Sheave & Snatch Blocks
Sheave & Snatch Blocks
Sheave and snatch blocks are designed to deflect a loaded wire rope when a change in direction is required for a particular application or to increase the line pull or lifting capacity of a hoist or winch by multiplying the number of parts of line. A sheave or snatch block usually consists of side plates, sheave and a head fitting or lower lifting fitting. These blocks are available in a wide variety of configurations and numerous sheave combinations
Sheave Blocks
A sheave block refers to a block in which the side plates are fixed around the sheave or sheaves and the rope cannot be placed into the block at any point along its length. Sheave blocks, except snatch blocks, can only be reeved by feeding the end of the rope through the block. This type of block is most commonly used with wire rope in crane fall blocks. Sheave blocks and crane fall blocks often have numerous sheaves depending on the crane configuration.
Snatch Blocks
A snatch block usually only has one or two sheaves and is used more as a lifting accessory with wire rope slings or as a means of increasing line pull in a winching application as opposed to an integral part of a crane as is often the case with sheave blocks. The main feature common to snatch blocks is that the side plates open to allow the block to be placed on a wire rope at any point in a winching application or to allow wire rope slings to be placed into the block as in most circumstances it is impractical to feed a wire rope sling through a sheave block.
