Small Engines (Lawn Mowers, etc.): Roller chain

Question
Mr. Jones not sure if you can answer this. A friend of mine bought this large 84" snow blower for his tractor new. The chain that drives the augur is 6 feet long and it has a idler sprocket with lots of adjustment for tension on the chain. Well I see there is a half link in the chain with a master link also. Why would they do that? Doesn't that weaken the chain in a way? Does it matter where you should position the half link in the chain?

Answer
The half link should be fine as long as you have the plate on the opposite side along with the retaining clip.  I always install the retaining clip with the closed end forward, following the direction of travel.

Why it it there, not sure but it must have been used to adjust the chain.  The chain may have stretched and they took one link out which made it too short so they added the half link.

Have you considered replacing the old chain with a brand new one that isn't stretched?

Eric