How do you get your tarping so nice?

Here's my tips:

-13 oz tarps are softer in the winter and easier to get where you want
- Laying out the tarp correctly is key. If it's crooked you'll have problems
- After laying out the tarp perfectly, tie down the corner of that tarp then go to the OPPOSITE corner. Not the one on the same side or directly across
- After doing two corners that are opposite, proceed to tie down the other two corners
- The key to the above two steps is getting everything between the four corners tight BEFORE putting all your bungees on or folding/flipping/rolling the tarp under. This is by far the most important step
- Tucking the tarp underneath is what really makes it look good. The key is to roll it instead of just shoving it underneath or "flipping" it under. If you have someone help you, the flipping will get better results. Shoving looks like crap
- Make sure to put bungess across the front tarp BEFORE pulling the flap down. This keeps the front tarp from sagging.
- Throw a few straps over the tarps in key places. Especially at the seams. Really tightens things up.

Some other tricks for various reasons:

- After folding the tarp under, put one or two along that side to hold the tarp tucked under
- Do both sides like this, then grab a bunch of bungees, enough to do both sides
- Place bungees on the D-rings as if you're going to put them on coming from the other direction. Just let them hang, don't actually put them through the rub rail
- Do this all the way to the opposite end. Hopefully you brought enough bungees
- Now that you have 20-24 bungees on, get rid of any extra bungees and start putting the ones you put on through the rub rail

I find the above really helps speed things up. It's more walking, but if you're putting the bungees all the way through the rub rail while holding 24 bungees you will be walking back anyways. It's so much easier and faster putting bungees through the rub rail with both hands free

More tips

- Padding padding padding, can't get enough of that padding
- Having tarps with lots of extra d-rings really helps
- I find 21" bungees work best, but have various makes with different stretch amounts. 15" don't work worth #### in winter
- Don't forget to give crates a few "love taps" with your 2 lb sledge rounding the corner. I've never liked corner protectors
- ALWAYS WEAR EYE PROTECTION

 

like others have said, the more you do it the better you get. the load im under now was tarped at one of them stupid tarping stations where the workers lift your tarps with there crane thing and lay them over your load. (id rather just roll them out myself). anyways I rated this job about a 5 on my 1 to 10 scale. oddly enough, about 10 miles down the road I got a "nice tarp job driver" comment on the radio. kinda made me feel good considering I thought it looked like crap.

 

There is no such thing as to much securement on a tarp. The other thing is having a tarp that is appropriate to the load. Nothing like trying to tarp a 4 foot tall load with an 8 foot drop tarp. I also find that the little $1 carabiners that you get for key chains are an excellent help when making the flip on your extra. Hook the bottom corner and the grommet that holds it at the correct height. Also works great on the front and rear flaps.

 

Nothing wrong with having too big of a tarp, the same cannot be said of having tarps that are too small. The guys that use 6 steel tarps to do an 8' load are working too hard and they never look good.The extra material will help weigh down the sides, looking better and flapping less going down the road. I only have 3 tarps by choice for my step. A 24x16 with a 8 foot flap for the top deck and two 28x20 with 10' flaps for the bottom. They are fully "boxed" with D rings so they can be rotated and become a 4' and two 6' drops without end flaps. I've been running this setup for years and the only change I've thought about is getting a 12x16 for those small pieces I've been getting lately.

 

It's not hard to tarp flat steel. Other than that and coils I rarely tarp. The more bungees you use the better it will look.

 

bungees, bungees bungees..

 

I haul lots of LTL loads that need to be tarped and feel ya man!! We have 2x24' tarps and 1x16' tarp on all of our trailers.. Obviously the smaller 16 is beneficial to us if it will cover what we need covered. Most of the time though luck will have it that I have to use a bigger tarp and move it around 3-4 times before I get to take it off for the day. I've had some loads take more bungees then a full load of OSB would take but only using one tarp.

I've hauled some full loads that are a big block and make it look like absolute #### while other loads that look hard to tarp I've done them up in a jiffy. Practice makes perfect!!! Keep watching other guys and look at ideas, good or bad lol

 

I love my 16' tarp. A lot of times I can cover my load with it and 24'. Sure beats dragging out two 24's. An O/O gave it to me for unloading him early on Dec. 23. His appt wasn't til late in the day and I got him out at 0500 instead so he could make it home Christmas Eve.

 

My uncle taught me the more bungies the better. But I have found that to be incorrect in most cases.

The right tarp for the job, and a quality tarp has lots of D-ring options.

Like allan5oh said. Securing keys points of the tarp in order makes a huge difference. It can be more work to go from side to side in the beginning. But it pays off in the long haul, literally.

Know your angles. Some bungies need to pull the tarp back down or forward.

 

Practice, extra time, and don't be lazy
depends on the load too kulo