This may be so, but at least the Poms took the bladder out of the rabbit before using it. Tauri excretum
Dan Punchard:
May be the Romans sheeted the chariots up as they invented the condom in the form of a rabbit bladder !
When I left BRS and came to Western Australia nearly 47 years ago, I thought that rope rails were the most god awful invention that a lorry driver could experience. When you had tied off the first rope, using a dolly that had to be made in a strange way, you had to pull the whole length of the rope through the rail to make just one half hitch to tie the dolly off. Every rope over the load had to be tied this way even going to the extent of pulling all of the rope through the rail to throw the next one over the load unless you cut the rope into short lengths. Thankfully, most flat top trailers had gate sides so it wasn’t quite the same as the English method of tying down a load. The only good thing about rails was that they were strong enough to take a chain which, because of the state of the roads in those days were used quite a lot. For tying down a load, the hooks beat rails any day.
ParkRoyal2100:
Bewick:
ADR 1:
axletramp:
NZ JAMIE:
Both the Aussies and Kiwi’s use the dolly knot,but they are tied off on a rope rail which runs the length of the trailer instead of rope hooks.So how is the rope tied off on the rope rail please?
Hope this helps - looks a faff
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73hHtb_if1gWhat a load of bollox,bloody great long winded hitch and a short,made to measure rope.The only thing you could say in his favour was that he wrapped his little coil of rope up nice and tidy,but then it was only 15ft long,not 90ft as normal.
There are all sorts of variations (or were, I see very few using ropes any more - come to that flatbeds are dying out, at least around where I work), but it’s more or less how I learned when I started on flat beds here. He does make a dog’s dinner of tying the dolly (hitch) cos it’s much easier to have a half loop over your wrist when putting the dolly in than all that tiresome feeding the loose end round the bar - it cuts the time and messing about in half. Tying off on the rail is a simple clove hitch and you can get just as quick tying one on a rail as doing it by doubling loops on a hook.
Rails do mean shorter rope lengths but that isn’t all bad - they’re easier to handle and stow than 90’ lengths. Rails can be a pain in the fundament but on the rare occasions I’ve done roping in Britain I found it annoying not having a hook in the right place (to keep the rope at right angles to the wagon). So it’s horses for courses - both rails and hooks have their advantages and disadvantages and most of the criticisms of either are simply a function of what you’re used to.
I would assume (but may not be correct) that trailers in Oz and N/Z did have hooks originally as the UK did, at some point the rail design came about but there surely must have been a different method of securing intended instead of rope as the disadvantages of the rail system and rope would have been obvious to the manufacturers. Chains have been mentioned which then sounds much more sensible, so maybe it was the drivers themselves that used rope on the rails and therefore had to adjust the method to work, whether due to a lack of chains or the load dictated a rope would suffice (most humans look for an easy way around even if it means it ends up a bit of a fiddle).
It also seems our hooks appear antiquated to drivers down under but in truth they are very versatile, to answer the last post, when a hook was missing or the rope came down between hooks then a ‘splitter’ could be used as seen below, there were other techniques for other situations also, the chain and the present day strap are rather restricted in this, of course all three methods available give an even bigger variation, its a shame that today in most cases the strap seems to be the only tool in the box! Cheers Franky. (excuse the basics knocked this up quickly)
I reckon you’ve missed your true vocation, Franky- that’s as clear a drawing as I’ve seen.
Another variation on the “splitter” theme was to start as high as you could reach, bringing the dolly around hook (1) then make another dolly onto hook (2). It uses a bit more rope but it could be pulled tighter.
That’s certainly the way I was taught to do it ROF.
It would almost (only almost) be worth doing the Drivers CPC course so that you could ask the 14 year old instructor how he might solve such a problem.
Course I suppose that The Elf and The Safety would now insist that a trailer were cut up for scrap if it had a broken hook!
David
The instructor would probably ask what on earth a “rope hook” was. 
Apart from the occaisional missing hook on a trailer the main use of the “split” was used over the mudguard/s on a rigid motor as the gap between the hooks was greater than between the the other cross bearers,IIRC.Cheers Bewick.
agree dennis , also useful when our fitters were putting the first spray suppressions on , and chopped all the hooks spanning the two axles . ( zb) useless sods , they had to weld the hooks back on and cut slots to get the ropes on the hooks .
rigsby:
agree dennis , also useful when our fitters were putting the first spray suppressions on , and chopped all the hooks spanning the two axles . ( zb) useless sods , they had to weld the hooks back on and cut slots to get the ropes on the hooks .
Yes Dave,when spray supression came in we fitted the first trailer up with those upper side strips and the two vertical flaps,but thought they were crap so we carried on with doing the rest with plastic mudguards and small flaps,found this the best way.The trailer manufactures(well TASK did) went down the mudguard route as well.Cheers Dennis.
