Shackles at Lidl

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dave_gibsea

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Just popped into our local Lidl and found they are selling half a dozen 8mm 'D' shackles for about 3.50, the look really good quality and I'm guessing stainless steel, rated to 250kg..
 
dave_gibsea said:
Just popped into our local Lidl and found they are selling half a dozen 8mm 'D' shackles for about 3.50, the look really good quality and I'm guessing stainless steel, rated to 250kg..
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I really wouldn’t buy shackles from Lidl unless they’re really not in a critical application, maybe I’m a disbeliever but that kind of kit needs to have provenance and certification on my boat.
 
Even the cheapest shackles in your local hard ware store will be rated at 1,000kgs. Depends on the dog you own but even a big dog might distort them. They are toys masquerading as the real thing and as such can easily be mistaken for the real thing and are dangerous.

The Crosby shackles repetitively recommended for a 8mm anchor rode are rated at WLL of 2,000kgs with a UTS of 10t.

There is nothing wrong with Lidl selling such products - the specification is obviously clearly marked - but they should be sold with a warning notice.

Jonathan
 
I've followed this thread in a desultory way, having followed Neeves' advice re Crosby lifting shackles. However....

Wandering around the local LIDL store in Milady's wake, I spotted some packs of two D-shackles, neatly boxed, from 'Conmetall Meister GmbH, Duitsland'. These are galvanised, nominally 13mm with a green-painted pin size of ~15.75mm, and rated at 2000kg.

Intriguingly, in the accompanying leaflet, this:
'The connecting parts must not be used for securing persons e.g. when climbing, shipbuilding, air sports equipment, in road traffic or for securing loads! Do not use for lifting loads - risk of breakage!'

They're certainly cheap enough, but can I find a use for 'em that isn't embargoed...?

:cautious:
 
zoidberg said:
I've followed this thread in a desultory way, having followed Neeves' advice re Crosby lifting shackles. However....

Wandering around the local LIDL store in Milady's wake, I spotted some packs of two D-shackles, neatly boxed, from 'Conmetall Meister GmbH, Duitsland'. These are galvanised, nominally 13mm with a green-painted pin size of ~15.75mm, and rated at 2000kg.

Intriguingly, in the accompanying leaflet, this:
'The connecting parts must not be used for securing persons e.g. when climbing, shipbuilding, air sports equipment, in road traffic or for securing loads! Do not use for lifting loads - risk of breakage!'

They're certainly cheap enough, but can I find a use for 'em that isn't embargoed...?

:cautious:
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Ah the world of potential litigation as inspired by our USA lawyers. Easier to adviser people not to use the shackles for critical uses knowing they will probably ignore the warning anyway.
 
zoidberg said:
I've followed this thread in a desultory way, having followed Neeves' advice re Crosby lifting shackles. However....

Wandering around the local LIDL store in Milady's wake, I spotted some packs of two D-shackles, neatly boxed, from 'Conmetall Meister GmbH, Duitsland'. These are galvanised, nominally 13mm with a green-painted pin size of ~15.75mm, and rated at 2000kg.

Intriguingly, in the accompanying leaflet, this:
'The connecting parts must not be used for securing persons e.g. when climbing, shipbuilding, air sports equipment, in road traffic or for securing loads! Do not use for lifting loads - risk of breakage!'

They're certainly cheap enough, but can I find a use for 'em that isn't embargoed...?

:cautious:
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You could tie the dog up with them?
 
The range does seem quite wide. There are the very very cheap ones from Toolstation etc. then the quite cheap ones from chandlers, often own branded. Then there are the Wichards and Tylaskas which are £¥$€$¥. I’d love to see some test results
 
DoubleEnder said:
The range does seem quite wide. There are the very very cheap ones from Toolstation etc. then the quite cheap ones from chandlers, often own branded. Then there are the Wichards and Tylaskas which are £¥$€$¥. I’d love to see some test results
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Anchor Shackles Round II - Practical Sailor

I completed most of the tests on the 3/8th" shackles.

If you use the link, above, there are further test results linked.

The only reliable galvanised shackles come from Crosby, Peerless, Yoke and Campbell. Choosing one size, 3/8th", each of these manufacturers' specification is the same or similar WLL of 2t and a UTS of 10t. This may seem 'overstrength' for 'our' application but note that if the shackle locks up at an angle then the WLL (and UTS) is reduced by upto 50%.

