Using cabel chocker

1

1914

Greetings,
I normally use synthetic slings for chocking. I was wondering if anyone ever used the type of steel cabel chockers that they use on skidders.
I'm sure not worried about the steel not being better for biting in I'm mainly concernend that the ends could slip out.
If steel skidder chockers arn't the way to go what works best for you?
 
I perfer Tuflex slings, flat webbing, and last, wire chokers.

Chokers made for skidding, arent for lifting, period. They make wire rope slings (eye to eye) for lifting, some crane operators refuse to use anything else, I will near refuse to use them.

What are you talking about slipping out? The knob and bell coming apart? That rarely happens, but either way, its not for overhead lifting.
 
Greetings Lumberjack,
That is excatly the answer I needed to hear.
In Norske we would say "Mange tosand Tak" in English many thousand thanks.
Now the question is where to get the eye to eye wire slngs. I want wire as a few close calls with synthetic slipping scared me pretty good.
 
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Chokers made for skidding, arent for lifting, period. They make wire rope slings (eye to eye) for lifting, some crane operators refuse to use anything else, I will near refuse to use them.
What are you talking about slipping out? The knob and bell coming apart? That rarely happens, but either way, its not for overhead lifting.

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Ditto. The ferrule (bullet) can come out of the slide when not under load. They are not desgned for overhead lifting. If wire rope is being used, use an eye & eye, lock the gate on the crane hook and use a screw pin shackle on the other eye as the 'choke'. This way the choker doesn't have to be removed from the hook every time. After setting the 'choke' on the limb, make sure the pin of the shackle is not on the running end of the cable. The pin should be in the eye and the bow on the running end. This will prevent the pin from unthreading.
See attachment.
 

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That looks scary close to the end to me Norm, but you do have large reliefs for the cable.... but still....



I pretension/"set" my slings before I make the cut, if its too slick I go to plan B.
 
When it comes to lifting spars I prefer steel cables over any other attachment option. The nylon slings can and will ride up the spar very easily unless you left some large stubs to keep them in place. The steel cables that I use are not quite like the ones that Norm posted though, ours are eye to eye cables but on one end we have a super heavy duty thimble spiced in so that we can just choke the cable off itself without the need for the shackle. This set up gives you a very positive grab when tension is applied and it virtually eliminates any chance of the cable riding up on you. We also tend to use two of them when picking a spar piece to equalize the load.
 
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ours are eye to eye cables but on one end we have a super heavy duty thimble spiced in so that we can just choke the cable off itself without the need for the shackle.

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For large spar work I think that the method that Norm described:


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If wire rope is being used, use an eye & eye, lock the gate on the crane hook and use a screw pin shackle on the other eye as the 'choke'. This way the choker doesn't have to be removed from the hook every time.

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is much easier than choking the cable through its own eye.


As Norm said, one end of the cable stays on the hook--it doesn't have to be removed from one piece to the next.


Also, when our ground guys take the cable off of the piece on the ground they put the shackle back on the cable in a choked position. The cable is stiff enough that it remains choked with just a small loop at the shackle. The climber then just opens the loop to fit the piece, drops it over the top of the spar and works the cable down to where they want it on the piece. The crane then applies tension and sets the cable in place.
 
Actually all of the above can be done with the piece that I mentioned. All you do is take a bite of the cable and feed it through the thimble side. This gives you a steel lasso that you can just drop over the top of the spar and lower it as far down as you like before applying tension. The top eye never leaves the crane ball.

I will try to get some pictures of what I am talking about. It may not work for everyone, but it seems to work great for us.
 
Sorry Rich I misunderstood.

When you said :


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ours are eye to eye cables but on one end we have a super heavy duty thimble spiced in so that we can just choke the cable off itself without the need for the shackle.

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I thought you meant that you fed one end through the other for every piece.

Do you have a link for the cables that you use?
 
No problems Mark, I tend to confuse everyone including myself when trying to explain some things.

The crane operator we use gets all of his wire rope and steel chokers from a guy locally. Here is his info:

Acme Lifting
440 838 4430

You want to speak with Arnie and mention that you are looking for info on the steel chokers that he makes for Leimeister Crane Service. I believe he can make them in most any length you want. The ones that Dan (our incredibly talented crane guy) uses are 9/16" diameter wire. Sorry I don't have any info on the pricing.
 
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