[SEL] Breakaway chains & Cables

[Peter A Forbes]

On Fri, 15 Oct 2004 11:08:15 -0500, you wrote:

>Hi Peter,
>
>When I last built a tandem axle trailer I put brakes on both axles.  I have
>pulled some pretty heavy loads with this trailer and knowing I have brakes
>on each axle is a comforting feeling.  

What would be the advantage (if any, we don't see single-axle braking out of two
here much) of just braking one axle ?  I don't think we 'can't' do it, but I'd
be interested to see if there is a good reason behind it. 

>Going down a long steep hill here in
>the Ozarks with a load of wet sand I can use the trailer brakes to stop the
>truck.  The trailer is all steel with 23" sides on a 5' x 10' frame.  The
>point I really wanted to make is that safety chains are always a pain to
>store when not in use.  I solved that problem by welding a link of chain on
>each side of the tongue A frame back toward the trailer box at 90* to the
>rail of the A frame.  This gives me a place to hook the S hook in for
>storage.  This way the chains are up off the ground and not just wrapped
>around the A frame arms.  They look neater and don't rust as bad.

Use stainless steel chain: we've had a bit for chaining our trailer to a tree in
the front of the house for many years, and always looks nice and doesn't leave
rust marks anywhere. Stainless is getting almost as cheap as mild steel now,
especially in standard fasteners where plated stuff is starting to creep very
close to stainless.

I like the storage idea, I'll have some thinking to do... :-))

>Gary

Peter

--
Peter & Rita Forbes
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