# Chain Press



## purplewg (Nov 4, 2009)

Does anyone know if there is a chain press for a 60 or 60H chain? I have a chain breaker but sometimes it is a real PIA to the master link pressed together to get the clip of cotter pins in without a press. I use vise-grips and pliers most of the time.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Never seen or heard of a press for 60 and 60H. A word of advice, always try to buy the same brand of chain and masterlinks. I've fought what your describing before, got aggravated, found the same brand link as the chain and it went right together. Seems the cheap imported chain and links while they may be the right size, may not be exactly identical to the next brand.


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## purplewg (Nov 4, 2009)

Thanks for the reply. I just took the original chain off to take a link out and when I put it back together I noticed the pin length was different on both ends. Regardless of which way I put it in, one side was just a tad bit short to get the cotter pin back in. I just ordered a US made chain to replace it. Went with 60H instead of 60 also.

I guess if I could find a quality C-clamp small enough that might work to press the master together.


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## haybaler101 (Nov 30, 2008)

Just a note, make sure you have 60H connecter and half links for your 60H chain, regular 60 connecters will not work. You can use 60H connecters on a 60 regular chain but not the other way


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## purplewg (Nov 4, 2009)

Thanks haybaler101 for the reminder. I think all my spare master links are 60H but I will double check.

When I was cutting the new chain down I counted links and boy the old chain had really stretched. I think the previous owner read the manual that said "put three to four drops of oil on each chain before use", lol Now, tell me how that is supposed to get distributed around the chain. They are worried about lube buildup and fire. I use a good quality anti sling chain lube so my chains should last a bit longer I would think.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

purplewg said:


> I think the previous owner read the manual that said "put three to four drops of oil on each chain before use", lol Now, tell me how that is supposed to get distributed around the chain.


Hmmm...maybe that's the same manual my father read like 45 years ago, does it have anything about "sprockets last forever, so never change them, just keep ruining new chain"


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## purplewg (Nov 4, 2009)

Yeah, my neighbor stopped by while I was working on it. He said, "well all ya gotta do is replace the chain". I told him was replacing the chain and both sprockets and he gave me THE look. He didn't seem to think one broken tooth on a sprocket was a problem. lol


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## NDVA HAYMAN (Nov 24, 2009)

Gee, Has my father been hanging around out there again? Just gave him an old JD disc that I have had for years that I junked. Now he wants to fix that up if I can Find the axles and spools . Oh well, It will keep him occupied


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## purplewg (Nov 4, 2009)

Ha, you sure we aren't related. lol My dad had an old Ford baler and every year he would want me to fix it. He would rag it out and have me start looking at stuff and I would tell him, I don't have time I have hay on the ground and rain is coming tomorrow. Never failed for four or five years I messed with that old thing that sounded like a thrashing machine. I finally talked him not scrapping it out at the metal yard. He got almost $400 and I don't have to mess with it anymore.


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## NDVA HAYMAN (Nov 24, 2009)

That's funny. We got 2 Ford 532's I think up in the woods. The knotters were a terror. Mike


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Okay, while we are on the subject, my dad will change a belt because of cracks, a burned spot, one missing out of a 3HB or 4HB belt or whatever, then save the old belt for a spare...

If it's not good enough to run now, does hanging on the wall for a few years magically rejuvenate it somehow?

Yah bought one to replace the bad one and if you really go thru em that often, buy a _second_ new one for a spare.


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## NDVA HAYMAN (Nov 24, 2009)

Ok mlappin, Will you please send my Dad back home. My mother is missing him. LOL Yesterday, I changed the knives on his disc mower and threw the bent ones in the scrap barrel. Well guess who pulled em out and hung em on a nail in the shop? We are talking about a $1.45 blade!!! Now he is cutting corn stalks to bale when he has 2 years worth stacked up that are rotting away.







I try to convince him how much better it is to leave the resdue on the soil rather than baling more but that doesn't work. Different era I guess. Mike


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

OMG, I changed blades as well this year. Same thing, I walked into the shop and Dad had the bend ones on the anvil straightening them. I told him there junk, they have notches in em and are dull anyways. He said I should take my little wire welder, build the notches up then sharpen them. Waste five dollars worth of time to save a buck forty five.

How'd those sayings go??

Penny wise and pound foolish?

Waste a dime to save a nickel?


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## NDVA HAYMAN (Nov 24, 2009)

At least we talked him out of baling his stalks and started on chopping them. That's a start. Maybe at 82, he's coming around. Now if I could just take that anvil and hammer away from him LOL


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## Dolphin (May 21, 2010)

This was a hell of an entertaining read for me









thanks


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## NCSteveH (Jun 30, 2009)

Boy this thread took a tangent, back to the chain press, I made some with cheap C-clamp's, old worn out sockets, and the mig welder. works great and if I loose one who cares, I can make another in 5 minutes for under 5 bucks.


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## purplewg (Nov 4, 2009)

NCSteve, can you get a picture of that press you made? Is it a press or a breaker? I have a breaker but I wanted an easy way to clamp (press) the master link together so I can get the keeps in more easily. I have used vice grips and slip pliers but I have also stuck a few screw drivers in my hands trying to put the keeper on. I did find a nice well made small C-clamp that I should be able to press both sides of the master link with.

You know many of the old farmers like my old man (86) came from an era where you had to fix/repair/patch things to keep going. There wasn't any supply stores nearby and certainly wasn't any online ordering. Running into town meant hitching the mules to the wagon and when you got to town supplies were limited so they learned "to make do".

I guess you could say we are spoiled compared to what they had to deal with.


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## chicken991 (Oct 1, 2011)

We always used cheap pliers, the thin ones ,grind rounded grooves in the working end so it will grip roller on chain. Hold with one hand and insert master link with other.


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