CMP in their Titan range sell what they call Black Pin shackles with a similar specification - I would not recommend them. They had been on the market for some time when the test result were found to be wanting, the shackles did not meet their own specifications. When queried they, prevaricated, did not offer any of their own independent results, say from SGS, they did not provide any batch test results - and despite query the test methodology they did change the WLL from metric tonnes to Imperil short tons (thus meeting the embossed spec on each shackle) They quite happily sold their Black Pin shackles with a 2, short, ton embossing on the shackle in metric markets.

A common and accepted protocol for shackles is to test a string of 5 shackles and average the results. For reasons of simple economy we only tested one or 2 of each shackle. Testing 5 of each shackle - is a lot of shackles and buying single shackles - at random - all should meet the specification.

I found their solution to be questionable practice and wondered if they had ever tested their shackles.

They, CMP, also sell a Yellow Pin shackle, of a lower specification. It was within the specification.

Jonathan
 
I appologise for the thread drift on the previous post

If you were to buy all the available 3/8th" shackles - Crosby, Campbell, Lidl and (insert whatever) - they all look exactly the same.

At 2am in the rain when you are uprading your ground tackle - they still look the same

The difference is factorial - most good 3/8th shackles have a WLL of 2t the others might be 1t (and actually less (or more) - but in the dark they - all look the same.

All the rest of the shackles you have on your yacht will be stainless - to avoid confusion buy your galvanised shackles such that they are not the weak link, Crosby, Peerless, Yoke, Campbell

Keep the Lidl, et al, off your yacht and restrict their usage to securing the dog.

You know it makes sense (and in the grand scheme of things - costs peanuts)

You can buy Crosby shackles from Tecni who normally hold stock, in the UK. Crosby, Peerless (and Gunnebo) are all now part of the same conglomerate "Kito", Yoke are Taiwan - but have a UK marketing outlet (office); Campbell are part of Apex Tools (and American) - try Fisheries Supply in America).


Note - I chose 3/8th" as being a common size and had to restrict how many shackles I bought (and derstroyed). There is nothing special, of which I am aware, of a 3/8th" shackle.

Jonathan
 
Neeves said:
Anchor Shackles Round II - Practical Sailor

I completed most of the tests on the 3/8th" shackles.

If you use the link, above, there are further test results linked.

The only reliable galvanised shackles come from Crosby, Peerless, Yoke and Campbell. Choosing one size, 3/8th", each of these manufacturers' specification is the same or similar WLL of 2t and a UTS of 10t. This may seem 'overstrength' for 'our' application but note that if the shackle locks up at an angle then the WLL (and UTS) is reduced by upto 50%.

CMP in their Titan range sell what they call Black Pin shackles with a similar specification - I would not recommend them. They had been on the market for some time when the test result were found to be wanting, the shackles did not meet their own specifications. When queried they, prevaricated, did not offer any of their own independent results, say from SGS, they did not provide any batch test results - and despite query the test methodology they did change the WLL from metric tonnes to Imperil short tons (thus meeting the embossed spec on each shackle) They quite happily sold their Black Pin shackles with a 2, short, ton embossing on the shackle in metric markets.

A common and accepted protocol for shackles is to test a string of 5 shackles and average the results. For reasons of simple economy we only tested one or 2 of each shackle. Testing 5 of each shackle - is a lot of shackles and buying single shackles - at random - all should meet the specification.

I found their solution to be questionable practice and wondered if they had ever tested their shackles.

They, CMP, also sell a Yellow Pin shackle, of a lower specification. It was within the specification.

Jonathan
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Just to correct a misstatement :

Short Ton is the USA Ton ... too often mistakenly stated as Imperial ...

The true Imperial Ton is the Long Ton of UK and rest of world when not using Metric Ton ......

I am well aware that USA measurements are often called Imperial - but that is a 'street based' understanding.
 
vyv_cox said:
My shackle testing was nowhere near as comprehensive as Jonathon's but it does give an idea of just how bad some of the cheap ones are. These were all bought at chandleries, no idea if Lidl's are better or worse. Connectors
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It looks to me from the failure loads that the shackles/chain/etc failed at loads greater than likely to be found on my 30ft lightish boat. Or is that too simplistic an approach? I must admit, very few of the shackles on my boat are ‘name brand’, merely the usual generic 316 stuff from a chandlery.
 
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