Lifting Slings

Get two 6 footers and two 3 footers. I don't know for ply, but get the ones rated for at least twice the weight of the heaviest load you'll use. Very handy to have. I keep mine in an old milk carton.

With my two six footers I have lifted my Bridgeport mill, a beefy tool & cutter grinder, and my surface grinder, all of which weigh at least 1500 pounds. Just with a regular two-ton import engine hoist.

Grant

I have three 5/16" chains (I decided to standardize on this size) and two HF 1 ton lifting slings. I find this adequate for all my lifting needs so far. The HF slings are slings with ears on both ends. They are thin enough to slip into 5/16" connecting links.

I am not an experienced rigger. I made perhaps 40 lifts with my crane and never had trouble so far.

I have exact same crane as you do, except that I welded on better casters to its legs.

i

One other thing to watch for would be a cut-resistant cover. Some picks are almost impossibly tight on space for your strap and may not allow the use of a "softener."

dennis in nca

Not that you're likely to have any trouble with beefy 5/16" chain, but you know what they say - a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. The failure mode for fabric slings is much less dramatic than that for chain. Also, every single hardware store stocked chain says "not for lifting" - what does that tell ya.

I'm sure you're fine, though. I use chain all the time too.

Grant

Ignoramus31595 wrote:

I use the C7 5/16" chain rated for some 4,800# SWL and have never had any issues, even a few times when it was loaded to about 100% SWL + some shock load when a second chain slipped. I inspected the chain after that incident and found no evidence of any damage. The most readily available source for this chain is the Campbell brand 20' tow chain you can find at Depot or Lowe's and it comes with proper rated grab hooks. You will generally not find this grade of chain in bulk at Depot or Lowe's nor will you find the rated grab hooks.

Pete C.

Grant, you made a very good point, one that I think about often.

My own thinking is that most of the things that I lift are under 1,000 lbs, and usually they are lifted with at least two chains hooked to something. (though chains are not vertical, which places additional strain on them).

I made only one 1,000 lbs lift so far. That one was done with four chains (two, wrapped underneath the object to fold and form four supports going to hooks)

That ought to be good with 5/16" chain, I think, even though mine is indeed hardware store variety. I am not pretending to be an expert on these issues, though.

My chains are from Walmart, for historical reasons, though now I never buy any tools or almost anything from them any more for quality reasons.

i

It tells, that Ignoramus has earned his name. He is what he named himself, problem is he is selling is stupidity as know-how.

Nick

How big is big? How high is high? How blue is the sky?

You've omitted the most critical element ............. weight.

Does this have lifting points? Are there hard corners? Are there places where putting the slings could damage components?

What you are asking is a complicated question that is difficult to answer without looking at it.

I am an OSHA and OPI certified rigger, making lifts up to 28,000# successfully. I have participated in leveling packages of 1,000,000#.

And yet, I can't give you a lot of info without knowing the ABCs of it. Weight? What are you lifting it with? Are you going to dolly it? Will the lifting device have to adjust its lifting radius? (boom up, boom down)

So many considerations that would be easily assessed by knowing the facts, but can not be without them.

Wish I was there to help you.

One standard answer, though ............... get slings three times stronger than you think you will need. This will allow for wear, and a safety factor. Once a lifting device has been used ONCE, it is used, and the safe lifting capacity lowers.

Lots of considerations. Not rocket surgery, and what you want to do is doable.

Steve

On Thu, 14 Dec 2006 21:25:38 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, "David Merrill" quickly quoth:

I was surprised to see these at HF the other day:

The 1,600# and 3,200# slings look like the most common I'd ever need. Grab a pair of each. I think I'd prefer the 2" wide single-ply for flexibility with the larger one, though you might need the narrower type in some instances. All the 1,600# slings are 1".

A pair of 1,600 pounders would allow you to max out the crane you have now.

