In truth the Lorry Driver used a very small number of knots compared to the various types and variety required for the many ranges of uses of the Seafarer, which reached its height during the 18th Century with the sailing ships where rope would be measured in miles rather than in feet. Ropemaking and knot work however goes back to ancient times but it was this period that saw the creative use of many hours spent at sea developing and inventing new knots sometimes in competitions held on board that produced most of the knots still used today. Knots come in many names and these are also grouped such as Bends, Stopper, Binding, Hitches and even Fancy Knots all with individual names some with several for the same knot depending on area and passage of time.
The drivers Dolly Knot is a derivation of the Sheepshank originally used as the name suggests for securing sheep to a post for grazing, the knot allowed the rope to be shortened or lengthened to allow the sheep to graze only a certain circular area of grass during the day. Rope itself sometimes termed a Line is made up from Yarn, the fibres needed whether natural or man-made, this is twisted into Strands and this then twisted into Rope, to make a Right-Laid Rope (as used by us) the fibre is twisted into right handed Yarn, this is then twisted into opposing directions to make Left-Laid Strands then twisted together again in the opposite direction to make Right-Laid Rope made up of three Strands, its the twisting in alternative directions that gives the Rope its strength. Rope larger in Diameter than half an Inch can then be made into Hawsers and then Hawsers made into Cable a thick rope normally made from three Hawsers.
So by twisting ropes of various diameters many other larger and stronger ropes are made for many uses and purpose built ropemaking factories sprang up and were commonly a Mile in length, that’s why there are still streets and roads with names such as Mile St, Mile Way, Milelong etc and usually found near docksides or shipbuilding areas. The Lorry Driver has been able to utilise some of the well known and used knots to enable his job to be carried out and just as with the Seaman has adjusted and converted the knotmanship to suit over the years, inevitably it will disappear especially with the use of different devices and materials which are ready made and don’t have to be hand crafted to use, I would say those of us that used ropes are now slipping into the pages of the history book of transport, all good things come to an end! Hope this brief background was of any interest, cheers Franky.
Not bad Frankydobo, about 113 knots, bends, splices…lorry drivers knot,bend,hitch not included, my words…However a mister CYRUS L DAY, ADLARD COLES NAUTICAL says so from one of my early years books…i took the bait ,now start on the tunnel, hehe ,
Frankydobo:
In truth the Lorry Driver used a very small number of knots compared to the various types
The drivers Dolly Knot is a derivation of the Sheepshank originally used as the name suggests for securing sheep to a post for grazing, the knot allowed the rope to be shortened or lengthened
As I knew it there were only two knots needed to rope loads on a truck.The dolly and the only way I could describe it the double reverse twist used to lock the rope to the hook when tying off a dolly or starting a new pass on the runs between the hooks or tying a sheet down.While some only used a single twist when starting a new pass which didn’t actually lock the rope to the hook therefore if it got loose anywhere along the runs between the hooks then at least that pass over the load, loosened off.
While from memory the same knot used to lock the rope when tying off a dolly or starting a new pass etc could also be used,instead of what’s been described as a bow line or splicing the rope,to make a loop,to start off with.
As for the dolly that’s actually used as a type of rope pulley.IE it does the same job as a pulley block would in multiplying the pulling force on the rope.
A pulley block, rigged with rope, no matter how many [sheves]=the wheel inside the block that goes round when the rope is being pulled. A block can be rigged to advantage or disadvantage ie PULLING POWER. it would take to long for me to explain and then maybe get it wrong.
The most common [block and tackle] ie two blocks with rope going through each block .normally hung up in a garage. is rigged to advantage…go to Wikipedia.
When I was on the Octopus and trailer at Brady’s in the mid '60’s I always worked on the N/S of the outfit and when we’d finished sheeting and roping a load my “Boss” the late great Eric Postlethwaite would walk around the back of the trailer and he’d look along the eyes of the hitches and if they were all in line I’d get the thumbs up but if one or two were a bit out of line I’d get " bit rough Brother " and they would only be very slightly out but that wasn’t good enough for a perfectionist like Eric and another requirement was all our seven sheets had to be rolled up tight like cigars and tied tight with the sheet ties which you left a couple out for the job. Cheers Bewick.
Bewick absolutely correct about the sheets it used to be my “not dedication” ,but i suspect pride if you could have pride folding sheets.and the two rope tails only us who did it would only know …
.if you had 20 rolled up sheets in a row i bet you would be able to pick your own out .
.they would just flick out on the top of a load, once rolled .
Any inexperienced sheet roller upper,with me,would get told yo pick up the tail at the other end and" pull hard against me" [ i would be at the other end] as if you mean it, the saying was"pull like you were pulling a …a… man of your sister" and walk them through the" dance"OF ROLLING UP…Bewick i do understand that its like sucking eggs to you sorry, but there may be the [do not know what you are talking about driver] out there
however mostly i liked to do my own rolling sheets!.
JUST FOR A RIDER when at sea we had 3 hatch cover tarps[canvas] covering each cargo hatch, 3 on each when at sea!,and my they had to be folded so they could be handled easily i knew the benefit of doing it pro ply. pdb
cartageman:
I learn’t roping and sheeting as a journey trailer mate at the age of sixteen. 48 hrs for £3 3s &3pence. 83 mow and can still do it if needs be.
Hi there Cartageman,so i gather you have done yr fare share in haulage,I done 28 yrs of Ropes & Sheeting, small amount of tautlner work,frozen sheets,frozen ropes,lol,Best load i think is 16 pallets of fertilizer,Quick Fly sheet load,lol,Norman croad,Torquay.
