Wire rope slings beat chain slings for lifting pipe, and it's not even close

I've been running a 60 ton Grove on a pipe job in Odessa for 7 weeks and every crew that shows up with chain slings ends up switching to wire rope by day two. Chains scar the coating, kink under load, and the shock load when you set a joint down is way worse, wire rope absorbs it. Who else has had to argue with a rigging boss about this?

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finleythomas1mo ago

Read a case study from a rigging school up in Tulsa where they tested both on coated pipe and wire rope came out ahead on almost every count. The coating damage alone was night and day, chains left gouges you could catch a fingernail in while the wire rope slings barely scuffed it. Shock load readings were the part that got me though, chains spiked way higher when they dropped a joint compared to the wire rope. I've heard old timers swear by chain for years but the numbers don't back it up. Rigging bosses just hate swapping out gear they already own.

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