Get a 3" shackle and put that on your hook - now you can put 4 large loops on your hook. I do that all the time.

GWE

John D. Farr wrote:

I also bought a nicer hook for the crane -- now it has two hooks, the original one and the one I bought, both hang hext to one another. The one I bought has a bigger mouth and swivels under load, which is awfully nice.

i

These are the ones I have, they have performed well.

I think that it wuld be rare to need to lift 2 tons and to be able to lift that weight with the boom maximally retracted.

i

Yes, I had noticed those. Unfortunately, while the local HF store (new one, well run) has metallic hoisting equipment and web tiedown straps coming out their ears, they don't stock web lifting slings. With HF, I much prefer (no, insist on) personal visual inspection - reject lots of stuff and still get disappointed occasionally.

Anybody else noticed that none of the claimed performance (load capacity in this case) mentions to what standard(s) (ASTM, ASME, OHSA, Mil-Spec, etc) the rating complies ? Pretty shoddy marketing and consumer protection, IMO.

David Merrill

Also, you're more likely to be able to visually identify a frayed sling that's about to fail than a chain that's got a weak link.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

Yes... That's true about some of their products, though not all. I would not use their sling at the limit of its capacity.

i

Sorry, I had assumed that respondents from this group would be familiar with

12x36 Asian lathes and 6x26 or A1S knee mills. Here are some typical examples: (1000 lb) (1400 lb)

Regarding Enco's offering of slings, I can read advertising copy myself.

was looking for the practical experience that I lack in selecting for purchase the most likely useful lengths and widths compatible with my 2-ton shop crane for handling the import machines cited.

In the case of the lathe, I anticipate using the web slings from the main lifting hook to headstock and tailstock for steadying purposes. The main load will be carried by an assembly of two lifting nuts, 3/4-inch threaded rods and 4x4 timbers clamped around the bed near the lathe CG connected to the chain and slip hooks of the load leveler. The load leveler will establish lateral level and sliding the lathe carriage will establish longitudinal level. Unloading will be from a pickup bed to my driveway. Lifting onto the lathe's 24-inch high stand will be done in my basement shop with 84-inch suspended ceiling with the possibility of 7 more inches to the bottom of 9-inch joists. I might even attempt this on a cloudy day :-) The mill I haven't completely settled on yet.

David Merrill

I am not sure if your 2 ton shop crane is capable of lifting this

1,300 lbs lathe and moving it from where it would be to where you want. At least to get it off a pickup, it would need to be extended all the way, which has a limit of only 1,000 lbs. If the lathe is on trailer, you may have better luck. I hope that I am wrong. Good luck and be very careful. I did load/unload 1,000 lbs engines, from my pickup, but the engines were smaller in size and height and had good lifting/attachment points. Be careful, you may be able to do it, but it is a challenging task.

Also, when you lower the lathe, you need to have a plan of moving it to your desired location over all bumps, thresholds etc.

i

I've had some experience tracking down the nitty-gritty of chain and chain manufacture for Mil-Spec aerospace tiedown applications. Here is one Googled link (no personal connection) with a little explanation of the various industrial grades of welded chain.

Note that only grade 80 or higher is rated for overhead lifting.

These grades of chain, particularly grade 43 and above, typically have the grade stamp forged right into the weld. The increasingly higher grades are not only made of increasingly stronger steels but also incorporate increased precautions and quality control in manufacture. For example some grades are, by some if not all, manufacturers stretched in length during the manufacturing process at loads well above the rated safe working load which effectively 100 percent proof tests each and every link of the chain. If a welded chain is not grade stamped, a responsible engineer would consider it stronger than 'proof coil grade 30' at best. And 'proof coil' chain is what one typically finds at a hardware store. Neither it nor even grade 43 and

70 binding (trucker's) chain is considered safe for lifting.

Having said all this, I note that neither the boom chain nor the load leveler chains on my HF shop crane are marked with a grade rating.

David Merrill