Tow Shackle overkill

[Deamer]

Picked up four of these from a friend cleaning out his shop. Has anyone ever seen them used as tow shackles? They are coupling links used for attaching things like hooks to large chain. They are 5/8" with a working load of 20300 pounds. They are also alloy instead of straight steel.The only drawback I can see is the way you take them apart. The orange part in the center has a spring inside it that keeps the pin from sliding out. You need a small punch to push the pin out with a small hammer. It could make getting a strap hooked to it a little more time consuming than a regular shackle. Easily fixed by hooking up the straps before I hit the trail. Looking for any pros or cons to these that I haven't mentioned. Thanks

[k7mto]

They look pretty nice and are apparently plenty strong. The price is certainly right

Maybe you can modify the pin so that it can be extracted by hand, or at least with a pair of pliers (vs hammer and punch). Maybe weld a ring to one end of the pin?

[YJwonderboy]

.......Maybe weld a ring to one end of the pin?

That's the route I would go.