I have a heavy load tied to one end of a rope, close to the ground. The other end of the rope is attached to a horizontal bar high above using a timber hitch.
I understand that a load is normally attached to the “running end” of the knot but could it be satisfactory to attach the load to the “working end” instead?
Is the “running end” of a timber hitch necessarily stronger than the “working end”? Or can I just use either end to attach a load?
i see a Clove Hitch pictured. This symetrical hitch is same with the force flow initiating from either end. It should also be stoppered or backed up with 2 Half Hitches. 2 is standard and real good if ya accidentally made a RoundTurn instead of a Clove.
A Timber Hitch is not symmetrical, is not the same pulled from either end. To lock properly, the load must come from the Standing Part. In my terminology, the Working End is where you ar tying the knot, but after the knot is tied/ frictions induced; the End with no force on opposite end of Standing Part is the Bitter End?
Both Clove and Timber should pull perpendicular to mount, if pulling inline with mount should be preceded by half hitch etc. Timber perhaps more sensitive to this. Also, the Timber link i gave, should have the Bitters trapping on convex part of mount, opposite the Standing Part i think.
I agree with KC that you should definitely not be pulling on the trapped part of the line in the Timber Hitch - it is the pull on the standing part (what you have called the running end) that forces (tightens) the trapped working end against the object being tied. If you pull on the working end, you destroy the ability of the hitch to do its job.
The cross (X) I’ve marked on the image is where a load is normally attached. The circle I’ve marked is where I wanted to attach a load alternatively but not concurrently.
I think you’ll find that such loading will cause the timber hitch open up rather than hold. Go ahead and try it on a trial basis to see what I’m talking about.
What if I used 2 working ends connected together as show in the next diagram? The 2 working ends are used to hold the load (the anchor shown) so the pull isn’t exactly perpendicular or parallel to the mount…
Well, now you have something that looks like a Catspaw, except that the load is at the opposite end, and the standing part is led through instead of a hook - still, the pull should be equal shouldn’t it? If the “anchor” lets go, the timber hitches will still hold the pipe (bar) in the air, but the load has been dropped, so what help is that? I don’t know - do you want to hold on to the bar for some reason? Also, the farther apart those two hitches are (the semi-timber hitches) the worse it gets for the likelihood of the load breaking the line. Why again does the bar not have to drop? Is this a theoretical case or are you trying to solve a problem that we only have incomplete knowledge about? Using slippery line I have been able to reverse the twisted part of the timber hitch on a slippery surface by loading it as you suggest, effectively removing the efficiency of the hitch. Given a coarse fiber line and a roughened surface to hold it on (the bar in your diagram) it might hold better, but the tying of it (having to drag the entire line through the second twist) makes for a difficult hitch to tie with no appreciable advantage over other hitches that may be better suited to the task - what is the task? We’ll find out in due course I hope!
???
SR
I’m puzzled why if you are experimenting you do not find the same result as
Squarerigger, with the timber hitch coming undone? That is what Roo & I, too, find.
If you want to have two ends to use from some anchor, you could tie some
hitch with a central bight of this rope, such as the anchor bend or round turn
and 2 half-hitches, or an overhand noose (maybe with a round turn to give
grip to hold position along the spar. For spaced anchors (having the two
ends attaching to the spar at some distance, to keep suspended objects
from abutting?), you could tie off with bowlines (but have then looseness
of attachment on the spar).
