Crane Sling Hooks

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As you can see in the picture, the choker position on the hook is greater than 90 degrees with sling positioned well in the belly of the hook. The gate is positioned facing downward and is shut tight. The slings are 3” polyester round endless loop with a 12,000lbs WLL in the choker position.

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Looks awesome. What are you using for limbs that could be in the 6" diameter range?
 
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Peavy or cant hook?

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That's a possibility, but on a real heavy pick, where the log is being stacked on top of logs that are already in the pile, I don't know if you could turn the log by yourself. Plus after you set the log on top of the pile and unhook it, you still would have to roll the log over the hook, which you don't want to do.

I stil think some sort of stable cribbing with a small gap underneath, just big enough to let the crane pull the Gunnebo hook(or shackle)through and back up.

If I remember correctly, at the crane workshop, when we had logs that were going to be loaded later on and the pieces needed to be unhooked, I would sometimes put a 4"-6" branch stub underneath, have the crane operator set the piece down, then I could unhook it and they could pull it freely out from underneath. Then when the crane was setting up for the next pick, we had a Prentice Loader that was on site, that could lift the piece and set it in the cold deck log pile.
 
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As you can see in the picture, the choker position on the hook is greater than 90 degrees with sling positioned well in the belly of the hook. The gate is positioned facing downward and is shut tight. The slings are 3” polyester round endless loop with a 12,000lbs WLL in the choker position.

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Looks awesome. What are you using for limbs that could be in the 6" diameter range?

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Like classic mentioned above Jamin, on smaller sized branches in the 6" range, we would take a couple of half hitches in the sling before clippng the hooks. This not only spread the load out and took some strain off the Gunnebo hooks, it also provided us with a more favorable bend angle in the sling.

We also had two spider leg slings on the crane hook most of the time, so if we felt that we couldn't securely set the pick with the round slings and Gunnebo hooks, we would use the spider leg slings instead on the smaller limbs. This worked great too, as these spider legs were incredibly strong for their size.

By keepng two round slings with hooks, and a couple of spider leg slings on the crane hook for most of our picks, allows us the option of setting picks on any type of limbs, or trunk wood with great precision.

Reg Coates Stein Crane Bag would probably be a good addition to have in the future crane work that I do, if I keep this number of slings on the hook.
 
bully. we got 3 hook sizes. 6 in total. big slings(14ft and 12k wll) and hooks if the picks are going to be over the 5k area and the next size down hook and slings(10 ft 7kwll) size for the smaller picks.

we barely ever use the little little hooks. sometimes for brush pile but we also have 30ft slings with shackles that get used more for that app.
 
btw. still absolutely not even close to being sold on the spider slings..... maybe if i did one crane job a month or so but i just don't see them being all that applicable for the production side of the crane game.
 
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Thanks for giving us some more info on the Gunnebo hooks Bull.

I think that we've pretty much established their safe use, when set correctly.

One issue that I have with them, as well as with clevis shackles, is when you unhook the piece on the gound, such as a big stem with no branches on it,and need to pull the sling and hook out from under the piece.

OSHA states that a sling shall not be pulled out from under a load resting on top of it, but I know that we all do it from time to time.

What's the best way to pull these hooks out when, say you're stacking a load of logs on a cold deck and you don't want the hook to get stuck while pulling it out from under the load? Would you use some kind of cribbing, and if so, how do you keep the logs being stacked stable if cribbibg is used?

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http://www.baileysonline.com/itemdetail.asp?item=17996L&catID=11512
 
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just hook the sling hook to the ball hook if you worried about pulling out from under a log...... keep it simple!

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oldirty, that makes perfect sense, you're right....keep it simple. I didn't even think of that method of unhooking the sling hook. Thanks for the tip buddy!

Thanks for the info on the different size slings and hooks that you guys use too. Very useful info.
 
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btw. still absolutely not even close to being sold on the spider slings..... maybe if i did one crane job a month or so but i just don't see them being all that applicable for the production side of the crane game.

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I hear what you're saying and I've heard this before from fast high production crane crews. You guys are right too. You have the experience to know how to make picks correctly with just one or two slings. No disagreement from me.

