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“Fish Hooks” Help Tighten Trailer’s Loose Floor Chain
The floor chain on Ted Lacey’s 30-ft., self-loading round bale trailer was loose, and he was worried that it might jump off the frame. He had already taken out all the slack he could by using the trailer’s adjustable tail idler. His solution was to make a pair of inexpensive “fish hooks” that attach to an ordinary chain hoist.
He used 1/2-in. square steel to make the 8-in. long hooks, and welded an eyelet onto one end that attaches to a hook on the chain hoist. He also ground a notch into the opposite end of each hook so that it would fit over any of the chain’s rollers.
“After turning the trailer’s jam nuts out and pulling the idlers all the way back in, I use the chain hoist to pull the chains tight so I have the extra jam nut capacity for later use,” says Lacey. “Most of the time I can remove a chain link and then use the chain hoist to pull the floor chain tight again. But I can also install a connector link, which will make it easier to remove the slack the next time the chain gets loose. It’s important to weld the eyelet vertically onto the fish hook instead of horizontally, which could cause the chain to lift too high above the trailer frame.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Ted Lacey, 24064 478th Ave., Trent, S. Dak. 57065 (ph 605 321-9226; info@thehaymanager.com).


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2019 - Volume #43, Issue #6