on a light tractor a chain through clevis on the draw bar, and a strap around the pedestal in front.
 
I use either depending on load. If hauling tractors/crawlers/equipment, I use chains. If lumber/palletized material/logs, I use straps with protection sleeves on wear/chafe points. I also like to load against the truck/trailer bulkhead if feasible. There is good info at the FMCSA site and I have heard of a reference booklet (name escapes me, sold usually at truckstops) that shows "acceptable" methods of cargo securement. Good luck/be safe!
 
I'd love to know the story behind that pic!

Back to the point. Fore-and-aft, and side to side restraint is what you're aiming for.

I'd heard it said before somewhere else, and read it again in a similar thread here not long ago, but the idea is that if your trailer shuld break loose on you and roll, your load should be right where you left it on the deck.

If nothing else, at that point, something on your load might provide a handy snatch point for the crew trying to get the trailer back upright. ;8^)
 
best? that's like asking what color is best.

both have uses.

as weights hauled go up, chains become safer. i like a 'strap' to be rated abt least 2 x of the total load being strapped. IE.. if I am hauling a 10K tractor.. i want 20K straps.. even if I am using 4-5-6-7-8-9 straps. i want each one to be 2x the rating of the entire load. Obviously as you get heaviner loads.. it gets non economical to have strapping rated for that.. even though you can get 3" and 4" straps.. .. once you get over 2"/20k straps.. it becomes cheaper to go chain and binder.

for most applications.. i like straps.. they mar the paint en metal less. if i'm going out of state.. i might have a chain for and aft, then fill in the ballance with straps on all corners, straps on each implement including attached implements like loaders and hoes and mowers, plus a cross strap across the trans.

I err on the side of more is better.. a minimum of 1+1 strap per 10' of load, +1 per implement, AND all 4 corners tied independently.

soundguy
 
There sure is a lot of real heavy stuff of all kinds running on flat beds and low boys with straps getting off and on the Ohio Turn Pike here at Mid Toll. (Indiana/Ohio line) I see a lot of flat beds with the strap tighteners welded on the side of the bed quite close together from front to back.
 

I tend to on most tractors I haul (1850 Olivers size and down) Run one chain around the front axle to the front two corners of the the trailer (or forward to stake pockets if the load is centered back over the axles) then another chain in the back looped around the back axle, or swinging drawbar guide, etc running back. Then bind both ends.....

OR, chain in front as above, then put tractor in neutral, and use two heavy straps (one for each side) to "ratchet" the rear of the tractor back. once again, with straps attached to corners of the trailer.

I've hauled all sorts of stuff from engines, to tractors, to large mills & industrial equipment. only thing I've ever lost was a 5.9 cummins off my flatbed pickup 5 miles from home. Reason? I used a pair of cheap 1" straps to "just hold er down" and the motor snapped em. But, didn't do much damage. Learned my lesson. 1" straps are for holding my spare trailer tire and ramps. nothing more.
 
I use both, depending on what it is. Either are legal and about equal in strength. I use 2" straps and 5/16" chain with ratchet binders.

CT
 
Chains or straps are legal, as long as your combined working load limit satisfies the minimum prescribed by the FMCSR.

If a chain is not stamped with it's grade, it defaults to grade 43, the weakest grade. So if you have a 5/16 G70, you may want to put a little paint on a link that's stamped, making the stamp easier to find.



Regs on square bales. I don't know if it's been added to the book or not. :
http://www.chp.ca.gov/pdf/media/hay_straw.pdf
cargo securement handbook for drivers
 
I thought that equipment had to be tied down with chains. We had a guy in Md pulled over and ticked for straps on a bobcat loader. I'm going to checked into it.
 
(quoted from post at 17:41:48 10/24/11) I thought that equipment had to be tied down with chains. We had a guy in Md pulled over and ticked for straps on a bobcat loader. I'm going to checked into it.

You have to remember 2 things:

1: Straps may not have been sufficient working strenght for the weight of the bobcat

2: Cop/Trooper/DOT Officer was simply enforcing his version of the rules as he see's fit.... And who are you to argue or what you gonna do about it?

My guess, it was the latter.......
 
Chains for anything on the trailer that's on wheels or tracks. Straps for a load that isn't on wheels or tracks and under a certain weight but I don't know what that certain weight is.

Personally, I've broken the law many times by tying down tractors with straps. I see custom combiners tying combines down with straps up over the wheels so they don't sratch the paint. I don't know how they get away with it. Jim
 
(quoted from post at 19:00:26 11/07/11) Chains for anything on the trailer that's on wheels or tracks. Straps for a load that isn't on wheels or tracks and under a certain weight but I don't know what that certain weight is.

Personally, I've broken the law many times by tying down tractors with straps. I see custom combiners tying combines down with straps up over the wheels so they don't sratch the paint. I don't know how they get away with it. Jim

Straps ARE legal. Period. They actually sell strap "nets" that go over the wheels on cars/trucks/suv's to hold them down to trailers. It's just that most truckers you see use chains because in reality, chains are easier. If the paint is not important, I always use chain just because it's faster and easier.
 

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