Baron

Baron makes the chain, rope, cable and snaps that hang on the back wall of a hardware store: Grade 70 transport chain, clevis hooks, galvanized aircraft cable, rope in every fiber, and bolt snaps and quick links in zinc, stainless and bronze. It is ranch, trailer and jobsite hardware, and the thing to know before buying any of it is that every piece has a working load. Match that number to the job and the rest is easy.

Baron Manufacturing Company was established in 1964 and has been owned by the McKinney family since August 2001. It manufactures and distributes snaps, chain, aircraft cable and rigging fittings out of Itasca, Illinois, and sells through retail stores, industrial distributors and equipment makers across North America, with equine and dairy among its markets.

Baron Grade 70 Transport Chain

Grade 70 is tie-down chain, the gold chain you see binding equipment to a flatbed, and Baron’s comes in 1/4-inch, 5/16-inch and 3/8-inch. The standard working load limits for Grade 70 are 3,150 pounds for 1/4-inch, 4,700 pounds for 5/16-inch and 6,600 pounds for 3/8-inch. Those numbers are why Grade 70 is the right chain for hauling a skid steer, a load of logs or a tractor: it carries a lot more than hardware-store proof coil of the same size, in a chain you can still handle.

Two rules go with it. Use Grade 70 hooks with Grade 70 chain, because a tie-down is only as strong as its weakest piece. Baron’s Grade 70 clevis slip hooks come in 1/4 and 5/16 inch, and a clevis pins straight onto the end link with no welding. Match the hook’s grade and size to the chain every time. And transport chain is for binding loads, never for lifting overhead. If you are only buying one size, 5/16-inch covers most of what a pickup can pull.

Utility Chain, Links and Shackles

Not every chain job is a load. Straight-link machine chain handles gates, hanging and light pulling. Yellow poly-coated 1/4-inch chain is for securing things you don’t want scratched, brass-plated safety chain and chrome ball chain cover fixtures and pull chains, and black cathedral chain hangs lights and signs.

The connectors matter as much as the chain. A quick link threads closed by hand and comes back apart, so use it where you will want to take things down. A cold shut hammers closed and stays closed, which makes it the permanent repair link for a broken chain, in 1/4, 5/16 and 3/8 inch. Screw-pin anchor shackles from 3/16 to 3/4 inch and double clevis links join chain to equipment and tow points.

Baron Snaps: Steel, Stainless and Bronze

Snaps are rated too, and the rating is part of the name. The 3/8-inch bolt snap carries 250 pounds, the swivel bolt snap 110 pounds, the polished bronze bolt snap 96 pounds and the 4-inch security snap link 300 pounds. A bolt snap on a lead rope or a gate chain needs a swivel eye so the rope doesn’t twist.

Material is the other choice. Zinc-plated steel is fine in the shop and the barn. Stainless steel is what Baron recommends for wet and marine use, because it resists corrosion and needs no upkeep: the stainless double-end bolt snaps and stainless spring snap links are the ones for boat covers and docks on Flathead Lake and for anything that lives outside through a Montana winter. Bronze sits in between, and it looks right on tack.

Aircraft Cable and Fittings

Baron galvanized cable comes bare in 1/8, 3/16 and 1/4 inch, and vinyl-coated in 3/32, 1/8, 3/16 and 1/4 inch. The construction numbers tell you how it behaves. 7x7 cable is stiffer and suits straight runs like guy lines and braces. 7x19 has more, finer wires, so it bends around a pulley or a winch drum without fatiguing. The vinyl coating keeps the cable from cutting into what it touches and keeps your hands off the wire, which makes it the choice for dog runs, gate braces and anything people handle.

A cable is only as good as its ends. Bend it around a thimble so the eye doesn’t crush, and clamp it with wire rope clips sized to the cable, with the saddle of every clip on the long, loaded side of the cable and the U-bolt on the short tail. Baron makes galvanized clips and thimbles and stainless cable clamps in 3/16 and 1/4 inch, plus the pulleys to run rope or cable through.

Baron Rope, Cord and Twine

Rope comes in every fiber, and each one is good at something different. Twisted yellow polypropylene, in 1/4 to 3/4 inch, floats and shrugs off water, so it is the truck-bed and tarp rope. Baron’s 3/8-inch by 100-foot poly is rated for a 100-pound working load and the 1/4-inch for 50 pounds, which is the right way to think about hardware-store rope: for tying down, never for lifting or climbing. Solid-braid nylon is stronger and stretches, so it takes a shock load without snapping, and it comes in sizes from 5/32 to 3/8 inch. Twisted nylon in 1/2 inch is the heavy-duty version.

Manila in 1/2 and 3/4 inch is the traditional rope: it grips well, holds a knot and stands up to sun better than poly, but it has to be stored dry. Sisal, cotton sash cord and clothesline cover the household jobs, and 550 paracord and reflective cord go in every pack and camp box.

Mason line is its own category. The No. 18 line in orange and white is what you stretch between batter boards for a foundation or between end posts for a fence. Spring is fence season in Montana, when the ground thaws enough to reset posts, and a tight string line is the only way a quarter mile of fence comes out straight. In Great Falls, where winter wind gusts run 30 to 40 miles an hour, tie a tarp down with real rope at every grommet or plan on finding it in the next county.

Baron Working Loads at a Glance

Product	Size	Working load or use
Grade 70 transport chain	1/4 in.	3,150 lb working load limit
Grade 70 transport chain	5/16 in.	4,700 lb working load limit
Grade 70 transport chain	3/8 in.	6,600 lb working load limit
Bolt snap	3/8 in.	250 lb
Swivel bolt snap	3/4 in. eye	110 lb
Security snap link	4 in. x 1/2 in.	300 lb
Poly rope	3/8 in. x 100 ft	100 lb working load
Poly rope	1/4 in. x 100 ft	50 lb working load
Galvanized cable, 7x19	1/4 in.	Flexible; for pulleys and winches
Galvanized cable, 7x7	1/8 in.	Stiffer; for straight runs and guy lines

Why Baron

Baron has been making connecting hardware since 1964, and it shows in the range: the chain, the hook that fits it, the link that repairs it and the snap that finishes it all come from one maker, in sizes that match. That is what you want when you are building a tie-down, a gate latch or a cable run out of parts. Buy the Grade 70 chain for the trailer, stainless snaps for anything that stays wet, and keep a hank of nylon and a roll of mason line on the shelf.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Grade 70 chain used for?

Grade 70 chain is transport chain, made for tying down loads on trailers and trucks: equipment, logs, vehicles and hay. It is stronger than standard proof coil chain of the same size. It is not rated for overhead lifting.

How strong is Baron Grade 70 chain?

The standard working load limit for Grade 70 chain is 3,150 pounds in 1/4 inch, 4,700 pounds in 5/16 inch and 6,600 pounds in 3/8 inch. Use Grade 70 hooks of the same size so the whole tie-down carries the same rating.

What is the difference between 7x7 and 7x19 cable?

7x7 cable has 7 strands of 7 wires and is the stiffer of the two, which suits guy lines and straight runs. 7x19 has 7 strands of 19 finer wires and is more flexible, so it is the one for pulleys and winches.

Should I buy stainless steel or zinc-plated snaps?

Buy stainless steel for anything that stays wet or lives outdoors, because it resists corrosion and needs no maintenance. Zinc-plated steel is fine for indoor and dry use. Baron recommends stainless for marine hardware.

Which rope is best for tying down a load?

Polypropylene is the everyday tie-down rope: it is light, it does not absorb water and it floats. Nylon is stronger and stretches, which helps on loads that shift. For heavy equipment, use Grade 70 chain instead of rope.