ConverterHub

Chains to Feet Converter

Enter a value in chains to convert it to feet, metres.

How it is calculated

A chain is a fixed length, so the conversion is a single multiplication. feet = chains × 66 and metres = chains × 20.1168. The metre factor is 66 feet times 0.3048 m per international foot. Both results are shown with two decimals, so a very small input such as 0.0001 chains shows as 0.01 ft and 0.00 m. Negative values are accepted and simply give negative lengths. Only the chain count needs to be entered. The tool treats the chain as the 66-foot surveyor's (Gunter's) chain; it does not convert the 100-foot engineer's chain, and it does not use the slightly different US survey foot.

Worked example

A boundary description reads 7.5 chains. Multiply by 66: 7.5 × 66 = 495.00 ft. Multiply by 20.1168 for metres: 7.5 × 20.1168 = 150.876, shown as 150.88 m. As a check, 495 ft × 0.3048 = 150.876 m, which matches. One chain on its own is 66.00 ft or 20.12 m, and 10 chains is 660 ft, which is why 80 chains make a mile.

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Common mistakes

  • Assuming a chain is 100 feet. That is the engineer's chain; the surveyor's chain used here is 66 feet.
  • Confusing a chain with a link. A link is one hundredth of a chain, 0.66 ft, so 75 links is 0.75 chains, not 75.
  • Entering feet in the chains field to check a result. The field takes chains only, so 66 chains is 4,356 ft, not 66 ft.
  • Expecting more than two decimals for small distances. A tiny value is rounded in the display, so multiply by hand if you need more precision.
  • Mixing up chains and square chains when computing area. Ten square chains make one acre, which is a different calculation from this length conversion.

About this calculator

A Gunter's chain — the surveying chain designed by Edmund Gunter in 1620 — is defined as exactly 66 feet (22 yards, 4 rods, or 100 links of 7.92 inches each), a length chosen so that 10 square chains equal exactly 1 acre, which is why it became the backbone unit of English-speaking land measurement for centuries.

Land surveyors still use the chain in the US Public Land Survey System and legal property descriptions (deeds routinely read "thence 20 chains to a stake"), and it survives elsewhere too — a cricket pitch is famously exactly one chain (22 yards) between the stumps.

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