Bishop Lifting

Listed on every sling is a Working Load Limit (WLL) for each type of hitch: vertical, choker, and basket. There are three numbers, not just one, because the effective strain put on the sling changes depending on how it's used. Vertical is a sort of baseline, choker is a reduced capacity, and basket is an increased capacity. For example, on a Tuffy 2" double-ply synthetic web sling WLL label, you'll see · Vertical: 6,200 lbs · Choker: 4,960 lbs · Basket: 12,400 lbs So why does a choker hitch get the short end of the WLL stick? Angle has a lot to do with it — when you choke a sling, you're not letting the webbing come straight off the load (optimal, 180-degree angle). Instead, if you have the hitch point oriented straight up toward the hook, you're going to see a maximum angle of 135 degrees. The physics of it effectively magnify the original force of the load's weight. Friction is another factor — as the sling is loaded, the eye and the sling body pull against one another in a choker hitch. Even with high heat resistance fibers like polyester (the most common material for synthetic lifting slings, with a melting point of 480 degrees F) above-capacity loads are going to eventually overheat and weaken the fibers, causing damage and/or failure. We did a little test to demonstrate this concept — we took a brand new flat sling with a twisted eye and rigged it into a choker hitch in our break-rated test bed, then we pulled it far beyond the stated choker WLL to induce failure. When examining the broken sling, it's clear that failure occurred at the spot where the eye choked onto the body of the sling. We observed burn marks on the sling body at the point of eye contact, but both eyes remained intact. The body stretched significantly just before it failed (again, at a load much higher than the stated WLL), so we can't say the rest of the body remained "undamaged," but it was unbroken. While it's fun and interesting to do break tests in the shop, you don't want to test the limits in the field! Always follow the label's WLL strictly, and make sure you use the right value for the hitch you're using. This will ensure that you and your team are safe and can Trust the Lift. Have you ever seen a sling break on the job? What caused it? #BreakTest #Slings #TrusttheLift

What has a 41-ton Basket Hitch rated capacity? These 1-1/8” x 20’ BLP-013 Wire Rope Grommet Slings (with mechanically Flemished terminations)! These grommets use two Crosby S-505s to terminate, providing the most efficient splice available for grommet sling. What do you use grommets for? #WireRope #LiftingSolutions #TrusttheLift

What is a duplex sleeve used for? You'll hear it called a "turnback eye," and it's one of the alternatives to a Flemished eye for building lifting slings. If you're not familiar with a turnback eye, you quite literally turn the rope back on itself — hence the name. Just slide the wire rope in one side of the sleeve, turn the end 180 degrees and slide it back through, forming a basic u-shaped loop. Then press it. There is some flexibility in the specifics of this process, such as making the eye smaller or larger, leaving a little more or less tail (but it must go all the way through the sleeve). Some people use aluminum or copper sleeves, but only steel sleeves are approved for lifting... You'll see things vary a bit from shop to shop. Most of us use "duplex" and "turnback" interchangeably, too. The point is, the end of the wire rope is just sitting there, adjacent to the live line, and the sleeve is 100% your holding strength (much like a wire rope clip works). There's no "reserve capacity" as you'd see in a Flemished eye, which is mechanically spliced before being swaged. Now, when done correctly, duplex sleeves still achieve 94% termination efficiency (% capacity based on the wire rope's published breaking strength). So, we're not saying they're bad, we're just saying they're not quite as good or safe as a Flemished sleeve. One must also account for user error and manufacturing deficiencies. If a duplex sleeve is the wrong size, if it's damaged, if somebody chooses the wrong swaging die, if they don't put the wire rope far enough into the sleeve, if it's a faulty or subpar sleeve, etc., then this sleeve can fail and the eye will pull out, potentially with little resistance. That's what we mean when we talk about the turnback eye having no "inherent reserve capacity," and it's why these are largely not used in rigging and lifting. The really dominant choice, preferred by rigging shops like ours, is going to be the Flemished eye. We'll go into detail on that one in another post 😉 One final point of consideration is that Flemished sleeves are tapered and are less likely to snag. This is especially important in the woods, where chokers are dragged through the brush with no end of logs, rocks and other impediments to hang up on. #WireRope #LiftingSolutions #TrusttheLift

These eye and eye slings are made with 5/8” Wire Rope x 20 ft long. They are made by braiding 9 independent pieces of wire rope together to make a super flexible sling, which is easier to work with and easier to rig up on a load. Once the 9 parts of 5/8" wire rope are put together, the finished body diameter is 2-1/2 inches, putting the vertical hitch capacity rating at 29.6 tons! #LiftingSolutions #WireRope #TrusttheLift

