Derrick on the ground spreading them apart. There is a rope to tie the two legs together near the bottom to prevent them from spreading apart further. On the top side, the two legs are connected together by a lashing but with a small spacer block placed between the legs. A sling, which may be made from ropes, is placed around the area that two legs meet to be used to put a tackle pulley system for lifting the load. There are two guy wires, front and rear, to support the shear legs. The rear guy may be reeved to allow
Block and tackle blocks. Frictional losses also mean there is a practical point at which the benefit of adding a further sheave is offset by the incremental increase in friction which would require additional force to be applied in order to lift the load. Too much friction may result in the tackle not allowing the load to be released easily, or by the reduction in force needed to move the load being judged insufficient because undue friction has to be overcome as well. A block which is open or can be opened to engage with a bight, without the necessity to thread the