Recommend me a chain splitter.....

[Q plate]

I'm about to buy one after years of borrowing or struggling but there's a big variance in price. Experience tells me you get what you pay for and tools I rely on heavily for work I don't cut corners with but its only occasional home use. Cheap kits off the net start at around £15-20 going into the £100s so what have you got that works (thumbs) Thanks in advance chains in question are usually 520s

[Tramp]

I have a hein gerik one from years ago still does the job at splitting and the reviveting soft rivets does both 525 and 520 with spares available...a good hand file helps ...

[Peirre]

Picking a (quality) chain tool is only limited by your budget and frequency that you'll use it, a whale chain tool is probably mid budget and ideal for everyday use. Personally using an angle grinder to grind off the heads of the rivet & split a chain, and a ball pien hammer to rivet does for me. However definitely stay away from those generic tools you see online costing £20-£50, as the pins bend/snap

[ChrisA]

I've seen a few cheap ones fracture when the strain is put on them, also pins bend, I always think that a group purchase between riding mates for rarley used tools is a good idea, unless all your mates are on shaft drives.

[Big Yellow Tractor]

I have a Motion Pro kit that I use in the workshop for soft links and a DRC(I think) alloy, splitter only, that I carry when travelling along with some bits of chain and spare links.

[Peirre]

The terra-X gets good reviews and there's also a monster thing that I can't remember the name of

[PaulinBont]

Bought a cheap one from M&P which I had to take back 3 times as it was made from chocolate ( kept snapping pins). Got my money back and bought a DiD one with a lifetime warranty


http://www.mandp.co.uk/index.php/defaul ... veter.html

[garyboy]

yes, I bought a couple of cheapies from M and P .. waste of time, broke/snapped crap. I got this one from Thunderroad ..

Oxford Chain Tool

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OXFORD-MOTORC ... 0814879560


not used it yet, but looks good and robust, a bit heavy (but not too much) 420-530 chains .... £60

[bowber]

I've had/got a few different ones and I've found that the cheaper end can be a bit variable, bought 2 similar to the one garyboy linked to (me and my dad) and mine has lasted for years but my dad had nothing but trouble with his.
I also have one of these https://www.manomano.co.uk/mechanic-too ... AuRs8P8HAQ bought from a stall at a show and it seems to be fine apart from my cousin borrowed it and bent it slightly somehow :blink:

My favorite though is one of these http://www.ajs-shop.co.uk/acatalog/CHAI ... R-CB1.html if you can find an original Renalds one they are fantastic for smaller chains or non O ring chains but not too good on large modern O ring chains.

Steve

[SteveR]

yes, I bought a couple of cheapies from M and P .. waste of time, broke/snapped crap. I got this one from Thunderroad ..

Oxford Chain Tool

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OXFORD-MOTORC ... 0814879560


not used it yet, but looks good and robust, a bit heavy (but not too much) 420-530 chains .... £60

I have a lookalike of this design, bought 20 years ago and still going strong on both farm kit and bike chains. I do however grind off the rivet head where possible on larger chains as it makes life much easier.