Hope Bob checks it out, he could use the extra heave thimbles on his mooring
lines.

I don't have mooring lines.

RB

"Martin Baxter" wrote in message
...
I was merely musing that IMNSHO, the quick link is less likely to work
loose, unless of course you mouse your shackle with stainless steel wire, which
is a pain in the butt some days.


Why stainless? I mouse with galvanised wire, and change it when
it looks seedy. Tho' I suppose the fresh?water use stops that
being much of a chore.


Galvanized works just fine, it just happens that I have a bunch of stainless
on hand from the MIG welder.

I carry stainless rigging wire, but I usually mouse with cable ties - you have
to check them, but they seem to last a season with no trouble and can be popped
off with a pliers.

"Martin Baxter" wrote


Looked up several different manufactures,

I assumed you did, I was too lazy to look it up.



I realize that you can get shackles in different grades, just as you can
chain. How many of you go out and buy grade 70 transport chain

I do, all the time. Have about 300' of it on the truck.


to use on your ground tackle?

OH!


I'll bet most buy proof coil (grade 30), in which case the basic el cheapo
shackle is going to be stronger than the chain anyway.

Not me, I just went out to the barn and cut a length of 3/8' G70.


I was merely musing that IMNSHO, the quick link is less likely to work
loose, unless of course you mouse your shackle with stainless steel wire,
which
is a pain in the butt some days.

All my shackles are moused w/SS wire.


--
Scotty
S/V Lisa Marie
Balt. MD USA

"Bobsprit" wrote in message
...
Hope Bob checks it out, he could use the extra heave thimbles on his
mooring
lines.

I don't have a boat.

RB

Why? What's the advantage? I've heard the plastic ties degrade from UV.

Scotty

"Jeff Morris" wrote
I carry stainless rigging wire, but I usually mouse with cable ties - you
have
to check them, but they seem to last a season with no trouble and can be
popped
off with a pliers.

Scotty wrote..

I don't have a boat.

Nope. You have a Siedlemann, which is sorta shaped like a boat.

RB

"Martin Baxter" wrote in message
...
Jeff Morris wrote:

Be a bit careful comparing numbers - some are "working load" and others are
"breaking strength." I think for chain and shackles "working load" is
define as
25% of breaking strength. Also, you want to consider the failure mode - a
quick
link can deform making it hard to take apart.

I was aware and considered working load, not breaking strength, your 4 to 1
figure is the
one usually used for chain and chain fittings.

I was pretty sure you understood, but when I looked in the Boat/US catalog they
actually listed the breaking strength for their quicklinks, and they seemed
weaker than shackles. One must be explicit for the benefit of the thousands of
lurkers who rely on our collective wisdom!

BTW, Earl Hinz ("Complete Book of Anchoring and Mooring") is explicit that
quicklinks are for temporary use only, though he doesn't elaborate.



BTW, why not use a swivel to connect to the anchor? Maybe your Danforth
won't
pull out as much if it had a swivel.

Can't see how that would help.

Joking a bit, but I've heard it claimed that without swivel there's a chance
that an anchor would be pulled out due to twisted chain. Certainly, if you
anchor for long periods where you could spin around the anchor you should have a
swivel. If you use one, it should be attached to the anchor through a shackle,
not directly, since a direct connection would have a heavy side load as the
boat sheers.

Yes, they do weaken with UV - some that I used on my netting started to fail
after 4 seasons. (Actually, only the white ones failed - I often use red for
rigging, and I've never seen one of those fail.) However, mine all get pulled
when I unrig in the Fall, and its easier to nip off the plastic. Since they
only have to go about 5 months, degrading isn't an issue.


"Scott Vernon" wrote in message
...
Why? What's the advantage? I've heard the plastic ties degrade from UV.

Scotty

"Jeff Morris" wrote
I carry stainless rigging wire, but I usually mouse with cable ties - you
have
to check them, but they seem to last a season with no trouble and can be
popped
off with a pliers.

According to the BBB chain dimensions in the following link
http://www.pyacht.net/online-store/s..._bbb_chain.htm
neither a 3/8" shackle or a 3/8" quick link will pass through 3/8' bbb
chain. You must go 1 size smaller. hence the suggestion to install
oversized end links from an industrial supplier of load rated chain.

This factoid is true for all shapes and sizes of chain, proof , ht,
bbb, and is one of the dirty little secrets of the anchor rode
packages offered by marine retailers.

After the anchor breakout force rating, the shackle is your weakest
link



On 17 Jun 2004 14:48:20 GMT, "Scott Vernon"
wrote:

he was asking about quick links, marc.


"Marc" wrote in message
.. .
More to the point. the shackle you can fit to the chain is weaker
than the chain. Buy your rated chain from an industrial sling mfg. and
have them put an oversize link at each end. (small extra charge). Now
you will be able to fit the proper sized and rated shackle.



On Thu, 17 Jun 2004 09:44:54 -0400, Martin Baxter
wrote:


Another anchor question: Why don't we use quick links rather than
shackles to attach the rode to the anchor?

Seems to me that the same size quick link is about 20% stronger than it's
shackle equivalent, and if you tighten the closure nut with a wrench there's
no way for it to work open. Even if you only tighten by hand and by some
miracle (fish with fingers, crafty crabs?) it manages to work open, you
still
won't lose connection so long as there is some tension on the rode.

Cheers
Marty

"Jeff Morris" wrote in message
...
"Martin Baxter" wrote in message
...
Jeff Morris wrote:

One must be explicit for the benefit of the thousands of
lurkers who rely on our collective wisdom!

Good advice, Jeff!

It's a real pity that you didn't consider the lurkers during our last
discussion about sailing in restricted visibility!!!



Regards


Donal
--