how to - mousing ( seizing ) ?

bobgosling

bobgosling

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I have lost count of the number of times I have read about how important it is to mouse ( or seize ) the anchor shackle, so I fully intend to do it. However, I can't find precise instructions for how to actually do it. Obviously the monel wire goes through the eye of the shackle but then what do you do with it ? It may seem obvious to you if you have been shown how and have done it several times but I am worried that I may do it incorrectly as it seems to me that the most obvious way to prevent the pin rotating is to twist the wire around the shackle but won't that then make the chain link or anchor stock rub against it an wear through it over time ? A photo or drawing would be helpful !
 
if you wind the wire through the eye in the pin and round the leg adjacent, there will be some wear but as the wire is in a corner of the 'D' shape it will be protected a bit from chafe.
 
Closing of a cargo hook ....

Yer right !!

As regards anchor shackles / moorings ...........

a) The shackle sholuld not be a bow shackle - but a D shackle that is correct size for job, that does not allow the chain or other fitting to rotate / slide around to produce a side load on the shackle.

b) The monel or suitable wire should pass through the pin's eye and then be passed around the adjacent leg - this should be done as many times as possible so that a strong layer is built up. It is then a good idea to half hitch and then wrap around at 90 deg. to the first turns just inside from the pin's eye. Finally finishing of neatly.

This will produce a neat and strong resilient job.

Other quick way is to cable tie .... but these must be checkede more regularly - as the plastic tends to get brittle more quick than the wire gives out.
 
Re: Closing of a cargo hook ....

[ QUOTE ]
plastic tends to get brittle more quick than the wire gives out

[/ QUOTE ]

I had the opposite experience, and would now only use the plastic ones plus loctite.
 
Re: Closing of a cargo hook ....

Used 2 cable ties on my mooring shackle last season. At the end of the season there was no sign of them.
 
Re: Closing of a cargo hook ....

I had a bit of a swap around last weekend, changing anchors to different rodes etc. by the by.

My main anchor shackle had started to corrode, just the shackle chain is fine, so think there may be a galvy fault. It took a lump hammer belting attached mole grips to get the thing turning.

I would not use loctite (Aradite would be next to useless as it is brittle) as there is the chance if you carry a selection of anchors depending upon the bottom that you may wish to swap them over readily. Just a thought!
 
When we were on pile mooring with chains shackled to horse rail, we used good quality cable ties first year. After 6 months 2 of the 4 ties were missing.

I would not use cable ties except where I could regularly inspect (ie our jackstay shackles have cable ties).

Ian
 
Re: Closing of a cargo hook ....

The shackle should not be a bow shackle

Nigel, could you elaborate?

Our anchors are built with a slot in the shank so that a bow shackle can be passed through it and then the shackle pin through the chain link ie the bow itself is through the anchor stock. I always used a D shackle until one day quite some years ago while talking to a commercial operator he mentioned that they always used bow shackles in that arrangement.

I think having the bow through the stock might be the essential difference as that means that the shackle is always in direct tension as the boat swings (and bows have similar working load as D's), but would be interested in your reasons.

Getting back to the thread, I always use wire (ss in our case, cos thats what I have lots of, on a ss shackle). Having seen how some ties quite rapidly and unpredictably fail in UV in normal exposed electrical duty. If I did use them, I would go for the very best quality ones and those with the ss lock, not the all plastic ones, and regularly test it by levering with a screwdriver.

John
 
Re: Closing of a cargo hook ....

The reasone for not using a bow shackle is :

A correct sized D shackle keeps the chain at the correct point of the shackle - in the mid part of the curve - the designed load point. A bow shackle can allow the chain to move around the 'BOW' allowing a side load to come onto the shackle - not designed way.

A shackle is deisgned that weight and strain comes on that is 'perpendicular' to the pin - thus not putting any stress on the thread to hold. The pin would have to shear for the shackle to give out.

Lets takje it one step further - there are commercial shackles that do not have a threaded part - they hold by use of a spile pin or pin driven into a slot. These amplify the need to ensure that the shackle does not side load.

I know that many use a bow shackle for the reason you give and on an ANCHOR on an average yacht - it is adequate - the strain needed to part a shackle even side loaded is considerable. My point is raising the issue was more for moorings and 'loaded' sistuations where I have seen bow shackles part - one was actually mine !!

Like most things - a properly sized and fitted item is far more secure and suited to the job than an oversized bad-fitting item.

I must admit that having read the post that started this - I assumed he meant moorings as well - as not many people seize an anchor shackle .... well I haven't seen that many examples - maybe I'm wrong ?

/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
Yo Bob,
If you turn the pin with pliers or grips, be careful that you dont overturn causing the jaws to sit closer than designed, it's easy to get carried away and keep turning when your'e fingers feel nothing.
This could quite easily be the reason for some tackle parting under load in some circumstances.
Personally I would use stainless wire for this job and if this was my only set up I'd round the pin with a gentle hammer too.
I would only use 'zip ties' on the trip line exactly because they break easy and suit this purpose.
 
Shackle Seizing

We're cable tie users - on both mooring line and anchor shackle.
The mooring line we remove when the boat is not on the water - so cable tie replaced every year anyway - anchor rode gets checked each winter.

The cable ties take no significant load and are only there to stop the pin from turning...
We (the club) now use cable ties to seize any shackle in the whole mooring assembly - they don't rust, are quick to fit and remove - we just use the largest size that will fit through the pin

I would not use disimilar metals in seizing as they are in a marine environment.
 
Re: Closing of a cargo hook ....

Hi
I use bow shackles on my swing mooring, but they are the ones secured with a bolt and split pin, however I still use locking wire on them.
Keith
 
Perhaps I am doing it all wrong.....

My main anchor is a Bruce. It lives on a short, plank type, 'bowsprit' - cum - passerelle (i.e. for stepping aboard, bows-to on a pontoon).
The shackle is a 316 bow type with a pin that will just go through the last link of the chain, slightly pressed so that a bigger pin can pass through. The chain is 6mm and the shackle pin is 8mm. The bow passes through the slot in the anchor shank.
I have never had to change the anchor, so...
I just tightened the pin as much as I could, cut off the flat bit with the hole (proper term escapes me at the moment), and then welded over the end of the pin.
Probably screwed up the 316's characteristics, of course, and there are probably 101 reasons for not doing it, but..
It has been there for the past 6 years or so and it works.
Makes the Bruce that much more awkward to go walkabout, too... /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
Re: Closing of a cargo hook ....

Thanks Nigel.

No problem for us then I think, as the pin goes through the chain and the bow rotates in the stock so is always in tension perpendicular to the pin, not side loaded, when under load.

John
 
Orientation ...

Many anchors are fitted and actually designed that the pin goes through the stock of the anchor, the shackle bight then being through the chain !

Your anchor is about face on the shackle. No problem - just commenting .... !!

/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
 
Re: Orientation ...

Hi Nigel

Yes, that is generally so, just a pin hole in the anchor.

Our anchors though (all 3 are ploughs) are made so that the body of the shackle goes through the anchor, which means a short slot so as the ends of the shackle can pass through and that with rounded ends for the bend in the shackle to sit against - I wonder why others do not do the same, I don't know of any reason but maybe there is one.

Often one sees people having to use two shackles, the pin of one through the anchor stock and the other passed through it with pin through the chain.

John
 
Re: Orientation ...

The only reason I can see for having two shackles is that the initial shackle is too bid to pass through the chain.
Makes you wonder how much strain they expect to put on the anchor and rode !!
 
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