Rope 65
Rigging Resources
All Material Handling: Chain hoists, lifting accessories, alloy chain and fittings, Cartec Lifting Points and chains. www. allmaterialhandling. com
Ashley Sling: Eye bolts and hoist rings, hook, hook latch kits, links and rings, shackles, swage fittings, swivels, turnbuckles, wire rope clips and wedge sockets. www. ashleysling. com
Left: For testing the hoisting, boom and whip lines on a Manitowoc 31000 for Maxim Crane Works, Certex Rigging hired the Unique Group.
Associated Wire Rope & Rigging: RopeBlock crane blocks, overhaul balls and snatch blocks, Spelter sockets, wedge sockets and button Spelter sockets, GN shackles and Sea Link SL-400 series snatch blocks. www. associatedwirerope. com
Certex USA: Wire rope and accessories, shackles, turnbuckles, latch kits, blocks and sheaves. www. certex. com
Right: The Rope 65 tool evaluates a crane’ s wire rope while remaining stationary.
issues. A single rope of 300 feet can be surveyed using Rope 65 in half a day.
Overall, the Manitowoc crawler testing was finished in about three days. Because there was scientifically sound data regarding the state of each rope, the crane owner was able to retain three 50 mm cables that were well over 3,280 feet long, resulting in a six-figure savings.
“ The owner also understood just how deteriorated the boom cable was on the crawler crane,” Dunville related.“ Typically, ASME B30.30 or ISO 4309 standards describe the minimum criteria for scrapping a cable, but often customers with high value ropes or high value applications – where downtime is costly – find that they are willing to replace the cable before
ASME or ISO require it. This might be at the next scheduled downtime, because planned maintenance is usually much less expensive than unplanned repairs.”
Because MRT testing offers cost and time savings, Dunville noted, the budget to perform testing in a remote location is much lower. Advances in MRT technology like that used on the Rope 65 tool have also allowed for running the lines faster during testing and ensuring that it is truly non-destructive.
“ The test results are also repeatable, partially because the device records information in both time and distance indices simultaneously,” Dunville said.“ And technicians and owners can find faults later, without stopping the rope, and compare
Advances in MRT technology have allowed for running the lines faster during testing and ensuring that it is truly non-destructive.
Mazzella Companies: Wire rope, hoists, hoist parts, pullers and rigging hardware products as well as wire rope assemblies, bridge, crane and steel mill cables and standard or custom end fittings. www. mazzellacompanies. com
Slingmax Rigging Solutions: Equalizer Block to maintain tension on all legs of the sling during a lift and a chain Saddle Ring that gives chain bridle, length adjustment capabilities in each chain leg. www. slingmax. com
data over time to see if a process, operator or physical piece of rotating machinery such as a sheave is possibly causing damage.
“ With the cost to replace cables in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, it doesn’ t make sense to automatically replace them on a time or usage basis,” Dunville added.“ On this project for Maxim Crane Works, we were pleased to have a great partner like Certex Rigging.”
The Rope 65 MRT tool has proven itself at some of the highest profile construction sites in the United States. It can also be fitted with Ropewatcher, a permanently installed option, on various mobile and overhead cranes where downtime or ropes are costly.
www. cranehotline. com • December 2024 CRANE HOT LINE ® 31