Safety Chains on your Trailer
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- Опубликовано: 20 янв 2021
- Trailer safety is important, and our horses are counting on us to do it right. One trailer item that I’ve seen often overlooked are the safety chains on your trailer.
Here's the best practices for these simple and very important pieces of chain!
You can find more of my thoughts on this and 177 other trail riding and horse camping topics in my book “The ABCs of Trail Riding and Horse Camping,” as seen on Amazon’s bestseller list. Here’s a link - amzn.to/3CuErid
LINKS:
www.TrailMeister.com
www.amazon.com/?tag=thetrailh... 
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In all the videos I've seen , your the only one who gave all the correct information. Kudos.
Thank you!
First chain safety video I’ve seen that did NOT get at least one thing wrong. nicely done!
Thanks 👍
I can't tell you how many videos on RUclips say to twist the chains to shorten them! I ran into 3 yesterday. Great video. I need to shorten mine and now I know how to do it, thanks to you.
Thank you for the kind words! Glad to help!
EXCELLENT ADVICE and great video, thanks for posting!
Thank you for the very kind words!
Good Stuff,Great Tips😄👍🏿
Thanks!
Watched a lot of videos on this subject, this the best so far :)
Thank you very much for the kind words!
Having had the hitch come off the ball (my bad, used the wrong size ball with the hitch) after hitting a deep pothole on I-90 by North Bend WA, the safety chains did catch the hitch allowing us to safely stop and we had no other issues other than me feeling really dumb at that moment due to me using the wrong ball! Safety chains do work, great advice! Thank you.
Oh my! I'm glad that the chains worked and that all ended well!
I agree with everyone that has commented that this video was of more value to me as far as trailer videos are concerned. I’ve pulled a lot of trailers in my years and learned a couple of things watching this short video so thank you. My only question would be, what is the working load limit of the bolt holding the chains to the trailer? I also subscribed to your channel, thanks.
Michael, Thank you for the very kind words! That would depend upon the bolt. Bolts come in a variety of strength ratings or grades. I think mine are a grade 8.
Hi good explanation on trailer chains just watched a youtube with using long cabels thought its great he don't know what the cabels are meant for thanks great video
Thank you for the kind words!
I have a 2022 Forest River Salem Cruise Lite. New trailers only have one point on the center of the tongue for the safety chains. Unlike my older trailer the safety chains were attached to each side of the tongue! Easy to cross; the newer version doesn't work the same way! So I decided to try crossing the chains 3/4 times. This way the cross is closer to the bumper or more under the ball.
Try this you don't even have to hook it up to your truck, just stand in front of your trailer crossing the chains let me know what you think! Thanks
what you've done effectively shortens the chains, but also subjects the links to undue stresses. shorten them on the vehicle side instead, if they need shortening. The reason for the single point attachment is to negate the need for crossing, since the lengths of the 2 chains now match, no matter which direction you're turning
Wow, who knew about the danger of twisting a chain to take up the slack. You are doing a great job on the videos, keep up the good work.
Thank you for the very kind words!
Something I see almost every horse hauler doing incorrectly is that they attach their breakaway to the hitch assembly at some point. The safety release line MUST be attached to the body of the vehicle. That way if the assembly fails and becomes detached from the vehicle the safety will pull out. Another error is not carrying rubber chalks. Wood blocks and plastic blocks do not hold up well on an incline! Yet another is not checking the charge on the battery. The fine for a dead battery on a larger trailer is around $1,000 for commercial (which would include some larger horse trailers).
Lastly, but not least, remember that the battery only holds the brakes for about 4 to 5 minutes. So, get the livestock out right away if on an incline!
Just a few tips from one of your fans.
Linda! great to hear from you! All excellent points! Thank you for sharing! I think I see another video in the works!
Great concept, but crossing chains for a cradle effect won't work for most applications where regular (standard) length chains are used... as soon as that trailer coupler comes off the ball, you must remember that ONE END of the cradle also falls as the trailer tongue falls especially with long-chains... It's going to touch the ground anyway. THE ONLY way this cradle technique works is with very short chains, which would most likely make turning a bad thing. I suppose one could install a very short third CENTER chain that will catch the tongue before it hits the ground but does not hinder turning. I still cross my chains but not for the cradle effect as mine are too long for it to help. Twisting the chains does shorten them, but a twisted chain is a weaker chain.. As far as the cradle thing goes it's very easy to test.. Disconnect the trailer (coupler from ball) lower it to the ground and see if it touches terra firma or hangs under the vehicle.. Try it and you'll see what I mean. Also a decoupling of a trailer WHILE ACTUALLY MOVING is not a slow motion gentle event. IT"S VILENT and usually jerks the vehicle around... The tongue settling directly on that little X in the chain is highly unlikely. And guess what the trailer does when you slow down..
All excellent points. I do run short chains. I pretty much jack knife the trailer to determine the proper length.
exactly. the prevalence of this "chain-crossing as a cradle" idea seems like mass hypnosis to me