Tarping a load.

It's next to impossible to tarp a load when it's windy. I used two boards and screwed them together with tarp between them. Use C clamps in front and screwed boards in back to siding.

When I remove tarp, I roll tarp up on boards. Been very windy lately, Try it, works for me.

good Idea I will try that next time

Great idea , like they say any port in a storm

Good idea. Our materials just need held in and don't have to be dry so we use mesh tarps with grommets. Mulch, brush, etc. The mesh lets some wind through so they don't flap as bad. Thanks for reminding me...buy more rubber straps tomorrow. I swear we eat them they disappear so fast.

yep that will work . Lot easier then some of the loads i have tarped using four huge lumber tarps and enough old carpet to carpet a good sized home to protect the tarps . Just glad that were were able to either use a crane or large fork lift to get the tarps up and over the loads , at over 300 lbs per tarp i am not man enough to sling one over the shoulder and run up a fifteen foot ladder and drape it over those loads. Was had enough rolling them up and getting them up on the trailer once the load was off.

Ain't that the truth! Rollin them lumber tarps up when it was -10 outside was a challenge, esp. if they had been wet and were frozen. Back then it was fun to beat the guy loading next to you to get your load tarped and doing a much better job. Those were the days! Back then I owned a 81 Freightliner COE double bunk with a hot 400 Cummins.

I just twist the little handle next to my seat. Although yesterday it quit. I got back to the quarry and sat there rolling it four inches at a time with a fifteen second wait between rolls. After that I stayed under 35 MPH.

Looks about like the trailer my roofing guys had. They had a nice built in wind up tarp on the front. Some of the trailers for sale places have pictures of the same set up. If you tarp a lot I'd look into one of them.

Don't you find those cords a little light weight for a tarp? I have used them and find tarp does to much flopping around and went to the rubber tarp straps and don't have that problem.

I have got sur-lock roll tarps on all trucks and grain trailers and two wagons

What would hold the sides from flopping with the roll up type? Any idea where I could get one?

d beatty,
You are half right. Strapping the front and rear of the trailer nothing is strong enough, even the two eyelets get ripped out. By using the wood front and rear, it keeps the wind from getting under the tarp. I heap my loads, so the curve acts like an airplane wing and the tarp gets lift. So nothing except the boards is strong enought.

As for the sides, all I need is to keep the tarp from flopping. The roll up tarps don't use side straps do they?

I can't see how a roll up would work eigher because I heap the load.
geo

They had a PJ trailer. I went to their website and then options and scroll down a ways they show an image of the tarp kit. I'm sure others have them as many places require loads to be covered.

We use the same idea on all of our fertilizer totes and pull behind spreaders, just have the opposite end bolted down. There are ropes on the front to tie up the rolled up tarp.

I made my own "roll up" tarp, similar to what is commercially made for PJ dumpers (and many others). It is a crude setup, but it took me all of about 3 hours to build, and cost me the cost of half a dozen welding rods, a few zip ties, and a few nuts/bolts. All other materials were salvaged. Someone with a little more time and effort could do a nicer job than I did, but I'm into function, not fashion (and the only fashion statement our WELL USED dumper makes is "worn out"). I can't say how many tarps I have bought, or cut from old semi tarps, or whatever that have been lost, or have not came back with the trailer after another family member uses it, etc.. it was a never ending battle to keep a tarp with it.

I started with the remnants from a old garage door, and a mesh tarp off of a trailer from work (tarp was no good to cover a semi trailer, but had a usable section large enough to cover the little dumper).

I welded a couple "blocks" to the front side of our box so that I had a mounting spot that was "flush" with the lip that runs around the top of the box.

Then I took the 2 bearings and mounting plates that the torsion spring shaft goes through and welded them to the previously mounted blocks, allowing the torsion rod to stick out towards the front of the tongue about 4".

I cut the torsion shaft about 2" longer than was needed to go from one bearing to the other, allowing the extra to stick out on the drivers side, then welded a 1/4"x2"x8" (overkill, but it is what was in the scrap steel pile) to the end of the shaft for the "crank", drilled a 3/8" hole on the end, and put a bolt about 6" long to use as the actual handle. I also tack wended the bar to the bearing on the passenger side to keep the shaft from wandering.

I cut the tarp to the desired length (I left it about 2-3 feet longer than needed so if I had a heaped load I would still have plenty of length to reach the tailgate), but realized the tarp was about 8" too wide.. I didn't want to cut the tarp length wise, as I wanted to keep the grommets on the sides of the tarp, so I folded it over itself near the center and "stiched" it every 8 inches or so with zip-ties.

I wrapped the tarp once around the torsion shaft, and drilled 4 holes (1 toward each end, and 2 spaced between), and put bolts with washers and nuts on them THROUGH THE TARP AND THE BAR, which fastens the tarp to the bar so when wound the bar don't spin and not wrap the tarp.

I stretch out the tarp, use rubber tarp straps on the back, wind the tarp fairly tight, and use a tarp strap to pull the handle keeping the tarp snug, then use a couple rubber straps on the sides when loaded. When empty, I roll the tarp up, strap the handle to prevent rotation, and wrap a strap around the tarp/bar to keep the wind from possibly whipping and unrolling it.

I still want to put a bar on the rear end of the tarp, and make brackets for the bar to go into like the factory made units, but I haven't gotten to it yet. Another thing I would rather have is a handle with a "latch" (kinda like a come along or a boat trailer hand winch) so that I don't need a tarp strap to keep it pulled snug, but I have a solution for that also.. I'm going to get a crank handle like the semi trailers use, and connect it to my setup with a chain and sprocket, just like the big trailers. The supplier we get our tarp supplies from sell a light duty crank for about $20, and for a small dump trailer, the crank is way heavier than would be required.

I did this all about a year or so ago, and although we don't use it a lot (usually a load to the landfill every other month or so, and a couple loads of scrap, dirt, gravel, etc in between) it has been AWESOME so far.. no hunting for a tarp, no fuss, and easy for just one person to tarp up quickly and get going.

Sorry for my loooooong post, and I will try to get a picture of my quick throw together job.

Brad