Hi 6lx, two of the worst loads to sheet and rope were bales of wool, making sure the bottoms were on the outside, and Hygrade printed and folded cartons, high and bloody unstable. Trying to get the sheets over the top. Happy Days. And now for the best. On continental in 69 I did a couple of runs to chechoslovakia. a cold store at Pilsen, a chap who worked there asked me to go for a meal with him and after explaining what life was like under the Russians had taken them over he had drawn numbers on the beer mat ,which he ate after to hide evidence which could endanger his life. We later went to a large restaurant in the town and he told a small chap in a suit and bow tie that I was his English friend who was taking meat from England to them as the Ruskies had depleted their stocks. It turned out to be the band leader. There was a big fanfare and I was asked to stand While about 500 people cheered me for what seemed ages. After that I appreciated our land a lot more.
Cheers Franky, interesting bit of background there. I remember going to the ropery at Chatham docks a couple of years ago, was quite interesting learning about the process etc.
At work we use a single dolly, eye splice and backsplice, two half hitches to lock off and occasionally a spreader which I can’t remember since we use it so rarely, the loads don’t often have to be lashed over wheel arches. To tie the sheets off its just a simple slipknot. As for rolling the sheets two of our drivers are very fussy and often prefer to roll them themselves than let the summer boys at them, nothing worse than handing him a collapsing roll or even worse, one that’s been rolled back to front. And like others here, a couple of ties out to tie the roll together when done, simples.
Subject drifted a bit onto sheets and folding preferences, so I thought I would throw in my system which I started when I first drove an artic in '66 having 2sheets and a fly instead of 1 and a fly. First the square sheet, fold in the normal screen fold of four,(sometimes refered to as ‘over and back’) leaving all the end ties out.
Now fold in from one end 3 feet of sheet leaving out 2 ties take the other end of the sheet throw all the ties in, and bring it up to ■■■■ against the end of the first fold in,go to the ‘long’ end and tightly rollup, useing the two loose ties to secure a neat roll.
Next the fly, fold and roll in the same manner EXCEPT make the inital fold in three not a screen fold of four.
The benefits of this system will be soon discovered when sheeting outside in wind especialy, un-tie rear sheet roll out about 4 feet, throw the short end foward,lay the rolled fly on in to hold down ,take the other end walking to the rear or load and drop over, adjust to meet trailer floor. Un-fold and tie four corners. Repeat with front sheet , then tie both in the usual manner. Let the short end of the fly down the front, secure ties tempararily walk back to the rear and Holding the ties slide down to the ground and tie off, this will stop the sheet being blown awaw , adjust and tie the fly.
Yes, Peggydeckboy you sure got that right about the state of ones hands, everywhere there was a crease in the skin a crack would develop.
I used, and still do, a brand of skin softener and healer called ‘Snowfire’. It’s messy and greasy and attracts dirt something bad, but it works.
As a hand cleaner my fathers old Hillbilly farmer method works a treat; Cup one hand, put in a tea spoon of olive oil, a good shake of vim and a teaspoon of granular sugar. Work this well into the hands till the sugar has disolved, now wash with soap and water as normal.The hands will now be smooth as a ■■■■■!!
Traction man this could end up as old wife’s remedies, ,probably not ,however none of the young bucks, will ever get their hands like we used to and to be honest that is not a bad thing .i am curios as why you need hand cleaner now-days, my hands are like a tarts, soft,
We used to get road tar off the kids hand s and clothes with maragrine.
your remedy with the sugar,we used magarine and sugar or sand out of the fire buckets, we used at sea to get STOCKHOLME TAR off our hands ,now that was some stuff to get off.
wrighty and buzzer my be familiar with it as it was used if a had animal had cuts.
Still get rough hands as I work on a farm cutting badly overgrown trees and hedges the old way, as a lot of her fields are too wet to get a tractor mounted cutter on.
Also cutting is not permitted in the bird nest season if done by machine.
Remember Stockholme tar, as Father used to put is on animal injuries as it sealed them from dirt.
Whoa, my type of work ,when i left school working on a arable farm was my first job ,hedge splashing, thinning coppice, ditching,laying drains ,cleaning out brooks ,and streams culverts, putting up fences, gates =posts all wood,.learning/watching hedge laying, but he never let me have a bill hook of my own had my own apron and glove.
Even now when i walk about the fields where i am i see a ditch ,and think i could just make that a bit better,clearing out pond weed ,anything i think it takes me back 57 years.
What i want to know TRACTION MAN is how do you post the pictures on here, i have problems with "Photobucket .
Also when i finished at sea and before i got into driving i had a spell as PLATE LAYING on the railway, now that was a mega job with a good shovel.we used to file the corners off just to take the square edge off also use a scythe on the rail banks.and i could use a stone, yea good old days …8 hours a day on a shovel…
Re: Downloads. My photo files are on a portable hard drive, when I want to upload I copy the relavent pic to ‘Documents’
Then click to 'upload attatchment’then go to ‘browse’ click that and the ‘documents’ file will come on-screen, select the desired pic, title the file if not already done , then click ‘open’ this will put the title in the ‘browse box’, click on 'Add the file. Job done! P.S. I am running on Windows 7 program
but that wasn’t good enough for a perfectionist like Eric and another requirement was all our seven sheets had to be rolled up tight like cigars and tied tight with the sheet ties which you left a couple out for the job. Cheers Bewick.
Still get rough hands as I work on a farm cutting badly overgrown trees and hedges the old way, as a lot of her fields are too wet to get a tractor mounted cutter on.