Blog

Mike Gelskey Sr., CEO of Lift-It Manufacturing is featured on the American Wire Rope Fabricators (AWRF) website. Mr. Gelskey is featured in a educational article regarding "Sling Safety Training-The Right Perspective." Mr. Gelskey, has been serving the rigging industry for over 40 years. He recently presented the details of a fatality resulting from improper sling usage for the Associated Wire Rope Fabricators at their October 2013 meeting in Los Angeles. To read the article in its entirety and to learn more about sling safety training and the mission Mr. Gelskey and the team at Lift-It is on please click through to the AWRF article by clicking here.

Chain slings are one of the most durable and robust types of rigging available. It is not uncommon to inspect chain slings that have been in service up to 40 years. Industrial lifting slings fabricated from chain offer riggers two important advantages over nylon web slings, polyester round slings and twin-path® slings: wire chain slings are more temperature tolerant, cut resistant and certain options allow chain rigging slings to be adjustable. Chain is produced in different grades. The larger the lifting chain grade number, the stronger the rigging chain. Grade 30 and 40 chain is sold at many hardware stores and is great for barricading parking lots or defending yourself, but shall NEVER be used for lifting chains.

Bridle slings made from polyester and nylon web slings are a great device for handling loads with fixed lifting points. Bridle slings are also referred to as Multi-leg Bridle slings, Bridle assemblies, Sling Bridle assemblies, Hardware Bridle slings, Web Sling Bridles or type 10 slings. Any Bridle sling features three component parts: a top lifting fixture, connector fittings at the bottom and web straps that join the top lifting fixture to the bottom connection points. Most of the bridle slings we manufacture for the crane and rigging industry feature an oblong style master link. Another very viable option is the master link with sub-assemblies.

Custom Lifting Slings are an opportunity that any progressive rigging products manufacturer should welcome. Unfortunately, some manufacturers take the perspective, “if it’s not in our catalog, then we can’t help you”. Aside being unimaginative this attitude does not help responsible sling users develop products or methods to handle and manipulate loads. Lift-it Manufacturing welcomes any opportunity to provide our customers with satisfaction and solutions for unique applications. In developing custom lifting slings and custom lifting assemblies we work with the client in a partnership like arrangement. Based upon the customer’s application and valued input, our job is to fabricate a product that will meet the requirements of the application.

There are primarily six basic types of industrial Crane Slings that riggers use to lift and manipulate materials. All six sling types can be found in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Sling Safety Standard, B30.9. They are: chain slings, wire rope slings, metal mesh slings, synthetic rope slings, web slings and roundslings. There is no single sling that will accomplish every task, even if you are told that by those that market a specific sling type. All slings have certain unique advantages, as well as limitations. Two formidable limitations for synthetic slings are susceptibility to damage by cutting and abrasion and damage by heat.

There are primarily six basic types of industrial Crane Slings that riggers use to lift and manipulate materials. All six sling types can be found in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Sling Safety Standard, B30.9. They are: chain slings, wire rope slings, metal mesh slings, synthetic rope slings, web slings and roundslings. There is no single sling that will accomplish every task, even if you are told that by those that market a specific sling type. All slings have certain unique advantages, as well as limitations. Two formidable limitations for synthetic slings are susceptibility to damage by cutting and abrasion and damage by heat.

I recently received a letter from a genteleman regarding nylon web slings and spray painting on the nylon web sling for marking purposes. My answer to the question is posted in my reply letter back to him. You can read my response below: It was a pleasure meeting you at the EPRI conference. It was an honor to have you attend our factory training sessions and thank you for your participation in asking a very important question. The issue of spray painting nylon web slings is different than the issue of marking nylon lifting slings or polyester roundslings with felt marker pens.

The 2013 EPRI- Hoisting, Rigging & Crane User Group Meeting and Workshop was held in Long Beach, CA and featured a field trip to Lift-It® Manufacturing Company, Inc. Over 65 attendees were part of the plant tour and workshop that featured an educational session, as well as a several fabrication demonstrations. Michael J. Gelskey, Jr. welcomed the group outside the factory and took one of the two groups on the factory tour. The tour featured fabrication demonstrations of web, round and Twin-Path® Extra slings. An overview of the Lift-It® ISO: AS9100C quality control system, material traceability and final inspection were also presented. The highlight of the tour was destruction testing of slings which had been produced for the tour attendees.

Mike Gelskey, Sr., Past President of the Web Sling and Tie Down Association (WSTDA) presented the details of a fatality resulting from the use of a damaged sling at the Fall 2012 meeting of the WSTDA held in Minneapolis, MN. The presentation explored the circumstances of the unfortunate and premature death of Rodney Armstrong Guy, a 32 year old lineman. Rodney Guy was killed at 2:15 PM on March 20, 1992 during a clipping operation of a 500kV transmission line in Rio Vista, CA. The sling had been used for 33 months and twice previously the very day Rodney was killed. Several factors lead to his death.

Mr. Michael J. Gelskey, Chief Executive Officer, Lift-It Manufacturing Co., Inc. was featured in the May issue of Wind Power Engineering and Development as a Person of Influence.To see the article in its entirety please visit Wind Power Engineering-Lift-It Mfg. Mr. Gelskey's passion is accident prevention training . He has presented sling and rigging safety classes for the past thirty-two years and has the distinction of presenting at the AWEA Operations and Maintenance Safety Conference on multiple occasions.

The single, most popular question asked at our training is, “What is the recommended D/d for web slings?” D/d is a well-known consideration for wire rope slings, where “D” represents the Diameter of the object the sling contacts and “d” represents the diameter of the wire rope sling. If a 1 Inch diameter wire rope sling is used in a basket hitch around a 25 Inch Diameter object, a 25/1(D/d) results and the wire rope sling has full basket capacity. Conversely, if the same 1 inch diameter wire rope sling is used on an 8 inch diameter object, resulting in an 8/1 D/d, the wire rope sling loses efficiency and the basket capacity must be reduced by 16%.

Lift-It Manufacturing, a worldwide leader in the supply of quality rigging and training, is proud to announce the opening of a new Learning Center at company headquarters in Pomona, CA. The state of the art facility features the latest in technology to provide for multi-media presentations and webinars. The 40 seat, 2000 sq. ft., facility has hundreds of samples which were generously donated by the quality leaders in the rigging industry. Mike Gelskey, Sr., Chief Executive Officer, Lift-It Manufacturing comments, “The new facility and particularly the new training center is a dream come true.