Unreasonably Tight Truckers Hitch

Available All common variations of the trucker s hitch use a loop in the standing part of the rope and the anchor point as makeshift pulleys in order to theoretically obtain a 3 to 1 mechanical advantage while pulling on the working end. There is sometimes confusion about how much theoretical mechanical advantage is provided by the trucker s hitch. If the trucker s hitch were to be used as in the pulley diagram at right, to lift a weight off the floor, the theoretical mechanical advantage would be only 2:1. However in the common use of the trucker s hitch, a static hook, ring, or rail, serves as the lower pulley, and the rope across the top of the load is the portion being tensioned. Thus, the standing part of the rope is represented by the top anchor point in the diagram, and the theoretical ratio is indeed 3:1 when the working end is tensioned. That is, in a frictionless system, every unit of force exerted on the working end would produce 3 units in t