Loads rarely hang level on legs of equal length. A grab hook takes up a leg: the machined throat grips a single chain link and holds it, so the leg shortens and the load comes true. Without one you either stock slings in every length you might need, or accept a load hanging crooked.
Used with the correct chain size and the link seated square, shortening does not reduce the leg’s capacity. That is why a machined grab hook exists rather than knotting or wrapping the chain, both of which reduce capacity substantially.
On temperature: Kito Grade 8 runs to +400 °C where the Cobra Grade 8 range stops at +200 °C. For foundry, forge and heat treatment work that is the deciding difference, with reductions in Working Load Limit above +200 °C.
Key Features
- Shortens without capacity loss: With the correct chain size and the link seated square, the leg retains its full rating
- Clevis fitting: Pins directly to the chain, removing the coupling link
- Machined throat: Sized to seat one chain link squarely. Chain of the wrong size sits badly and loses capacity
- -40 °C to +400 °C: Twice the upper range of Cobra Grade 8, with derating above +200 °C
- 6 sizes: Chain 7/8 mm through 22 mm
- BS EN 1677-1: The chain fitting standard
Technical Specifications
| Product Code |
Chain Dia (mm) |
Part No. |
A (mm) |
G (mm) |
H (mm) |
O (mm) |
R (mm) |
P x L (mm) |
| G8CGH8 |
7/8 |
WA90 |
9 |
30 |
24 |
10 |
50 |
9 x 23 |
| G8CGH10 |
10 |
WA91 |
13 |
44 |
31 |
13 |
72 |
13 x 31.5 |
| G8CGH13 |
13 |
WA92 |
17 |
53 |
38 |
17 |
88 |
16 x 42 |
| G8CGH16 |
16 |
WA93 |
21 |
64 |
44 |
20 |
102 |
21 x 51.5 |
| G8CGH20 |
20 |
WA94 |
24 |
85 |
53 |
24 |
117 |
24 x 61.5 |
| G8CGH22 |
22 |
WA95 |
26 |
97 |
62 |
27 |
139 |
26 x 72 |
Working Load Limits and full dimensional data are in the user information sheet. The 20 mm hook suits both 19 mm and 20 mm chain.
BS EN 1677-1 | Grade 8 | -40 °C to +400 °C | LOLER Ready
Conforms to BS EN 1677-1 for chain fittings. Grade 8 alloy steel with a red painted finish. Marked with material grade, manufacturer’s identification, size, product ID mark and traceability code, and supplied with a certificate. Rated -40 °C to +400 °C, with reductions in Working Load Limit above +200 °C. Under LOLER 1998, thorough examination by a competent person at intervals not exceeding 12 months.
Suitable Applications
Used wherever a chain leg needs taking up: levelling an uneven load, adjusting leg lengths on a multi-leg sling, and adapting a standard sling to a non-standard load. A four leg sling with a grab hook on each leg handles awkward loads without a bespoke sling being made. The temperature rating extends its use into foundry, forge and heat treatment work. Where the shortening is permanent or the leg may go slack, a shortening clutch seats the chain more securely.
More About This Product
Shackles are the most-handled component in any lifting operation, and that is precisely why they wear out first. A sling gets rigged and derigged; a shackle gets rigged, derigged, dropped, driven over, thrown into a box and picked up by whoever needs one. Most lifting gear fails from a single overload; shackles fail from accumulated inattention.
The grade markings matter more than most people realise. A Grade 6 high tensile shackle to BS EN 13889 and a Grade 8 alloy shackle look similar and share the same body shape, but the alloy version carries considerably more at the same size. Once a shackle is in a box with fifty others, the only way to tell them apart is the marking — which is why an unmarked shackle has to be scrapped no matter how good it looks.
Understanding the Load Path
A shackle has two distinct load-bearing elements and they do different jobs. The bow takes the sling; the pin takes the load. Reverse that — put the sling on the pin and the load on the bow — and two things happen. The sling bears on a smaller radius than it was designed for, and any movement in the sling starts to rotate the pin.
On a screw collar pin that rotation is the failure mechanism. A sling shifting under a settling load, or vibration transmitted from plant nearby, will slowly unscrew the pin over minutes or hours. It rarely happens quickly enough for anyone to see it happening.
The second consideration is angle. A shackle loaded in line with the pin carries its full rating. Loaded at an angle across the bow it carries substantially less, and published derating tables cover a limited range of angles — beyond that range no figure is published because none applies. On a multi-leg sling every leg is at an angle by definition, which is why the bow shackle exists and why putting a multi-leg sling into a dee shackle is a genuine mistake rather than a preference.
How to Use
- Match the chain size exactly: Full capacity depends on it. Chain too small can slip; too large will not seat.
- Seat one link square: Flat and fully home in the throat, not perched or angled.
- Do not let the chain bend across the throat: It should run straight out.
- Check the engaged link at every use: Loading concentrates on that link and it wears faster than the rest.
- Do not use as a lifting hook: It is for shortening chain only, never for hooking onto loads or lifting points.
- Derate above +200 °C: Use the figures in the user information sheet.
Warning: Use only with the chain size the hook is machined for. Never hook directly onto a load or lifting point — a grab hook is not a lifting hook and has no safety catch. Never allow the chain to bend sharply across the throat.
Safety Information
- Never exceed the marked Working Load Limit.
- Use only with Grade 8 chain of the exact size marked on the hook.
- One chain link must seat square and fully home in the throat.
- Not for hooking onto loads, eyes or lifting points.
- Inspect the engaged chain link for concentrated wear.
- Operating range -40 °C to +400 °C, with derating above +200 °C.
- Withdraw any hook showing throat opening, wear beyond the manufacturer’s stated limit, distortion or cracks.
- Never weld, heat treat, machine or repaint.
- Thorough examination by a competent person required at intervals not exceeding 12 months under LOLER 1998.
Inspection and Maintenance
The throat is machined for one chain size, and wear there changes how the link sits — not obvious by eye, but enough to let the link move under load. Measure against original dimensions at thorough examination and withdraw at the manufacturer’s stated wear limit. Inspect the seating faces for grooving where the link bears, and check for distortion and cracking. Check the clevis pin for straightness, wear and full engagement. The chain links habitually engaged in the hook wear faster than the rest of the leg, so inspect the chain alongside the fitting.
Downloads
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Does shortening reduce the sling’s capacity?
Not with the correct chain size and the link seated square. That is the point of a machined grab hook over knotting or wrapping, both of which reduce capacity considerably.
Q: Kito Grade 8 or Cobra Grade 8?
Same grade and capacity. The Kito range runs to +400 °C where Cobra stops at +200 °C, so for hot work it is the one. Otherwise choose on price and availability.
Q: Grab hook or shortening clutch?
A grab hook is quicker to adjust and suits levelling a load in the field. A clutch seats the chain fully and pins it captive, which is more secure where the leg may go slack.
Q: Clevis or eye?
Clevis pins straight to the chain with no coupling link, giving a shorter assembly. Eye connects via a coupling link, which makes replacement easier without disturbing the sling.
