Our History
When Roger Gower put some steel chain together in his backyard shop in Canaan, ME, little did he know that the chains he made with an investment of over $1200, which he later sold for a mere $250, would revolutionize the forest industry as much as the skidder itself. Roger's ring-style tire chain came from a chain he had seen in Quebec, Canada in 1962. The chains were produced out of horse shoes and made for the farm industry. After seeing this type of chain in Canada, Roger decided to name the company Canadian Chains.
In 1968, the company moved to Skowhegan, ME. In 1980, Canadian Chains made its fourth expansion, bringing its plant to 42,000 square feet. At that time, four forging hammers for making alloy fittings were added. The company had 33 employees, though peak demands brought as many as 67 people working on three shifts.
Over the span of two decades Canadian Chains became a well-known name in the industry. At the time, they produced the only forestry tire chain made in the USA. At its peak, the company had six distributors working with over four hundred dealers in North America, South America, Panama, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. The company changed hands three times over the next decade and today is still producing a superior tire chain to compete with foreign products.
In the summer of 2000, Canadian Chains was purchased by the current owners. The new ownership believes as Roger did, that Canadian Chains was - and still is - the best tire chain made in the USA. We still produce all of our forestry tire chains with steel and chain made in the USA, and are proud to be the only company who can say our forestry chains are truly American Made. We feel our strong growth in sales since our purchase in 2000 is because of this. Canadian Chains has gone back to its roots to give customers a superior chain made to the highest standards in the industry today.