Heavy Duty Lifting Slings and Shackles for Construction Rigging

Introduction 

Heavy Duty Lifting Slings and Shackles can play an important role in balancing and increasing the load capacity for construction rigging equipment and machinery. The configuration of the two components must match exactly with each other according to the load capacity needs. A look at the technical specifications here could be helpful for you to choose the right combination for your construction rigging needs.

Shackle Types – Technical Specifications 

The two basic types of the shackle are anchor and chain. The first type has a rounded eye, while the second type has a straight eye. Using the first type can help you to connect it to a sling while the second type can help to connect directly to the lifting device.

The type of pin you choose for the shackle plays an important role in ensuring safe operation and protection of the load that is being lifted. Shackle pins come in multiple diameters from 7/8" to 1.25" with a loading capacity varying from 6 tons to 12 tons. The core diameter of the pin will depend on the shackle pin-hole diameter. Round shackles may come with a diameter of 1" to 1.3" while the straight eye shackle may have a diameter varying from 0.75” to 1.66”.

The shackles that come with a washer assembly have longer durability of life compared to the ones that come with the pin types. Hence, their load capacity is also much higher. The option of choosing between the pin type and the washer assembly will depend entirely on the load-carrying need.

Lifting Sling Types – Critical Hardware Components 

 The material used for lifting slings can be wire rope, synthetic, or metal chain. The construction of wire rope will have the following essential sections within the construction.

Core

Wire

Strand

Centre

The metal wire core is stated to be the strongest material that can endure long-term load and the resulting stress. It is also highly resistant to the pull factors that result from heavyweights.

Strands around the core are responsible for providing balance to the loads while lifting and transporting. One of the slings is connected to the shackle while the other end connects to the load. Length of the sling depends on the knots that have to be formed around the load. It is one way of connecting to the load that is also highly efficient and safe.

The other way of connecting to the load is to use a secondary shackle near load-end. Though it is considered to be safe, it requires the attachment of a hook or other device onto the load which may not be always possible (ex: construction pipes).

Chain sling generally have a lower-end fitting end that attaches to the hook on the load. The service engineer has to fit the hook onto the load using threads and then connect it to the sling. Synthetic slings are generally used for lifting and carrying lightweight loads.

Conclusion 

Heavy-duty Lifting Slings and Shackles have vast applications in the construction rigging for lifting and carrying heavy duty parts from one section of the site to the other.