Hide Article Text (OCR)
ByLOISE GRAVES LARIAT ROPE MAKER Skeet Whatley, a Pritchett professional roper, is also a maker of grass and nylon lariat ropes. He modestly admits, “You won't find a rope maker in every town, the vocation is a little different.”’ He’s been in the rope wholesale business for the past four years for himself after migrating to East Texas from Snyder in 1967. The move was in order to ‘run more cattle on less grass.’’ Whatley trained horses then and still does roping horses, cutting horses, rein horses and some race horses He has worked for the State of Texas as a cattle inspector and for another rope maker, Billy Leach of Kilgore, before en tering business for himself ‘Everybody that has anything to do with horses knows me,” 31-year-old Skeet informed. He makes the winter rodeo circuit ‘roping’ and at these and other large rodeos makes his contacts for selling ropes The roper says he wouldn't be happy just making ropes if he didn't use them, too. Actually he had rather “‘rodeo”’ than make ropes and if ‘I win, I'm just that much ahead but I can easily sell five or six hundred dollars worth of lariat ropes at rodeos, whereas he says, the next en trant must depend on winning for his livelihood ABOUT SET-UP Skeet's set-up is in his Prit chett garden FM 1404. He made all his own machinery for stretching the grass rope for calf and steer ropers. Steer ropes must be made of nylon, he informed. Whatley makes the eye by hand and then places the grass rope on machine to take out kinks and make rope tight 12 on one machine and 24 on the other. He burns off strings with a torch, takes a rag and rubs until smooth. The ropes remain on stretching machines six to eght hours, then undergo a special treatment which preserves and weather proofs them. The ropes are placed above a trough for dripping and must dry for a week or two. The weather is a big factor in the rope maker's business. He desperately needs sunshine, he says. Folks think there's a breagh on but it's really too humid and too wet for my business here, he emphasizes All rope drying is done outside. Whatley also makes a shorter ‘piggin string rope’ on a dif ferent machine. These are used to tie calves down and wholesale for only $1.50 whereas the 28-ft. lariat ropes sell for $10 and he averages making 36 ropes daily, Nylon lariat ropes sell for $11. Currently the rope maker is three weeks behind with orders to Australia, Canada and all over U.S. Skeet says his business is strictly a ‘word to mouth’’ deal. “‘If I advertised Pd never catch-up, I’m just not that far along yet with ex pansion, he says Although his wife Alma works at the Big Sandy bank, she assists him also in packing and mailing lariat and piggin ropes. And she can run both machines, too, he proudly informed Another facet of their business is ‘saddle horn knots” which they hand-braid. These are used to keep rope from slipping off the saddle horn. ‘It gives an added touch in vivid colors made from nylon cord and can be made from leather or rawhide,” he informs. COMPETITION PLENTIFUL Skeet commented that he has “plenty of competition” but I just have to do the job better The rope is shipped from Ireland but he buys from a Grand Prairie distributor 10 coils at the time. One coil makes approximately 50 lariat ropes as the interview as com pleted. Skeet rushed to the ‘piggin rope’ machine en deavoring to complete an order for 30 dozen. He says he personally uses two “‘piggin ropes while roping calves, I carry one in my mouth, and he demonstrated.
Newspaper Details
Gladewater Mirror
Gladewater, Texas, US
Sun, Mar 21, 1976
Page 8
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 31 Oct 2025
Other Publications Near Gladewater, Texas
Gladewater Mirror
Gladewater Daily Mirror
