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Eye bolts are one of the simplest and yet most often misused pieces of rigging equipment. There are several factors that must be considered when choosing and installing eye bolts. When eye bolts are used improperly, they can be damaged or broken leading to catastrophic accidents and injuries even when performing fairly basic lifts. For more information and help choosing the proper eye bolts or other rigging gear for your applications, please contact the Bishop Sales Team at 1-800-972-1041 or email them at sales@lifting.com. 

The first item to consider is whether you need a shouldered or non-shouldered eye bolt.

Non-shouldered eye bolts are only designed to be used for completely vertical lifts. If you are going to be lifting with your slings at an angle or with any kind of angular loading, you will need to use a shouldered eye bolt. Even when using a shouldered eye bolt, you must be sure that it is installed properly before you can apply any type of angular loading to it. If the shoulder is not completely flush so that it can function properly, the shouldered eye bolt can only be used for vertical lifts.  

If an eye bolt is not the proper rigging hardware for the lift, there are two main alternatives to using eye bolts as your attachment points. 

Crosby Slide-Loc Lifting Points- Crosby's new SL 150M Slide-Loc has several features that set it apart from the standard eye bolt. It has a patent pending locking mechanism that slides to lock the bolt for installation, then slides back to be ready for lifting.

• The bail can swivel 360 degrees to keep aligned with the sling line.
• The Slide-Loc does not lose capacity at any sling angle.
• It has a larger bail than the standard eye bolt to allow for easier connections with other hardware and slings. 

Swivel Hoist Rings- when they are installed and torqued properly swivel hoist rings are the most efficient and ideal option to use for lifting points. 

• They have bail that can pivot 180 degrees and swivel 360 degrees.
• Installed properly, swivel hoist rings do not lose capacity at any sling angle.
• There are several different styles of swivel hoist ring that can match up to your particular application. 

BLP Services team took on a huge refurbishing job on a 400te main deck crane auxiliary block on a multi-purpose, deepwater pipe lay and heavy lift vessel.  This 400te working load limit (WLL) hook block is an auxiliary block on one of the three cranes on-board designed to support heavy lift, pipelay and subsea installations. Crane blocks require frequent inspections daily, periodic inspections quarterly to annually depending on use, and a complete disassembly and thorough inspection service every 5 years.

Our service technicians started with a complete inspection of the duplex hook and attachments checking for deformation, cracks, gouges, and thread wear.  They then checked the latches on either side of the hook for proper function. The sheave wheels were inspected for misalignment, or wobble, and wear, and the proper positioning of sheave pin nuts. The rope grooves were checked for normal wear from use or for abnormal wear from misuse such as using improperly sized wire rope. This block is designed to be used with 2-3/4" diameter wire rope. All nuts, bolts, pins, and other hardware were double checked to make sure they were still installed and that they didn't show any signs of bending. The side plates, pins and axles, fittings and trunions were checked for signs of cracking and deformation. The block assembly was completely disassembled and any damaged or missing parts were repaired or replaced.  

The refurbishing process included: 

• Pre and Post Non-destructive testing (NDT)
• Blasting to remove all old paint
• All bearings and seals were replaced with new
• DNV witnessed, 110% overload pull tested (986,000 lbs.)
• Re-painted and tagged
• Full certification pack

MaxiRider®  is proud of their years of dependable service and their commitment to personnel safety. We strive to be the best in personnel lifting and the name you can count on when lifting personnel to new heights. As part of our continued commitment to the industries we serve, we offer an experienced field service team. Our team is dedicated to assisting you in maintaining the MaxiRider® at peak performance with confidence you can count on. Our team is available to you and can be scheduled for routine maintenance items, annual inspections and on-site training, please contact us with your request.

Annual inspections help maintain normal wear and tear on the equipment.  Don't be caught with a down personnel hoist when it matters the most!  

When calling for service or annual inspections a few points of information would be helpful to have on-hand:

• The MaxiRider® (5) digit serial number (found hard-stamped in the MaxiRider® gearbox)
• Type of MaxiRider® (Crown Mount 110V or Floor Mont 220V)
• Specific contact information (to include: rig number, location, phone number and point of contact name)
• Drilling operation and expected day of service/request

 Please contact your MaxiRider® Service Team for assistance!

• Email: maxirider@lifting.com
• Phone: (713) 676-7321