Part 2 – Tying Down a Load

With the large range of ratchet tie-down straps available on the market, we don’t seem to use as much rope to tie down a load as we used to.  The two knots I’m going to teach you this month are very useful in lots of situations.  First you secure one end of the rope with a clove-hitch, then pull the rope down tight on the other end with the truckies-knot (also known as the waggoner’s hitch).

The Clove-Hitch

Start with a half-hitch around the tie-down bar or peg as shown below.  Remember these?  Then loop the end around the tie-down bar again, in the same direction, but on the opposite side of the rope and pull the end down though the loop you have just made.  Pull it tight.

If you loop around from right to left instead, it will look like this :

You can secure it further by tying a half-hitch back around the rope, like this :

Truckies-Knot

Once you have tied off one end with the clove-hitch, throw the rope over your load and tie a truckies-knot.  This is going to take a bit of explaining, so try to follow along with the pictures. 

1.      Start by pulling a bight in the rope, behind your tie-down rail.

2.      Lay the bight over the top of the rope.

3.      Pull a second bight in the rope through the first bight.

4.      Make a loop in the rope above where you have just made the second bight.

5.      Push the second bight through the loop.

6.      I generally like to put a second loop in the rope and feed the bight through this as well, just in case.

7.      Pull down on the side of the first bight that is closest to the loose end.

The beauty of the truckies-knot is that it acts like a block and tackle, to give you a mechanical advantage in tightening down the rope.

 Next we have to tie off the loose end.  This will depend on how much rope you have left over.  Here are three options.

1.      Complete a clove-hitch with the rope doubled over.

2.      Tie a half-hitch around the first bight with the rope doubled.

  3.      Tie a clove-hitch around the tie-down rail with the single end of the rope.

This one might take a bit of practice.

Ready for Part 3 - Anchor Points and Jointing Ropes??

Greg Conlon

Last Modified Tuesday, 18 March 2008
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