Vincent, Dennis and Kraig (ya, The GREAT ONE) -
Well 1st off I know exactly what Kraig is referring to.
2ndly - Dennis I don't know what Don T may have done taking the chains apart, but for twisted links they should un-twist (if they were put together correctly to begin with).
And 3rdly Vincent - everyone has their own tricks (er, methods) to make it easier. I suspect as Kraig was implying, that the chains you put on the left got twisted inside each other. I don't care how good that peg is that you or Kraig hang them on, you really have to start the installation by laying the chains out flat on the floor - and then look at all the side links to make sure they all lay the same direction, the clip links are facing the same direction, and all the cross links appear to be the same. If you're lucky they'll all face correctly. If not, well, here's what I did (and I always kept mine in the original CCC box so they were almost always twisted a little).
If one link is twisted or doesn't lay the same direction as the others, and you try and try to just twist that link which causes the others to twist, well, you've got a twisted up section.
I would usually take hold of the shorted section from the area that's twisted and run the entire section back thru that point - and if you're lucky they will all lay out flat and straight. If you're not lucky, you'll end up with a twist in the next section. If you do just go thru the same process, and when you get to the last section they should all be straighten out facing the same direction.
This has got to be one of the hardest things to describe - it's almost as bad as trying to un-twist the chains themselves. But once you figure it out it's about like riding a bicycle, you never forget.
Ooh, and one more thing - Dennis mentions how it might be easy to repair tire chains. My neighbor in CT had 2 special chain link tools, one for spreading the connecting links, and one for closing the connecting links. It was amazing how easy it made it to repair/replace cross link section. I happened across a nice set of the spreading tool at a flea market and snatched it up for $10 - even tho my neighbor told me the guys down at the Firehouse will usually help fix them in their spare time and they have all kinds of amazing repair tools. He said they were always fixing the chains on the Firetrucks, so it was really easy for them.
So - for all you guys with chain problems, you could check with your local volunteer fire departments. They can probably help ya out one way or another.
