On 4/4/2011 9:23 AM, Jim Lux wrote:
>
> On Apr 3, 2011, at 21:20, Donald Chester<k4kyv@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I would not consider any kind of fibre rope for temporary guys for several
>> reasons already cited here. One more danger is the possibility of improper
>> tying.
>>
> Not sure if you're including synthetics( e.g. Nylon, polyester, etc) in
> fibre, but climbers quite literally trust their lives to knots,bas do most
> travellers of the roads (truckers often secure their loads with ropes and
> knots)
Sisal, or Hemp rope is difficult to check for aging, or I was never able
to easily evaluate it.
On the farm, many years ago , and I do mean many (I was probably around
18 to 20 at the time), we used a lot of inch and a half rope to put hay
into the mows.
These were relatively long runs with one hooked to each side of the
trolley that ran down the under the track to each end of the 40 foot
high roof and then through large blocks /pulleys back to each side of
the large doors near the floor. Then another set ran through a pulley
near the door, up to a pulley over the door and then to a pulley
suspended from the trolley and down to the "forks" These forks were two
pronged, steel, about 3' wide and varied from 4 to 5 feet tall. There
were other ropes involved but these took the main load.
The forks would be "set" into the loose hay on the wagon often two at a
time and were hooked to the rope going up to the trolley and then back
to the door and down the driveway where we usually pulled the load up.
The load varied widely but could easily run half a ton. These large
ropes were long enough we could end up between 100 and 200 yards from
the barn.
One day while lifting a large load with two forks I was walking back to
the barn while some one else was backing the tractor up. The rope broke
and removed the pulley at the door, launching it down the drive. Even
though I had given the rope what I thought was plenty of clearance that
pulley along with a section of rope passed over my right shoulder and
next to my ear. IOW it as a perfect head high shot with a 10 to 12#
pulley that missed by about an inch. I felt the wind and dropped before
the rope got me. It passed the tractor and ended up almost to the road
(200 yards), BTW I was still over 100 feet from the barn when the
pulley passed over my shoulder.
As that size and length of rope was expensive farmers tended to use it
until it did fail, but then it meant replacing all of the rope which
could easily amount to a 1000 feet or more. Each of the side runs we
had was about 500 feet as was the rope to the forks. That was about the
time we went to bailing hay and I have never trusted hemp rope since.
Yet it is still widely and reliably used in shipping and other areas.
73
Roger (K8RI)
>
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