I am not so sure I have enough guts to peen one with a hammer. One of the jobs of the tool is to push everthing togeather and hold the link plate in position while the pin is being mushed over. If I was by myself I would not have enough hands to hold the back up weight, link plate and peen the pin. Even with normal task I have always been a little clumsy.
If I could not buy a used tool I would buy a new tool; use it and after I was sure I would not need it again sell it on Ebay and recover most of the money. The other option is rent out the tool or earn some money replacing the chains on other peoples cars.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel