"...tightened with two spanners, a great deal of force and a final tighten with a foot on each spanner ... "
So do you carry two spanners with you all the time? Sounds a bit unnecessary to me - and I doubt you need the "insurance ......of a chain tug"!
"If those guys coped with only the leverage of wing nuts, why are we worrying so much?"
Ah but they wuz real men in they days. And I'm not (worrying so much, that is!).