The Complete Handbook of Chains

I'm a rigging contractor and I've been doing this for 12 years, so I came into this skeptical. The first chapter alone—where it explains how load actually distributes through a chain link—answered a question I've had for years and couldn't find answered anywhere. The rest of the book is solid. My only complaint is it could have gone deeper into stainless grades and marine environments, since that's a growing piece of my business. Worth the money though.

This is what a practical handbook should look like. No marketing fluff, real examples (the conveyor system failure case study in Chapter 5 is gold), and the business chapter actually talks about margins and where the money is in chain services. I've already recommended it to three colleagues. Would have been perfect with more on international grades and standards, but what's here is solid.

Good reference overall, especially chapters 2 and 3 on specs and selection. I'm a manufacturing manager and I've used it to push back on oversized chain orders our supplier was recommending. That said, some of the installation instructions assume equipment I don't have, and the troubleshooting section felt a bit generic—like it's written for every application equally when in reality you troubleshoot a driveline chain very differently than a hoist chain. Still useful though.

Solid technical content, but I bought this hoping for more on when to DIY versus when to call a professional, and it doesn't really address that. The chapter on installation is detailed but sometimes felt overly prescriptive for someone working in the field who knows their own equipment. The glossary at the end is genuinely helpful, and the types/specs breakdown is clear. Worth having on the shelf.

This is exactly what I needed. I run a small rigging rental business and I've been flying blind on maintenance schedules and failure diagnosis. Chapter 5 (maintenance and troubleshooting) has saved me thousands already by helping me catch elongation before it causes a failure in the field. Chapter 6 on business opportunities is also practical—gave me the framework to think about adding chain tensioning service to my offerings. Highly recommend if you're serious about chains.

I'm a hobbyist—I do motorcycle and small equipment work—and I was worried this would be too commercial-heavy. It's not. The explanations of how chains actually fail and why it matters are clear enough for someone self-teaching, but detailed enough that I feel confident I understand what I'm doing now. Only minor issue: some of the brand positioning in Chapter 6 feels like it could use more regional specifics, but that's not a deal-breaker.

Excellent practical reference. I work in maintenance and the chapter on calculating actual load versus what the spec sheet says was eye-opening—we've been oversizing for years. The troubleshooting flowcharts in Chapter 5 work well. The only real gap I see is that it doesn't dig as deep into corrosion-resistant coatings and specialty materials as I'd like for marine and coastal work, but the foundation is solid and it points you in the right direction.