Load Restraint on HGVs

[EddieK]

I have some model HGVs set in 1977. Would the loads have been secured to flat bed trailers with ropes, or had ratchet straps been invented by then?

[PhilJ W]

Roping and sheeting was still in common use then but ratchet straps were just starting to be used. If your on Facebook a group called 70's and 80's trucking would be a good place to ask.

[Fat Controller]

1 hour ago, EddieK said:

I have some model HGVs set in 1977. Would the loads have been secured to flat bed trailers with ropes, or had ratchet straps been invented by then?

I spent quite a bit of time loading/unloading and sheeting/roping HGVs around. Both were in use, sometimes on the same trailer; sheets were always roped. I got quite proficent at securing sheets- I forget the name of the knot used, but it had quite a high mechanical advantage.

[fodenway]

I always knew them as "Dollies", but there is a proper name for them. No doubt they had nautical origins, and had a mechanical advantage of 10:1 according to some of the old hands I worked with. Here's an example of one I did in 1/76 scale, fitted with corner boards to secure the load of bottle crates -

[Fat Controller]

16 minutes ago, fodenway said:

I always knew them as "Dollies", but there is a proper name for them. No doubt they had nautical origins, and had a mechanical advantage of 10:1 according to some of the old hands I worked with. Here's an example of one I did in 1/76 scale, fitted with corner boards to secure the load of bottle crates -

Nicely done; brought back some memories. That's a nice representation of a 'Chinese Six' AEC; a wheel arrangement that seems to have disappeared.

[F-UnitMad]

1 hour ago, fodenway said:

I always knew them as "Dollies"

Same here. I did a fair bit of rope'n'sheet in the early '90s, but never enough to get really good at it, but it was being bemoaned as a 'dying art' then; it's a very rare sight these days. By the late '90s I was on curtainsiders mostly, and in my last years on the road, dry boxes, fridges and containers.

[PhilJ W]

I've checked with the Facebook group and they have confirmed that ratchet straps were rarely if ever used. It was allways ropes or chains. Chains were used for such as steel pipes and castings and other items with hard edges that could cut and chafe ropes.

[shipbadger]

About five years ago my son was still working in general haulage and was delivering architectural aluminium from Gloucestershire to the north-east.  (The atrium for a shopping centre.) The customer insisted that the load be sheeted and roped.  The firm my son worked for had long since disposed of any rope (probably into various car boots!) so I had a call, 'dad can I have any rope you have?'.  Final idiocy of all this was on arrival the H&S guy told him he couldn't climb up on the trailer to get the sheets off.  The lad asked him how he thought they had got up there in the first place and the H&S guy relented.

 

Incidentally when I learned to tie dolly knots the chap in Devon who taught me called them sled drivers knots.  No idea where that come from.

Edited May 25, 2020 by shipbadger
Spelling correction

[F-UnitMad]

9 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

I've checked with the Facebook group and they have confirmed that ratchet straps were rarely if ever used. It was allways ropes or chains. Chains were used for such as steel pipes and castings and other items with hard edges that could cut and chafe ropes.

Ah yes, you could tell a veteran steel driver as his front teeth were missing, from when the tensioner dog kicked back at him once....

 

[fodenway]

3 hours ago, F-UnitMad said:

Ah yes, you could tell a veteran steel driver as his front teeth were missing, from when the tensioner dog kicked back at him once....

 

The dreaded 'Sylvesters', or "jawbreakers" as we called them. I always stood well clear of them, but still managed a couple of close shaves. I always used a 3-foot piece of scaffolding pipe as a lever, then wrapped the excess chain around the handle to prevent it springing back.

[Mark Saunders]

1 hour ago, fodenway said:

The dreaded 'Sylvesters', or "jawbreakers" as we called them. I always stood well clear of them, but still managed a couple of close shaves. I always used a 3-foot piece of scaffolding pipe as a lever, then wrapped the excess chain around the handle to prevent it springing back.

 

If they are the same they were used on the Railways to raise doors on MGR wagons when the Daleks  failed to raise them or after maintenance!

[rab]

19 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

I've checked with the Facebook group and they have confirmed that ratchet straps were rarely if ever used. It was allways ropes or chains. Chains were used for such as steel pipes and castings and other items with hard edges that could cut and chafe ropes.

Thread drift alert:

Mention of chaining castings reminds me of some boat keels which had been cast, and when removed from the mould were found to have hollow patches were the sand hadn't been coated properly and had mixed with the molten iron.  The solution, car body filler with cast iron swarf mixed in, painted over when dry.  All went well until  the chains were removed at the point of delivery, only to find one had been tensioned across the area which had been filled, and had dug into the filler, breaking it up.  Needless to say said keel was returned to foundry.

Back on thread...

[fodenway]

A steel lever about two feet long, with a hook attached on a swivel to the end of the handle, and another to a short over-centre fulcrum arm pivoted a few inches away. The hooks were inserted into the main securing chain, and the handle pulled down to tighten the chain, a job made easier using the aforementioned scaffolding pipe slid over the handle for a better pull, making sure to keep your body out of the way of potential flybacks. Never got me, but I've seen a couple of very serious injuries with them. Most companies outlawed them, but they were very effective when used "properly", and I know a good few drivers that always had a set stowed away on the lorry.

[F-UnitMad]

A short piece of scaffold pipe (about 2ft long) was also a useful tool for dealing with container doors, some of which could be very stiff from salt water damage. The pipe could be slid over the handle for extra leverage to open the door - always being ready to jump clear if the contents hadn't been loaded well & were ready to fall out*!! Or alternatively the scaffold bar makes a good weapon to hammer the doors closed again. 

 

*the one beauty of being on containers - the driver is not held responsible for load security, as the box is sealed at point of loading, and may have been in transit for weeks or months, through storms at sea or anything - lots of variables outside the driver's control.

Best/worst I had was a box full of loose-loaded plastic pellets in big sacks to a molding company. Open back doors and a river of pellets fell out. Not my problem...  

[2027Joe]

HI All

My recollection of roping and sheeting lorries was using a knot known as a "Yachtsmans Purchase" !!

 

I believe it was also called a "Lorrymans Hitch" !

 

Hope this adds to the fun of recollections

[Ian_B]

On 27/05/2020 at 15:55, 2027Joe said:

HI All

My recollection of roping and sheeting lorries was using a knot known as a "Yachtsmans Purchase" !!

 

I believe it was also called a "Lorrymans Hitch" !

 

Hope this adds to the fun of recollections

The RAF Driver training school at St Athen called it a 'Carters hitch'

Ian_B

[Ian_B]

Just now, Ian_B said:

The RAF Driver training school at St Athen called it a 'Carters hitch'

Ian_B

Never actually used it in anger. We always used Ratchet strops.

Ian_B