LIFTING ATTACHMENTS
compared to standard G8 alloy steel. To strictly satisfy European Machinery Directives you must ensure the chain is marked as standard high-tensile alloy steel (such as 30Mn5 or nickel-chrome-molybdenum alloys) rather than boron steel. To avoid uncertainty, it is important to check with the manufacturer or retailer which standards your sling adheres to. An advantage of chain slings is that different end fittings can easily be attached; and, further, that they can easily be shortened temporarily for a particular task. Specialised devices, known as shortening clutches or grab hooks or by various other names, are available for this: one end hooks onto a link of the chain sling, the other is secured to a link higher up, sometimes by means of a clevis pin or similar arrangement – leaving the requisite length of slack chain between them. Gunnebo, for example, have what they call their GrabiQ MIG Midgrab Chain Shortening Clutch, with WLLs ranging from 2,500kg to 6,700kg. Green Pin describe their device a shortening clutch. RUD call their version a multi-shortening claw and it is available for WLLs up to 10t. A spring-mounted safety bolt prevents the suspended chains from loosening automatically when unloaded or under load.
Chain or wire? Chain slings are not the only option. Wire rope slings are an alternative. They are lighter and easier to handle and rig; by being smoother and more flexible they can wrap themselves more closely round an irregular load. They are also cheaper. Chain slings, however, generally offer higher working load limits than wire rope slings of similar size, which makes chain slings more suitable for heavy lifting applications. Chains are also better for high-temperature environments such as foundries: chain slings can withstand temperatures of 500°C, which wire rope cannot. Wire rope is also susceptible to cuts and abrasion
from sharp-cornered loads. Such damage is easy to spot on visual inspection but internal damage to core fibres of the rope is not. Such damage can be caused
Chain slings from William Hackett, with RFID tags attached.
30 | July/August 2026 |
www.hoistmagazine.com
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