Nobody’s mentioned hitting frozen dollys with a hammer or trying to coil frozen ropes!
sayersy:
Nobody’s mentioned hitting frozen dollys with a hammer or trying to coil frozen ropes!
Or wet sheets or sheets with a lake in the middle of them 
Or standing on top of a 14ft load of timber on Grimsby docks trying to sort your sheets out in a howling gale.
When you weigh as little as I do it’s a result that you’re not blown off. (If you’ll pardon the expression).
Used to rope an sheet 6 trailers a night out of Heinz at Wigan for awhile whilst on with Jim Nuttals when based at Hollinwood. Quite enjoyed it in summer , bit of a ■■■■■ in winter tho. 
Dotty D:
0I was the same as you matey till about 9/ 10 months ago I found my self an old boy that new how to rope and sheet that was willing to teach and we stoped there untill I could do it, it’s a dieing trade withing drivers, it’s hard work some times and that’s what I think puts drivers off
Is that ali billet for Hydro Birtley? It stands in the yard in all weathers but has to be sheeted on the road, presumably because of the value. Earthmover tyres from Michelin Stoke had to be sheeted, even thought they spend their entire working life covered in mud.
sayersy:
Dotty D:
0I was the same as you matey till about 9/ 10 months ago I found my self an old boy that new how to rope and sheet that was willing to teach and we stoped there untill I could do it, it’s a dieing trade withing drivers, it’s hard work some times and that’s what I think puts drivers off
Is that ali billet for Hydro Birtley? It stands in the yard in all weathers but has to be sheeted on the road, presumably because of the value. Earthmover tyres from Michelin Stoke had to be sheeted, even thought they spend their entire working life covered in mud.
That’s hydros now sapas yard that’s the aluminium sheeted up
like most drivers I learnt mine from my dad,went out with him since I was six,would not want to do it now,too much hard work,dont mind the hard work but I had my fill of it over the years
It’s a young man’s game, I tell you that much for free.
The older lads don’t do it as it is a bit dicey if you have to get on top of the load & it’s bloody hard work. (I don’t need a H&S sermon).
I don’t have any ropes on my sheets as I just use the straps to secure the load & the sheet. I found that the ropes would sometimes be in danger of going under the wheels with disastrous consequences obv.
The knots on the little ropes are easy to do just a quick flick over (can’t describe).
The most important thing to do when trying to secure tarps is learn how to do a dolly knot or truckers knot as they’re known. Search on you tube. i could do them 15 years ago when working at kingsbury pallets but i’ve forgot & even after watching the you tube videos, i can’t get it back, ill ask me mate to show me again, it’s the sort of thing, it’ll take you a while to get the hang but once it clicks you’ll be dollying like a pro.
My loads only need loose tarp protection so they’re flapping around like a wrong un behind me, i can feel the tut tut from the old guard but I couldn’t give a ■■■■ if its pretty. For more sensitive loads, you’d have to be a bit more present wrap style!! 
**Make sure your tarp isn’t too big or heavy to lift, if so get 2 & put 2 halves on, when I first started the bloke told me to get 50 foot by 15 foot pvc, cheers! nearly killed myself a few time on that. Get 2 half canvas tarps & then you can get a 2.4(2.5) metre wide by 13.6 metre or a bit longer maybe say 15 metre top PVC sheet. Canvas is much easier to manipulate & is lighter than pvc & less prone to damage. Canvas will seep standing water through! PVC does not!
Nostalgia is something best viewed from the comfort of your armchair twenty years after the event!
Did I get satisfaction from roping and sheeting a load so that it was tighter than a drumskin? Absolutely I did. Do I miss the dirty “freckles” I got when pulling down on a wet rope? Do I miss being able to comfortably put out a cigarette on the palm of either hand? Do I miss the constantly open cracks on the edges of my hands? Do I buggery!
Ropes and sheets were relevant in their day, that day has passed.
youtube.com/watch?v=oYZIYMI7BNE
As good a video as you are likely to find.
Note that you have to reach up as high as you can to allow for pulling it down. When we used to rope hard stuff like timber, we used a second knot on the free end at an angle to pull it down even harder.
I always used a double dolly when on the timber.
I used to do multi drop on roping and sheeting as well.
Yes, double dolly is best on everything when you’re learning anyway, much less likely to undo itself and put you on your arse.
Envelope the ends, scrunch up sheet corners, put a loop round them and pull them taught.
When you pull down on a dolly, loop the rope round that hook to finish, then along to the next hook, loop it again before throwing it over for the next rope over…it only takes seconds but should a dolly undo during transit only that single rope will loosen, if looped the others will stay put.
