Good catch, handleman! The dog is designed with through-holes and we use a lock nut on the end of the bolt, so it doesn't tighten up and bind on the chain. It's also 2.125" wide and we use a bolt long enough that the threads begin only after it has passed through the chain links. But to add...
btrueblood; I was wondering the same thing about the slop in the assembly. I'll have to make new dogs if I do this; the ones we have in inventory have 0.315" holes.
Tmoose, the bolts are breaking near the edge of the chain. I think it's all about the offset load. The load is off to the side...
btrueblood, You've hit on my next approach. The dog is wide; 2.125" overall. I'm wondering if I can modify the dog to use a triple strand master link.
Until I get that far CoryPad made me wonder; what would happen if I tried to case harden a grade 8 bolt? Would it lose its native hardness...
We use a machined element in a #80 roller chain to move a heavy load. We simply remove one link and insert the "dog" in the chain and use two 5/16" grade 8 bolts to complete the assembly. Grade 8 bolts aren't holding up too well. Does anyone know the engineering properties of the roller chain...
