Fire Spotlight joined Beaver Lane Fire Rescue and Paratech Fire & Rescue Equipment experts for heavy lifting and stabilization training at Secrest Wrecker Service in Monroe, NC. A lot of great info came out of this event, so we’re breaking up this instructional footage into a six-week series. Check back each week for the latest video. Here’s the first video — Chains vs. Webbing:

VIDEO TRANSCRIPTION:

Just start knowing your chain strength. That’s where we’re gonna start really… you’re out of the ratchet strap world and more in the chain world now, so …6,600.

So we won’t lose any strength in this. So it just has different attachments to go in your wheel, whether you use small hooks or you use this big hook to wrap something big, either way, you wrap it in your wheel, come in and just hook into here. And when you’re not tip load your strap. It also gives you a good attachment form, okay. So they were fighting over here trying to get this. So it’s face like this, see how it’ll turned up now we just come in with a hook. We’re good to go.

The King Ring is the ring you want to attach too if you can. It’s gonna provide the most strength that we can have.

INSTRUCTOR TIPS

So on that cluster, he’s got (two types), so on our clusters. So if you look, there’s a multitude of rings on that cluster, right? So that ring, he’s got his finger on. If you look, there’s no welded link in there, all the rest of ’em have welded link, that’s called the king ring, right? Um, that is the one we want to attach too, always if we can’t, we can’t, but if we can, that’s where we always want to go. It’s gonna provide the most strength that we can have.

Um, I know Nick was talking about colors last night, so in the chain world, anything. And I think James just said anything that’s gold like that is gonna be grade 70, anything that has a blue hook is gonna be a grade hundred. Anything that has a green hook is a 120.

So that’s just an easy number. I mean, easy for me, but I’ve been doing this one or two days, like I said, I didn’t sleep with a hat last night. So I feel pretty good this morning. Just check your, you put one of these in. In the same way, if you were gonna use a chain in a binder, same thing, the hook doesn’t go.

Well, you just use your,

Typically like, I mean this all, we ain’t got a motor out here. Um, for front suspension. I mean, I’m probably, if we’re doing big stuff, I’m doing chains now I can do grade 70 chains cause I’m not doing any overhead, but we’re trying, trying to steer people away from ratchets.

They’re quick. They’re easy. But the problem is they’re underrated.

So why ratchets, and why chains? Should we be using ratchets? Or should we be using chains? Or does it matter?

Wouldn’t that depend on your weight?

So it is right. I like, I personally like to think if we’re dealing with heavy stuff, I’m chaining everything. If I’ve got, if I’ve got the resources, if you don’t have the, you don’t have the resources, right.

So what’s the downfall with ratchets in disposition with a big, with a big heavy…. So again, We got a motor up there. Um, how much weight is this front right now? How much weight is this front axle seeing? What is it rated at? Does anybody know? It could be 12 to 18,000 pounds? That’s that’s that’s the D O T rate on our front axle.

All right. So what’s that ratchet holding? 3,300. What’s the problem with webbing? I love that. Like rope is my thing. What’s the problem with webbing and rope? Ya’ll know it. Yeah, what happens when I do this, though? I was really strong like James over there? What’s gonna happen? Stretch. It’s gonna stretch webbings gonna elongate that’s the downfall. Cause I’m going to have some stretch.

Webbing is going to elongate. That’s the downfall, cause I’m going to have some stretch. Chain is not going to elongate. So if I throw chain in and I ratchet it down to capture that suspension, I know it’s not going anywhere.

INSTRUCTOR TIPS

Chain is not gonna elongate. So if I throw chain in and I ratchet it down to capture that suspension, I know it’s not going anywhere. I’m not gonna worry about making cuts in it. Right. I might worry about, I might have to be concerned about my bends. But I’m not gonna be huge, hugely concerned just for catching my suspension.

That make sense? We’re gonna do ratchets. I’m good with that for this scenario, but just again, things to think about when we’re doing this stuff,

Y’all got it set. I take it. Yeah. It’s set. So what else we need over there? We need one more thing over there.

You need a stabilization strut, right?

It’s super, super easy. So put that strut in there.

Yeah, I was looking at… but I didn’t see anything shorter. All I saw were extensions.

Looky there.

Everybody, everybody doing stuff. Lot of hands. Ain’t, nobody standing around. Right?

Y’all good.

How much distance do we need this?

It’s free now. It’s free.