Plate Lifting Clamps: Vertical vs Horizontal vs Screw
Oct 16th 2026
By the Bishop Lifting Team • Riggers, Fabricators & Inspectors Since 1984 • 40+ Branch Locations • Last updated October 2026
Plate lifting clamps come in four working types, and the right one depends on how the plate has to move. Vertical clamps lift plate on edge and turn it through 180 degrees. Horizontal clamps work in pairs to carry plate flat. Screw clamps lock onto the plate, and some of them are not rated to lift at all. Beam clamps grip structural sections.
Three mist…
Sling Inspection Checklist: OSHA Removal Criteria
Oct 12th 2026
By the Bishop Lifting Team • Riggers, Fabricators & Inspectors Since 1984 • 40+ Branch Locations • Last updated October 2026
Sling inspection happens at two levels: a check every day before use, and a periodic inspection at least every 12 months. If either one turns up a removal condition, the sling comes out of service on the spot. OSHA spells out those conditions sling by sling, and they are not the same for chain, wire rope, web and round slings.
This guide puts all four o…
Tractel Griphoist / Tirfor: TU vs T500 vs Rescue Kit
Oct 5th 2026
By the Bishop Lifting Team • Riggers, Fabricators & Inspectors Since 1984 • 40+ Branch Locations • Updated October 2026
A Tractel Griphoist® and a Tirfor® are the same machine: a hand-operated wire rope hoist that pulls, lifts, lowers and tensions loads by gripping a rope that passes straight through its body. Tirfor is the name Tractel uses worldwide; Griphoist is the name it goes by in North America. Tractel builds it in two hoist…
Shackle Size Chart: Capacity by Size, Crosby G-209 & G-2130
Oct 2nd 2026
By the Bishop Lifting Team • Riggers, Fabricators & Inspectors Since 1984 • 40+ Branch Locations • Updated October 2026
A shackle’s size is the diameter of the steel in its bow, and every size carries one working load limit (WLL). On Crosby’s standard carbon shackles, a 3/8" is rated 1 ton, a 1/2" is 2 tons, a 5/8" is 3-1/4 tons, a 3/4" is 4-3/4 tons and a 1" is 8-1/2 tons. The screw pin G-209 and the bolt type G-2130 carry the…
How to Measure Sling Length: Chain, Wire Rope, Web & Round
Sep 29th 2026
By the Bishop Lifting Team • Riggers, Fabricators & Inspectors Since 1984 • 40+ Branch Locations
Sling length is measured from bearing point to bearing point: the two surfaces where the sling actually carries load, with the sling pulled straight and unloaded. What changes from one sling type to the next is which fittings sit inside that measurement. On a chain sling, the master link is included and the number is called reach. On a Bishop wire rope bridle, t…