Industrial Hardware Applications 101

A significant part of being able to do a job properly is having the right tools available to do so, and making ample use of them. In order to get the right tools for the job, however, it is important to know what tools will suit your company's unique applications properly. If you are in need of a guide to point you in the right direction on the various applications of industrial tie-down, pulling, and lifting hardware, please take a moment to review the information provided here in order to gain a better understanding of the many types of tools that are available to provide you with unrelenting strength and unparalleled support for the job.

Straps   

Straps are one of the most commonly used pieces of hardware for a number of different industrial applications, such as tie-downs for heavy cargo transport, extricating vehicles or debris, or lifting objects. They are far more reliable, sturdier, stronger, and longer lasting than outdated tools like rope. Additionally, they make the job quick and easy without sacrificing any strength or reliability. This, along with their versatility, has made them a go-to for countless companies for a myriad of different applications for several decades.

The towing industry will frequently make use of straps when they need to pull a vehicle out of a difficult situation. For instance, if there has been a serious spot of bad weather, it is not all that uncommon for a motorist to slide off of the road and end up in a ditch. When this happens, a tow truck driver can connect the straps from their work truck to the stuck vehicle to pull it back out to safe, solid ground. The tough, strong weave of the strap provides it with unparalleled strength, durability, and dependability to make such jobs go on without a problem.

Another industry that makes ample use of straps is auto transport. Cars are not light cargo by any stretch of the imagination, so naturally you will need a tie-down tool that will be up to the task of keeping it solidly in place while in transit to its destination. Straps offer a fast, easy, and reliable way of tying down cars to the back of a flatbed truck. The amount of weight and pressure that can be applied to straps make them a prime candidate for wrapping around wheels and other vehicle parts for securement.

Additionally, straps have more use than towing and auto transport. They can also be used for lifting and securing heavy cargo. If you are a cargo transport business, you may be moving things like shipping containers, logs, construction materials, sewer pipes, and more. Numerous types of straps are designed and manufactured by B/A Products Co. for the purpose of ensuring that such heavy cargo is able to get onto its transport vehicle and subsequently to its destination in a safe and secure manner.

Wire Rope

Wire rope is another commonly used form of securement and pulling in industrial applications. It provides flexibility and ease of access to objects that need to be moved or secured in situations where space is not plentiful in the right areas. It provides you with the combined flexibility of a strap with the durability of a chain, allowing you to get the job done without sacrificing any of the strength, durability, or reliability of other industrial grade pulling hardware.

Wire rope manufactured by B/A Products Co. is Extra Improved Plow Steel for superior strength and flexibility and features either a strong fiber or steel core. They feature various hooks on their ends to suit a variety of different applications, based on your company or fleet's requirements.

Chain

Chain has been a strong, reliable, and durable tool for a long time. It can be applied toward a variety of purposes, lending its unrelenting grip and supportive durability for some of the tougher jobs that need to be done right. It can be used to secure, pull, lift, and more. Forged from the strongest of metals into the best engineered links, chain provides one of the strongest, sturdiest, and reliable resources a company can have for pulling, lifting, and securing heavy objects.

Chains are often for securing vehicles to flatbed trailers, but they can also be used to help lift heavy cargo onto a cargo ship. Additionally, chains are frequently used for fire rescue when a strong, powerful, and sturdy pulling tool is needed to move away debris to rescue a victim. Chains from B/A Products Co. feature a variety of different hooks on their ends in order to suit a wide variety of industrial applications with no problem at all.

Abide by Your Tie-Down's Working Load Limit

One of the most important things you can do with any type of tie-down, lifting, or pulling assembly, be it a strap, wire rope, or chain, is abide by its Working Load Limit, or WLL, regardless of whatever your company's unique industrial applications may be. The reason behind this is that each piece of tie-down hardware is rated to handle different amounts of weight, and each has an amount of weight that should not be exceeded in order to retain maximum long-term efficiency. That weight is referred to throughout the tie-down engineering and manufacturing industry as its Working Load Limit.

The Working Load Limit of a tie-down is considered by industry experts to be the global best practice for deciding its strength and durability over its Breaking Strength. Breaking Strength is how much a tie-down is able to withstand before it experiences failure. This is not the best way to measure strength or ensure reliability because there is no way to be sure that your company's applications will proceed the way they need to or that the tie-down will maintain its strength for the long-term.

The Working Load Limit of a strap, chain, or wire rope is 1/3 of the assembly’s Breaking Strength. To offer a simple example of this, a ratchet strap with a Breaking Strength of 15T would have a Working Load Limit of 5T. This may be a drastic difference in weight, but abiding by the Working Load Limit will serve to provide your company with higher levels of reliability and the most value for its purchase in the long-run.

Strap Width and Working Load Limit

In addition to Working Load Limit, one of the major attributes of a strap that you should pay close attention to when purchasing them for your company's industrial applications is their width. The reason for this is that the wider the strap is, the greater the amount of Working Load Limit you will have available to you. This is because you will have a greater amount of strong webbing present to aid your company in lifting, pulling, securing, and more.

Wire Rope and Working Load Limit

Another thing that needs to be taken into consideration when purchasing wire rope for your company is the width of the rope. Like with straps, more width provides you with more Working Load Limit to help with handling the tougher jobs. B/A Products Co. offers wire rope with widths of 3/8", 7/16", 1/2", 9/16", and 5/8" and lengths of 50', to 75', to 100', to 150', to 200'.

Chain Grade

When purchasing chain for use toward industrial applications, one of the major things that should be kept in mind is the chain's grade. Chains can come in grade 70, 80, 100, or 120. Each one offers significant strength and support, but in order to continue practicing safety, you need to make sure that the chain is strong enough to meet your requirements. Grade 70 chains are often used for securement and transport purposes. They are not approved for overhead lifting. Grade 80 chain is approved for overhead lifting applications, making them an excellent choice for creating strong chain slings. Grades 100 and 120 are engineered to handle the much tougher jobs, offering a greater increase in strength and durability.

Accessories

In order to keep the job moving smoothly, there are a number of accessories available in the market that can increase the ease and efficiency of the job. Items such as air bags can help with lifting a heavy-duty object without the need for a cumbersome and hard-to-operate manual jack. There are also other tools that are designed to take away some of the stress and effort that if often wasted on the little problems encountered in this industry. Nuisances such as locked vehicles, limited storage room, heavy objects that get in your way, weak securement points, and even garbage scattered everywhere can slow down your progress on the job.

That’s why there are special tools that are designed to solve these types of problems. Certain door access tools can be used to bypass the locks that keep you out of vehicle. Toolboxes and shelves can be easily installed anywhere in the workshop to give you much more storage room for your tools. Pry bars are especially useful for shifting large debris such as rocks out of the way of the job, giving you plenty of leverage to stay in control. D-Rings are excellent for creating reliable anchoring points and can be easily welded onto your work truck. Garbage cans can be installed around the work area or directly onto your work truck to get rid of the constant garbage that tends to pile up. If there’s a problem, chances are that there is a solution that is readily available for you.