Trucker's Hitch

To tie the knot move the mouse along the numbers 1 - 11.

Use: The Trucker's Hitch (Lorry Hitch, Haymaker's Hitch, Harvester's Hitch) (ABOK # 2124, p 344) has the distinctive feature of providing a three to one purchase when being tightened. Use it to tighten rope to tie down equipment on a trailer, to secure a tarpaulin, or to tighten a rope securing items on top of a car. Try to fasten the hitch to a convenient cleat, ring, or hook. When there isn't one, you may be able to pass the rope round, e.g., under the trailer, amd make a Bowline in the other end. Then hook the Trucker's Hitch into this bowline.

Structure: There are several variations. The animation above is widely used today. It is composed of three parts: a loop, a purchase, and two half hitches. An eye is formed by twisting the rope after which a loop is passed through the eye. The purchase is then created by passing the free end round the hook and then back through the loop. After tightening, the tail is used to tie two half hitches below the original loop.

Classical Structure: The picture on the right shows the version in early descriptions. A figure eight loop is used to form the initial loop. However, this tends to be hard to untie after heavy loads and the version above is now preferred.

Taking the Strain: After the free end is threaded and tightened, the load can be taken temporarily by pinching the rope where it passes through the loop. The other hand is then used to form the two half hitches.

Variations: To see other variations go to the Boating Section.