Equipment review: Shackles

Locked and loaded
IntegriCert, owned by Vic Segura with two locations in Louisiana, has recently launched the innovative Vic-Lok Shackle. The patented Vic-Lok shackle’s design improves on other shackles' safety, the company says, by being permanently attached until it is cut off and eliminating the possibility that an operator may use an incorrect shackle.

IntegriCert provides inspection and portable load testing services, along with rigging for transit cargo containers, skid units and wire rope slings, predominantly for the oil and gas industry in the Southwest region of the US.

The company says its shackle has a five-to-one load safety factor, with certified load ranges from 3.5t to 13t, and is available in 1/2 in, 5/8 in, 3/4 in, 7/8in and 1in sizes.

“The Vic-Lok is one of the first shackles designed to address the most common shackle-related safety concerns,” said Vic Segura, president of IntegriCert.

“As shackles are often stored separately from the slings, we designed this permanently captivated shackle to eliminate the dangerous risk of shackles that are too small for the load, or different sizes on the same sling, leading to an unbalanced lift.”

Meeting the requirements of Federal Specification RR C-27-1-D, Type 4-B, Grade A, the shackle also meets and exceeds ASME B30.26 requirements. All shackles are provided with ABS and DNV “pull to destruction” test documents.

Tracked and traced
Crosby is now including RFID as standard on all shackles with lifting capacities of over 25t. “Shackles 25t and larger come out of our factory equipped with an RFID chip,” says Mike Wheeler, director of marketing for Crosby.

In 2010 Crosby introduced scannable RFID tags with patented Quic-Check software as an option for many of its below-the-hook products: not only shackles, but also lifting clamps, plate clamps, hoist rings, and all lifting blocks.

Equipping over-25t capacity shackles with RFID can allow the user to “electronically inspect” Crosby’s shackles, which may be provided in lifting capacities ranging from 25–1,500t.

Wheeler says: “All of the new large shackles now come with RFID, for instance a Crosby G2130 bolt-type shackle. We place a chip in the end of the bolt; it’s in the bolt head. That’s probably the most popular seller. These are put into shackles that are large enough to be drilled.” Installing RFID within the shackle means that the technology is secure. “The chip is placed in a drilled hole, below the surface so it is out of harm’s way, thus reducing the opportunity to get damaged.”

Crosby’s Quic-Check software system is used by authorized Crosby dealers to inspect and provide required reporting to users. Wheeler says: “All this ties back to the RFID software that allows users to inspect electronically. Although the software was introduced four years ago and is used by many companies, it is still relatively new to a lot of people.”

The software comes in versions that make it useful for clients worldwide.

Wheeler says, “We’ve enhanced the software to meet the lifting regulations of the European Community, and of course to those of the US.”