Lifting Chain

Chain Buying Guide

Chain grade decides whether it can lift at all. Chain grade is a strength class stamped into the links, and it is the first thing to settle because it decides whether the chain may lift. Only alloy chain rated Grade 80, 100, or 120 is legal for overhead lifting. Grade 70 transport chain, despite its high strength and gold finish, is built for tie-down and has no place on a hook. Our CM Herc-Alloy 1000 is Grade 100 alloy, which carries roughly 25% more load than Grade 80 at the same link size, so you get the same rating in a lighter, thinner chain that is easier to rig and handle. Stainless shifts the reference: Cromox is a Grade 60 stainless lifting chain, rated for overhead work in wet and corrosive settings where carbon steel would rust out. When you need chain built into a finished, tagged assembly rather than raw by the foot, that is the job of the chain slings one shelf over.

Buying by the foot, and when to buy an assembled sling instead. Chain here sells cut to length and by the barrel. The CM Grade 100 runs from a few dollars a foot, Cromox stainless prices by the length and reach you specify, and Kinedyne Grade 70 comes in bulk barrels near 800 feet for shops that build their own securement. Raw chain is the right buy when you are repairing a rig, extending a length, or stocking a rack. It is the wrong buy when the plan is to weld or bolt up your own overhead sling. OSHA 1910.184 treats an alloy chain sling as a rated assembly whose every link, coupling, and hook must match the chain and be proof tested, and a homemade sling from loose parts fails that test on paper before it ever leaves the ground. If the end product lifts a load, buy an assembled chain sling; if it ties one down or repairs existing gear, buy chain by the foot here.

Stainless when the room eats carbon steel. Reach for stainless when the environment would destroy plated carbon steel: food and beverage lines, wastewater and marine work, chemical plants, and anywhere washdown and salt are constant. Cromox is an AISI 316L Grade 60 stainless lifting chain, and it holds a genuine overhead rating rather than the decorative stainless you find in a hardware aisle. The range on our site steps from 1/8 inch at a working load limit of 880 lb up through 5/8 inch at 13,250 lb, with price climbing with both diameter and the length you order. Stainless costs several times what carbon alloy does for the same capacity, so specify it where corrosion is the real threat and stay with Grade 100 carbon alloy for dry indoor lifting.

Securement chain and binders: match the binder to the chain. Transport chain is a separate job with its own hardware. Our Grade 70 transport chain from Mytee Products and the Kinedyne bulk barrels are the workhorse for strapping equipment to a trailer, and the Grade 70 and Grade 43 floor tie-downs anchor to the deck. Chain alone does not tension a load; a binder does, and the choice is lever or ratchet. A lever binder is fast but stores energy in the handle, which can snap back hard on release, so it demands correct technique and no cheater bar. A ratchet binder tightens and releases in small increments, keeps that stored energy off your body, and is the safer pick for most crews; our Kinedyne and URS Bulldog binders cover both styles from around $22 up. Match the binder's working load limit to the chain, guard the chain where it crosses an edge with a corner protector, and see the truck and tow collection for straps, track, and the rest of the securement kit.

Chain lifting points, barrier chain, and specialty items. A few items here are chain in name or function rather than bulk chain. The RUD Powerpoint VIP connections are weld-on and bolt-on lifting points that take a chain sling leg straight off the load, in metric, metric fine, and UNC threads. The KStrong chain roof anchor and rebar chain assembly belong to fall protection, wrapping structural steel or rebar to give a harnessed worker a rated tie-off. The barrier chain, Vestil safety bollard chain in several colors, plastic chain barricades, and pipe bollards with chain slots, marks off space and routes foot traffic, and those live with the protective barriers. None of this chain lifts, so keep it clearly separated from the alloy on the rack.

Inspection and removal under OSHA and ASME. Lifting chain is inspected under OSHA 1910.184 and ASME B30.9, and the rules are specific. Every alloy chain sling must be marked with its size, grade, rated capacity, and reach, and a sling with a missing or unreadable tag comes out of service until a qualified person restores the mark. The standard calls for a visual check before each use and a documented periodic inspection at intervals no greater than twelve months, tightening as service gets heavier. Pull a chain from service for stretch beyond the manufacturer's allowance, bent or gouged links, cracks, nicks, heat damage, or a hook opened at the throat. Alloy chain is the sling you can inspect link by link over years, which is exactly why it outlasts everything softer. The cost of that longevity is doing the inspection and honoring what it finds.