Frankydobo:
I would assume (but may not be correct) that trailers in Oz and N/Z did have hooks originally as the UK did, at some point the rail design came about but there surely must have been a different method of securing intended instead of rope as the disadvantages of the rail system and rope would have been obvious to the manufacturers. Chains have been mentioned which then sounds much more sensible, so maybe it was the drivers themselves that used rope on the rails and therefore had to adjust the method to work, whether due to a lack of chains or the load dictated a rope would suffice (most humans look for an easy way around even if it means it ends up a bit of a fiddle).It also seems our hooks appear antiquated to drivers down under but in truth they are very versatile, to answer the last post, when a hook was missing or the rope came down between hooks then a ‘splitter’ could be used as seen below, there were other techniques for other situations also, the chain and the present day strap are rather restricted in this, of course all three methods available give an even bigger variation, its a shame that today in most cases the strap seems to be the only tool in the box! Cheers Franky. (excuse the basics knocked this up quickly)
0
Well in my earley days in the haulage game this sort of knot was called a wheel bridge, Which was used where the mudwings were fitted on ridgids as well as trailers, I recall the old Scammell trailers having hooks that were fitted on a ring so they could be swivelled about, Not a good point as far as I was concerened, Regards Larry.
boris:
I still don’t understand why its only the brits/colonies that ‘rope & sheet’ the way that we do , why did our european neighbours use tilts insteadI often wonder what the ‘foreigners’ must think seeing a well sheeted load
When I use to do Dutch Groupage, if I was back at the depot in Flushing early, the boss there would often ask me to go and load one of his flat trailers down at the chemical plant, he would then take photo’s of it when I got back, he was so impressed with the British way of roping and sheeting, compared to his own countrymen, and Dennis, I never let the side down.
Frankydobo:
I would assume (but may not be correct) that trailers in Oz and N/Z did have hooks originally as the UK did, at some point the rail design came about but there surely must have been a different method of securing intended instead of rope as the disadvantages of the rail system and rope would have been obvious to the manufacturers. Chains have been mentioned which then sounds much more sensible, so maybe it was the drivers themselves that used rope on the rails and therefore had to adjust the method to work, whether due to a lack of chains or the load dictated a rope would suffice (most humans look for an easy way around even if it means it ends up a bit of a fiddle).It also seems our hooks appear antiquated to drivers down under but in truth they are very versatile, to answer the last post, when a hook was missing or the rope came down between hooks then a ‘splitter’ could be used as seen below, there were other techniques for other situations also, the chain and the present day strap are rather restricted in this, of course all three methods available give an even bigger variation, its a shame that today in most cases the strap seems to be the only tool in the box! Cheers Franky. (excuse the basics knocked this up quickly)
0
I already knew about the “splitter” methjod you mention Franky but thanks for an excellent sketch of the method. Wish I had your skillz (innit) or I’d supply a similar one showing the short-cut of already having half a loop of rope over your wrist before you put the dolly in - there really is no need to keep feeding lengths of rope under and over the rail except to tie off, which you have to do on hooks at some point anyway. Whether trailers and flatbeds here (oz) originally had hooks I don’t know, I somehow suspect they followed the US which as far as I know always used rails.
But as per the Good roping (not) thread Good Roping & Sheeting, Errrr NOT - OLD TIME LORRIES, COMPANIES AND DRIVERS (INTERACT - Trucknet UK tautliners are much more prevalent (at least around major cities) these days, and let’s face it they’re much easier and quicker on distribution and multi-drop work than flatbeds and sheets (tarps as they’re called here) in the wet - I should know. Conversely, a flatbed is much easier than any tautliner when the weather is fine. And call me perverse but I enjoy seeing a well-sheeted load - a fortnight or so back I turned up at the yard at quarter to sparrow’s ■■■■ and outside the yard gates was a flatbed semi-trailer fully loaded with board that had been expertly sheeted. When the driver appeared I congratulated the bloke (he was at least as old as I am) and he gave me a bit of an odd look until I explained I had some idea of the work he’d had to put in to make it look that tidy. it’s a dying art, but such is “progress”.
Just posted this on another thread and seen the roping over the axles, fine example of what was being said 
Telekonsteve:
Just posted this on another thread and seen the roping over the axles, fine example of what was being said
Just looking at that load made me think of the smell of those “double duck” sheets in the summer sun!
Retired Old ■■■■:
Telekonsteve:
Just posted this on another thread and seen the roping over the axles, fine example of what was being saidJust looking at that load made me think of the smell of those “double duck” sheets in the summer sun!
Hi Rof, once loaded skins out of Glasgow for Hull docks, parked in Bradford all weekend[ summertime] wool sheets on a three foot load rolled under for a neat load, gets in the cab Monday morning, blue bottles every where, ERF not the tightest cab for flies, when I got to Hull took the sheets off millions of maggots dropped out, must have been two ton overloaded with the f–in things, pressure washed my sheets when I got back in the yard.
Les.