Hey what kind of chain do you guys use to pull people out? 3/8? What grade? Any good place to buy it to get a decent deal?

Thanks guys

 

Oh boy.
You really need to be using a "recovery strap" or suitable recovery device.
This has been a long debate, but one thing that is a given is that chains are heavy, they are tough to carry, and are simply not as appropriate to use for vehicle recovery as a specific device for vehicle recovery.
Ditch the chains and get a decent strap. Not a tow rope with hooks, but a decent recovery strap.

 

have you ever seen a chain let go? i've seen lift points break, then get shot a couple hundred feet because the chain is like a big spring. do NOT use a chain for recovery. i havent seen anywhere sell chains strong enough that i would trust for pulling a vehicle. do you know how much 20ft of 1/2 inch chain weighs? its freakin heavy, as in too heavy to carry easily. do like 75f350 says, get a strap. i used to run crains at my old job and i would make a lift any day with a strap over a chain.

 

DO NOT use chain, or use it to attach a proper recovery strap to something you are trying to pull, both are equally dangerous. Also, you don't want a tow strap, you want RECOVERY straps, they are designed for pulling out a stuck vehicle, where as a tow strap is made for pulling a rolling vehicle on nice hard ground.
This is the safest thing to use for recovering a stuck vehicle: Beard Recovery Strap 3 inch x 20 feet
They also act like a big elastic band and stretch out and retract, either helping you pull the stuck vehicle out, or if it's really stuck, pulling you back towards it.
For hooking them to good solid tow points, you want some of these bow shackles:

Don't cheap out on them either, good quality ones aren't all that expensive, and they aren't hard to store, I leave one attached to each end of my straps, plus a few of varying sizes thrown in my toolbox just in case(I carry 5/8" through 1", and most commonly use 7/8".) It doesn't matter how good your tow strap is if what you have attaching it is no good.
I am still surprised by how many people carry straps, have nothing to attach them to anything, and expect to just be able to throw them over their hitch ball and not have things come flying apart under a heavy pull. Even something like this is a huge improvment in safety over a trailer ball:
Warn Receiver Shackle Bracket
It's still not the strongest way to do things, but, unless you're into heavy wheeling and dealing with some serious stuckage, you probably aren't going to break your receiver hitch.

 

+1 Recovery Strap.
I work for a rigging company and I choose a strap over a chain any day of the week. The only time I would use a chain is if a strap would be damaged by heat (torch) or a very sharp edges. Chains suck. I would rather use a wire rope than chain.

 

Everything has its place. If you use chains for towing, they are not to be jerked on, i.e. you load them up tight and keep steady pressure on them. You need to make sure the links don't stretch/deform as you load it. If one breaks under tension, you will be in a world of *****. Same goes for cable. They will fly all over the place when they snap. I've got some military tank recovery chain here in a 5 gallon bucket that takes a piece of equipment to move all at once. Of course, straps can break too and if they do they will snap back. Hopefully they let go before your attachment point though and don't cause major damage. If the attachment fails, that will be flung through the air by the strap. I've used 3/8" chain before successfully. I won't use straps from TSC and the like because I don't trust them. Having worked around rigging, straps are used extensively to lift very heavy loads. So are cable slings. I've never been around it, but apparently chains are used for lifting in the steel mills where the heat is too much for straps and cables.

 

i have broken chains before and its not pretty. the last time was pullin a stump out, normally their fine for that cause its slow steady pressure. but this timw it wasnt, luckily it went over my cab but when the chain broke it sent the link hard enough that we couldnt find it it went sooo far.

 

Strap, cable, chain, in that order of preference.

 

we used chains and straps and hybrids of the two for rigging in the auto industry. the straps can hold some serious weight, especially when taking into consideration weight of the strap to its lift capacity. the heaviest chain i had to use was a 1" diameter chain with a matched hook. talk about heavy! it was an immense strain just to hold the hooks and the length of chain from my waist to the floor. straps definately have my vote just on weight to strength ratio alone.