flat bed equipment

Go with the first ladder, notice the 1A rating...300 pounds rating. Even if you aren't a "heavy" hauler, just being a decent weight and carrying a tarp to the top of that load, if you do so, can easily hit that 300 pound requirement.

Kneepads will come in handy also, especially crawling along a load. Make sure you get some clevis shackles for those loads that have holes but not big enough for chains to go through.

 

Tee-hooks are a good item to carry also. you won't need them right away, but look to pick them up soon. There just a chain hook with a small tee end, works great when you have equipment on. First time I picked up at John Deere I bought a set of eight, and these have come in handy quite often. Good luck Jarrod!

 

couple months back, I put this together for planning purposes for what you are doing. Still going to do it. Just going to run dry van to start to buy the flatbed and equipment.

The (##) is how many are in a package.

 

Both are nice ladders. I especially like the telescoping ladder.

 

Someone made a comment you could also do three 16X24 tarps and do the same coverage. Actually considering that too. Cheaper and saves weight.

 

I'd just have them as a "what if". If I get back into flats/steps, the last loads I'll book are tarp loads. But they must be.

 

That would be my suggestion of you were dead-set on hauling tarped loads.

 

3 16X24 steel tarps will not give the same coverage as a set of lumber tarps. Do the math and you see that a set a regular lumber tarps cover a load that is 48' long, 8' wide and 8' high. The 16 X 24s, turned sideways comes out to covering the 8' wide and 8' high, but laid edge to edge only cover 48' which will not work, you need a minumum of 1 foot overlap, on each one to prevent the wind from blowing the front edges up and keeping any water out. Overlapping each "seam" by only a foot, you end up with 44' of covered length and still have both ends exposed.
I use a 16X24 and a 16X27 steel tarp set. I seldom use more than that, but when I do, I have smoke tarps and skirts. For a 48'X8'X8' load, I cover the back with one 10X12 smoke tarp, layout the two steel tarps, over lapping the rear smoke tarp by at least a foot and over lapping the center seam by at least two feet, then cover the front with the other smoke tarp, with a big overlap there. I then attach the skirts to the sides of the steel tarps, with the steel tarps overlapping the skirts.
It works, but it is more work. It is not cheaper, but is close to the same as a full set of lumber tarps.
If I were hauling a lot of big tarp loads, like lumber, I would have lumber tarps. However, I do general freight and most of the tarp loads that I do book do not require that much. One or both of my steel tarps usually do the job.