Down-home Swaged Cable Testing.

[betwys1]

I have prepared two test articles of 1/8 inch 1x19 stainless cable.
One is 12 inch overall, the other is 18 inches long end to end.
They consist of a pro swaged stud terminal 1/4 - 28 one end and a home swage stud terminal 1/4 in x 20 in 316 stainless swaged on the other end.

I am looking for a method of loading each article to 2000 lb or to breaking/slipping. Plumbing a pressure gauge into a hydraulic jack seems impractical. Buying an s shape load cell and hooking up an instrument amplifier seems needlessly expensive for a one shot test.
Is there a reasonable middle way to register the max force applied?