Has Anyone Used Grade 70 Chain with a Lofran Tigres?

[schoonerdog]

trying to see if it's compatible. If you have used it, please let me know the vendor of the chain you used. Thank you!

Doug

[s/v Jedi]

Hi Doug,

We use ACCO 3/8" grade 70 chain on our Maxwell windlass. This chain has the same links as the ACCO 3/8" grade 40 HT chain. But I guess you're looking into 5/16" chain... I think it is also the same as the grade 40 HT but can't be sure as I never used it myself.

cheers,
Nick.

[colemj]

G70 is a very brittle grade of metal and won't provide any deformation before sudden breakage. Also, I don't think it can be hot-dipped galvanized, leaving it more poorly galvanized than most chain.

What kind of loads are you expecting at anchor, or do you just want to go with very small size chain? G40 will most likely break another part of your anchor system before the chain goes.

GMac here used to warn against G70 chain for anchoring, but I haven't seen him post in quite a while.

Mark

[s/v Jedi]

Mark,

your info is wrong. Jedi has had G70 hot dip galvanized since her launch in 1994 and Dashew's original Sundeer before that. It used to be special order from ACCO but it's now even listed in the West Marine catalog.

My 3/8" G70 held Jedi (25 tons metric, 27 US) during hurricane Ivan with 120 knots sustained wind and without any visible damage. At the same time, the 5/8" shackle got elongated but didn't break either. We replaced the chain for a new one and upgraded to 3/4" shackle.

All the Sundeers have G70 chain. The 56' and 60' versions have 5/16" and I never heard about any trouble with the chain.

You are right that it is much harder (which is another way of saying more brittle) than G40 but it is also much stronger, taking much more tension than grade40 before breaking.
The only negatives are higher price and re-galvanizing isn't advised.

cheers,
Nick.