If you're rigging with common, color-coded round slings (like purple, green, yellow, or red), these hooks really eliminate the guesswork — they're color coded for strength. So, if you have a purple sling, you get a purple hook, a green sling, green hook, etc.* Purple = 2,600 lbs. Working Load Limit (WLL) Green = 5,300 lbs. WLL Yellow = 8,400 lbs. WLL Red = 13,200 lbs. WLL Blue = 21,200 lbs. WLL Our customers love these hooks! Round slings can be awkward to rig with because of their bulk. Their thick diameter (from all the load-bearing polyester strands) leaves them prone to bunching and poor D/d ratios. These hooks eliminate those problems. *Side note: Always check and adhere to the WLL printed on your hook, even if it's color coded. And they're really easy to install. Simply take the hook, slide it over the sling, close the latch, rotate the hook, and the sling will sit up inside of the wide sling channel, allowing for full surface area contact. The sling is not bunched, it's not being pinched, and we know that this color of hook is perfect for this color of sling. Check 'em out on our site: https://hubs.ly/Q02RBR1P0. #LiftingSolutions #RoundSlings #RiggingEquipment #TrusttheLift

Bishop Lifting’s Houston branch can build wire rope slings using up to 4-1/2” diameter wire rope (that's about as thick as the average hand is wide). These single-leg slings are fabricated with standard Flemished eye spliced using 6x37 class IWRC EIP Bright Wire Rope and are compliant with ASME B30.9 and API RP2D. To swage the eyes, it takes a team of three people working together on a 3,750-metric-ton Talurit Swager. 4-1/2” X 24’ wire rope weighs 37.4 lbs per foot, making total sling with eyes and sleeves weigh just over one ton each (2,032 lbs). That may sound ridiculously heavy, but in exchange, these BLP-100 slings have a Vertical Lifting Capacity of 160 tons. With that kind of Working Load Limit, you know you'll be able to Trust the Lift! #LiftingEquipment #RiggingSupply #TrusttheLift

Where should a sling fail when doing a break test? This sling has a 5,000-pound Working Load Limit (WLL). It's made with 6x19, 1/2" wire rope, which has a catalog breaking strength of 26,600 pounds. With a Flemished eye (which has a 96% efficiency rating), our basic single-leg sling has an expected vertical (straight-pull) capacity of 25,000 pounds. When you account for the 5:1 required safety factor, you get our catalog WLL: 5,000 lbs. [ ALWAYS OBSERVE AND ADHERE TO THE ADVERTISED WLL ON YOUR SLING TAGS, and please do not be tempted to test your safety factors. They're there for a reason. ] So, now that we've gotten the math and safety notes out of the way, here's what this test is about: we want to show that a Flemished eye is as strong as it's supposed to be! (This is for all you out there who are dubious of the strength of a Flemished eye. 😉) We pulled this sling to failure with the expectation of it breaking around 25,000 pounds of force in a straight pull. It broke at 25,400 pounds — several individual wire strands broke in the straight section of the wire rope just below the swage sleeve. It is likely that they failed at this location because of extreme pressure introduced during the swaging process. This is why swaged terminations aren't rated as 100% efficient. So when this failed, what we saw was the strands actually breaking off. The splice itself did not fail — the wire rope just met a strength beyond what it could hold. This sling performed just like we would want it to. A successful test of the good ol' reliable Flemished Eye! #BreakTest #WireRope #FlemishedEye #TrusttheLift

When we get an order for HMPE rope (such as Hyper-XII) with a thimble eye splice, we pull out the sewing needles and fids! That's right, we splice our own synthetic rope. It makes sense, since it has always been our philosophy to get our customers exactly what they want, with good value. Some of our staff members even trained on site @ the Yale Cordage factory in ME, working side by side with professional, career splicing experts! It matters to us that we get it right...our customers rely on our expertise! We're ready and waiting to fill custom orders. Thimble eye on one end, open eye on the other? No problem. 600 feet with a hook on one end? Right away. Here's a quick look at the effort involved in doing this kind of splice. Hyper-XII is an extra strong, hollow-core rope made with HMPE fibers. We bury the extra-long tale after tapering it to provide a smooth transition from the splice to the standard line. This yields the best possible breaking strength, and has a much more polished look and feel. Then we use whipping twine to lock everything into place. Would y'all like to see a full-length how-to video on splicing soft rope? Let us know in the comments below! #WinchLines #OffRoad #TrusttheLift

Have you ever had to replace a web sling or ratchet strap? If yes, we'd bet the reason was due to cuts and/or abrasion. As great as synthetic webbing is, it can and will cut, and it's especially likely when you're wrapping around a sharp edge, or even a crisp, smooth corner. That's the quickest way to destroy the webbing. So, use wear pads where it makes sense, and your straps will last a lot longer. We offer many different types of wear pads, such as velcro wear pads, rubber slotted pads, plastic corner protectors, and more. In fact, we have a fully dedicated webpage for this. Check it out https://hubs.ly/Q02RfxgT0! #Trucking #Tiedown #LoadSecurement #TrusttheLift

Portable Winch carefully selects carabiners and other accessories for their capstan winch kits. This carabiner, for example, is made from steel and is properly rated for climbing and fall protection, yet works well for simple rigging tasks too. The PCA 1276 is an oval shaped carabiner with a screw gate. - 17mm gate opening (just over 5/8"). - 170g product weight (~3/8 of a pound). - 25 kN breaking strength (~5,600 lbs. in a linear pull). This isn't a bargain-basement carabiner. This is a stout product that many climbers can and would use. As for us? We just used it for pulling and it performed great! It's a nice little "all-around" carabiner at a good price, https://hubs.ly/Q02R5NRW0. #RiggingEquipment #WinchLines #Climbing #TrusttheLift