Vintage Bagnall & Loud Block Double-Sheaved Block and Tackle Pulley w/ attached Bucket Ring

Description

Vintage Bagnall & Loud Block Company of Boston, Massachusetts.

Double-Sheaved block and tackle pulley with attached “Becket Ring”.

Manufacturing Period: 1872 – 1887

Because your metal side-plate is cleanly stamped with the independent company name and its city of origin rather than a unified logo, it can be traced to a narrow 15-year window.

•Rope Capacity: Blocks in this weight bracket were designed to run heavy-duty 1-inch to 1-1/8 inch diameter manila hemp rope.

•Working Load Limit (WLL): An iron multi-sheave assembly of this caliber was built to safely hoist massive weights, likely rated between 3 to 5 tons.

Typical Historic Usage

Because standard barn or agricultural pulleys usually only weigh 3 to 7 lbs, this massive 17.4-lb variant was purpose-built for high-strain applications:

•Commercial Shipping: Used on multi-masted New England schooners to hoist massive timber booms or heavy canvas sails.

•Wharf Crane Rigging: Positioned on cargo docks to lift crates, barrels, and machinery directly out of ship hulls.

Constructed entirely from wrought iron and cast iron. 

Metal Composition Breakdown

•The Main Shell (Outer Plates): The stamped side plates are made of wrought iron or high-grade cast iron. The rough, pitted surface you see is characteristic of 19th-century foundry molding processes.

•The Swivel Hook & Internal Straps: The heavy attachment hook and the load-bearing internal framing structural loops are hand-forged wrought iron. This gave the assembly the structural tensile strength needed to lift multi-ton loads without snapping. 

•The Internal Wheel (Sheave): The inner wheels are typically solid cast iron.

•The Bushing (The Secret Center): Bagnall & Loud made their name by pioneering their patented “Star Roller Bushings”. The internal roller bearings hidden deep inside the center spindle are made of a heavy bronze alloy, designed to prevent the iron wheel from seizing up under extreme weight.

The overall gray-white coating visible on the exterior is a mix of oxidization, decades of grease buildup, and a factory hot-dip galvanized zinc coating originally applied to protect the raw iron from corrosive Atlantic saltwater. 

17.4 lbs 

18” overall length w. “Becket” Ring

10” long “Shell”

4” thickness 

5” Wide

$255

1-available