I don't have that type of crane experience yet, so you're right oldirty, it may be more productive and safer to use an occassional spider leg if there is any question on a pick, for crews that do little crane work.
 
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OSHA states that a sling shall not be pulled out from under a load resting on top of it, but I know that we all do it from time to time.

What's the best way to pull these hooks out when, say you're stacking a load of logs on a cold deck and you don't want the hook to get stuck while pulling it out from under the load? Would you use some kind of cribbing, and if so, how do you keep the logs being stacked stable if cribbibg is used?

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They aren't really worried about the hooks any crane will pull them out no problem, that rule was written for wire rope slings and nylon web slings which are not covered. Without a cover while lifting them from under a load there is a very good chance of damaging the sling by pulling strands or fibers from them.

That being said it is not a good idea to pull these from under a load either (even though we all do it) because you could tear the cover and once the cover is damaged on a round sling you have to throw it away.
 
classic, thanks for the link to Bailey's and the log tongs. When I work as a subcontractor groundie/backup climber for a local tree company that specializes in crane removals, we use different sized tongs for loading logs all the time.

Actually, this company only uses one or two nylon eye-and-eye slings for their picks too, no spider legs. These guys are good and have been in business since 1957. They were the first ones to start using a crane in tree work here in the Lakes Region in N.H. Their slings are just choker hitched through the eye and hooked back on the crane hook.

A lot of times, when we set the pick on the ground and pull the eye sling out with the crane (I know, it's against OSHA regs), we'll then remove the eye-and-eye sling and take a shackle hooked through the log tongs and put the shackle on the crane hook and use the crane to either stack the logs in a cold deck pile, or onto the back of the F700.

Log tongs work great.
 
I used to use only one or two eye and eye slings too. I used to only use one or two round slings, one or two triangle ring slings, one or two slings with shackles... I used to use a big carpenter looking hand saw too, but times change and better tools and methods are created. That's what you call progress. You can resist it or try it but it still happens.
 
I hear you Mark, and couldn't agree more.

I try to mention some of these newer techniques to this company, when I see them, but when you're old school and something has worked for you for decades, with no reason to change, it can be difficult.

I'm hoping in time, that they will see the benefits of newer and better tools and methods.
 
hey mark can you answer these questions for me? what happens if you are doing branches and the piece endows or breaks apart and loads the hook from another angle? how does the hook respond then? and ol' dirty said they have three different size slings to handle smaller diameter material; down to what diameter are the 5t hooks used to? thanks
 
I can't answer that Jeff. You will have to ask oldirty or Boston bull that one. I will say that I have seen the hooks before in a sling max book and thought they would be cool to use, but did wonder about the lack of a positive lock. I will say now that I do like the hooks and would use them as long as you used two of them for every pick.
 
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We have been using the hooks for the same amount of time that the company Oldirty works for has. We discovered them while working together at one of our suppliers. Have never let us down, haven't heard of them opening up by mistake once. Make sure you orient them so the gate is pointing toward the ground and you're good to go. gates on these are rated at somewhere around 80lbs, so proper orientation is vital. Think of them as a carabiner, never load the gate.

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Bull, do you use two hooks on every pick as Mark C. has suggested, or have you been able to get by with one for most lifts?

I know that you guys typically run two slings on the crane hook, a 12' and 20' round sling, but you don't necessarily use them both at the same time on every pick. At least that's what I remember when you were using shackles and not the Gunnebo hooks.

At the crane worhshop, we used the round slings with hooks and spider legs most of the time. There were times when we used two slings and hooks, like when we were lifting vertical stem cuts, but Mark is right, I don't remember using them one at a time.

It sounds like what Mark is saying, is that they should never be used with only one sling and hook, or am I missing something? Mark, are they really that unpredictable in tree work, that we should be concerned with their singular use, even if the manufacturer says that they're fine in a choker lift?

I really respect your opinion and I'm not doubting you, I'm just wondering now myself, that's why I'm throwing the question out to Bull, who along with oldirty, seem to have used these hooks quite extensively in their crane work.

Thanks
Chris
 
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