I used to love roping and sheeting, almost get them ropes humming in the wind ratchet strap style, lovely tight neat sheets, roped main sheets, fly sheet only roped at front and back.
Muckspreader:
Years ago I was on oil & Pickle the steel was so thin I generally couldn’t use chains even If I did it stall had to be double sheeted.So oil & pickle is steel that’s been in an acid bath (pickled) then oiled as it will start to rust within minutes, so flat sheets of steel as smooth as can be then oiled lay on bearers on a trailer and how do you hold them on the trailer = you learn to rope & sheet really really well, 2 tarp’s as you can not allow the rain in at all, plus the steel cuts through the first tarp.
The packs of steel are as slippery as ice.So to all you newbies if you want a job for life learn to rope & sheet and do 2 years accident free on oil & pickle and every company out there will employ you.
I once drove from Birmingham to Norwich with a carton of milk on the bumper (forgot I’d put it their) so yep I think I’m a pretty steady driver.
When I take a potential new employee out in a truck I always put a cup of coffee on the dash if they spill it there done for.
I’m doing that now. Sept when sorts in Micra’s try & see how well you’ve fastened it to the back…
lolipop:
Freight Dog:
I’ve been forced to try this when on general haulage early 2000s and sent to military depots. Used to pull curtainsiders then one day arrived 0300 in yard to start week and behind the unit was a flatbed, sheets scrunched up, ropes and straps. Got it sorted after many frustrating hours swearing, enough to get it where it needed to go but it was far from neat. I never had to do it again.That run bothered me as I didnt get the chance to have it explained and crack it; no driver at the yard knew either (old buggers included). It was clear it’s one of those things you need to see, words and text don’t explain it. To this day I’d still like to know how to do it. Are there any vids or links to methods with pics to satisfy my curiosity? I know the principle of laying the sheets in the correct order and how to tie a dolly but I couldn’t get how you get the edge of the sheet to match the level of the trailer edge so perfectly without appearing scrunched up. The load in question was up and down at different levels and not very high and the sheets massive, maybe too big.
Basic
s of roping and sheeting are simple enough. (1)Make sure the sheets are folded properly, Lay your sheets out flat on the ground and fold it 3/4 over and back both edges and then roll them up,that way its easier to unfold over the load careful getting them on the top of your load,suggest if possible put them on top as your loading progresss along the trailer etc.
(2) Depending on the size of your “bed” or load will determine how many sheets you need.
Always start from the rear end of the load,and work forward ensure you have sufficient sheet covering the load and not obscuring your tail light
(3) If your using 2-3 sheets each sheet should overlap each other down the trailer towards the rear,to prevent any wind getting underneath as your going along.
(4) At the front and back of the load make sure you take each corner across to the opposite side of the trailer tie down and the pull the centre out creating a “flap” then again tie down over the “cross overs”
(5) Tuck any loose ends up under the sheets,then start roping.
(6)Start from the front and work down the trailer starting with a cross coming from the top corners of the load on each side and then one straight across the sheet to hold the front "flap"down. same at the rear when you get there.Unfortunately doing a “dolly” is more difficult to explain as its something you really need to be shown “on the job” but be prepared to have a bruised backside a few times as until you get the hang of it your liable to have the “dolly” slip when you pull on the rope.
When throwing your rope over from one side to the other its easier to throw with the wind
The best so far.
Ok let me get this right - young guys want to learn how to rope and sheet - or at least have a go at it .
We are ALL sitting through 35 hours of dcpc training in the next 5 years .
Who wants to learn something new or sit through the same rubbish another 35 hours .
Why can’t this kind of thing be added into DCPC where those who can teach those who can’t and we all learn something new - or is that way to simple an idea ?
beefy4605:
Ok let me get this right - young guys want to learn how to rope and sheet - or at least have a go at it .
We are ALL sitting through 35 hours of dcpc training in the next 5 years .
Who wants to learn something new or sit through the same rubbish another 35 hours .
Why can’t this kind of thing be added into DCPC where those who can teach those who can’t and we all learn something new - or is that way to simple an idea ?
kin ell they’ll be sending a yellow van with two kind attendants for you talking sense like that.
nick2008:
sayersy:
It used to be common practice to carry everything on flat, including foodstuffs. I remember loading tinned food from Bartletts of Bridgewater on a flat. Can you imagine the scene at a modern Tesco RDC , with all the drivers out in the yard, rolling sheets up!J West out of a w/house in Liverpool had to sheet it as you loaded or the locals had tinned salmon for the next week
used to hate john wests with a passion 
in Liverplop 
on murkydive.
If roped up when dry then have it rain on the trip, boy did that tighten the ropes, (Hemp ones), but then if it dried out again everything would go slack and need re roping.
^^^^^thats how to do it !the Bewick way .