The Benefits of Textile Chains Over Steel Chains

By Seth Skydel Safe lifting of heavy items can often be challenging for manufacturing operations. While gantry cranes do the lifting, rigging equipment for the moves can involve heavy chains and significant labor. Today, however, there is a lighter weight alternative. “The DoNova PowerLift textile chain can be used in just about any type of operation with a gantry crane,” said Ralph Abato, president and managing director, Doleco USA. “There's almost no reason you can't replace a static steel chain sling or a multi-leg steel chain sling with a textile chain.” Textile chains are lighter than steel chains. “One DoNova PowerLift textile chain can replace several steel chains,” Abato noted. “You only have so much load that you can typically carry on the master hook of a gantry crane, including the weight of the steel chain.“ he said. “The less weight that is taken up by the actual sling itself, the more cargo load you have available.” As an example, Abato related that Doleco’s heaviest lifting textile chain with a breaking strength of 88,000 lbs. and the same five-to-one design factor for steel chain, gives you a 17,636-lb. working load capacity. While the heaviest grade 80 or grade 100 steel chains will give you something comparable, there is an 85% weight savings with the textile chain. Along with added capacity, the textile chains can also make some operations safer because they are easier to handle. Other benefits of textile chains include: The chains don’t damage machinery, especially items with a unique shape, a specific dimension or a critical finish. DoNova PowerLift textile chain is as tear resistant as steel chain. It is also resistant to most chemicals and seawater, and it’s UV resistant and can be used for inside and outside lifting applications. Textile chain, because of its flexible design will absorb the impact of being in use and maintain its structural integrity. The elongation of textile chain is about three to 4% whereas steel chain is advertised at about 5%. With textile chain, redundancy in having plies helps equally share any abrasion that might occur. With steel chain, you'll start to see wear if it’s exposed to constant abrasion. The flexibility of textile chain means it can connect to various chain components (https://doleco-usa.com/press-releases/perfect-connection-between-textile-donova-chain-and-dora-tensioner). “You need to make sure that any attachments or hooks are of a sufficient radius to work with the diameter and thickness of the textile chain links,” Abato pointed out. “Overall, textile chain is very flexible and easy to shorten when needed by attaching the hooks on a standard shackle to any of the links.” Seth Skydel (http://linkedin.com/in/seth-skydel-5360a586) is a writer with 38 years of experience covering the trucking, utility, construction, and related markets.