Traction & Roping Arrangements · ROPING
Roping Arrangements — 1:1, 2:1 and Beyond
The pulley maths that trades speed for load.
The roping arrangement (reeving) is how ropes connect machine, car and counterweight. In 1:1 roping the ropes terminate directly on the car, which moves at rope speed; in 2:1 roping the ropes pass under (or over) diverting pulleys on car and counterweight, halving car speed and rope tension while doubling rope travel — pulley block mechanics applied to a building.
The explainer
Watch how it works.
Schematic · loops automatically
11:1 — direct suspension
Ropes run from car hitch, over the machine sheave, to the counterweight. Car speed equals rope speed.
22:1 — pulleys halve the load
Rope ends anchor in the shaft; car and counterweight hang on pulleys the rope wraps around.
3Speed doubles, tension halves
The sheave sees rope moving at twice car speed, carrying half the suspended load per fall.
4More bends per trip
Each pulley adds a reverse or repeat bend — the fatigue currency every rope spends.
5Arrangement sets the survey
More sheaves, hitches and falls mean more wear points — reeving decides what a re-rope involves.
How it works, plainly
In 1:1, one metre of rope over the sheave is one metre of car travel, and the car’s share of load appears directly as rope tension. It is mechanically simple, uses the least rope, and puts the fewest bends into each rope’s life.
In 2:1, the rope’s ends are fixed in the shaft and the car hangs from pulleys the rope passes around: the rope moves twice as fast as the car, but carries half the tension. Machines can therefore be smaller and faster-running — the arrangement behind most modern machine-room-less designs — at the cost of more rope, more sheaves, and more bending cycles per journey.
Every added pulley is another bend the rope must survive and another groove that can wear. That is why the arrangement determines not just rope length but wear pattern, survey scope and re-roping labour: a 2:1 system has more places to inspect and more geometry to keep true.
Where this matters
On the job
- Scoping re-roping labour and rope quantities correctly
- Explaining wear patterns that cluster at pulley contact zones
- Machine selection context at modernisation
Standards & references
| Reference | Covers |
|---|---|
| EN 81 series context | Suspension and safety requirements across arrangements |
| ISO 4344:2022 | Rope duty across suspension arrangements |
Re-Ropes surveys map the complete reeving — every sheave, diverter and hitch — so quotations reflect the real system, not a guess from the machine room.
Which is better, 1:1 or 2:1?
Neither — they solve different problems. 1:1 minimises rope and bends and suits classic geared machines; 2:1 lets a smaller, faster machine carry the same duty and dominates modern MRL designs. The installation you have is the right starting point; the arrangement is a design decision, not a service item.
Why does my 2:1 lift need so much more rope?
Because the rope travels twice the car’s journey and runs in multiple falls: rope length scales with both travel and roping ratio. That is also why 2:1 re-ropes involve more handling and more terminations.
Do diverter pulleys wear like the main sheave?
Yes — sometimes faster, since they can carry high wrap on small diameters. Our surveys gauge diverters alongside the driving sheave; a re-rope that ignores a worn diverter donates its new ropes to it.
Lift Industry Specialists
Questions about roping on your installation?
Describe the lift and the symptom — an engineer who has seen it before will tell you what it means and what it costs to fix.