2 piece vs 3 piece

I carry 3 tarps on my truck.

I have two 26' lumber tarps with 8' drops, flaps on the front. This will typically cover any load, front to back on my 53' step deck.

I bought the lumber tarps out of a place in Tampa, they have 18 gauge material on the top and 14 gauge down the sides. They are composite tarps with Vinyl and some kind of poly material. $375 each. Tough tarps and not as heavy to lug as you would think.

The 3rd tarp is a 26' steel tarp with 4' drops and flap on the front. This usually covers anything on the lower deck. If I need a 2nd tarp,.. I roll out one of the lumber tarps if I need to tarp coming off the upper deck down to the lower,.. the extra drop length works well.

Hurst

 

Carry 4 tarps a 16x16 tarp. A 27 foot 4 foot drop single flap with top row d rings inset to 7 foot and two 27 foot single flap 6 foot drops with 2 foot clip on extensions 18oz top with 13oz sides love the last set its rare I use the clip ons. Them four will cover anything I haul would highly recommend getting lighter weight sides so much easier to tarp I use a lot of pad wraps. One thirty footer with double flaps 6 foot drop and clip on extensions would come handy at times.

 

I bought 4 used tarps from my carrier and he got them from a place in Chicago. They werent new new,.. but they were still pretty solid with 2 of them having only 1 repair on each.

But they both did like yours are doing. After about 6 - 8 months the D rings were starting to come apart,..; I had problems where the hook from the bungee were wearing into the tarp near the D-Ring. Holes and repairs from punctures. I wish I knew who made them so I can avoid them in the future. I paid $500 for all 4. 2 steel 24' steel tarps with no flaps and two 24' lumber tarps with front flaps. Not a good value in my opinion. I had them only 1 year.

The tarps I have now I bought here.
http://www.tampatarpinc.com/

Its local to me and I dont have to pay for shipping.

I wanted a lighter tarp,.. yet strong enough not to puncture on some of the odd shaped loads that need to be tarped. Cargo blankets and edge protectors only go so far.

I have had these new tarps for almost a year now and they are fantastic. I wanted longer tarps because like you, I didnt want to have to use three 24' tarps to cover a 53' bed. Instead,.. two 26' tarps have done the job just fine.

I did have to repair one tarp after a cargo blanket dropped and the racks I had to tarp wore a small quarter sized hole in it. But after looking at it, the other tarps I had would have torn through. So I am honestly content and happy with these so far.

I do not know who makes them. I'm pretty sure Tampatarps does not make them. They are buying them from someone else. They stock pretty much everything I need for flatbed with fantastic prices. $12 for Kendyne 30' 4inch straps. $12 for Kendyne 2" ratchets with 30' of strap. I buy boxes of them and stock up.

These are my new tarps.
As you can see,.. 2 tarps takes care of the whole trailer.
And this was the load that put the small hole in the corner that had to be repaired. It was warehouse racks,.. they really dont need to be tarped. I tried to 'negotiate' out of tarping the load,.. but broker insisted that the shipper wanted it tarped.


This was my older tarp. Load was a GE locomotive engine with so many points and poking object. Just ruined that tarp. I am still cutting up that tarp to repair others.


I'm no pro at tarping. I try,.. but I envy the guys I see with sweet nice and smooth tarp jobs. For the most part I try to avoid tarp loads anyway. I carry tarps for when I have no other choice or the load is paying really well. Better to have and not need,.. than to need and not have.

Hurst

 

No problem.

Hopefully some of the other guys will chime in with some better info for you. Thats all I really have. They know where to buy and get exactly what you need.

Hurst

 

You guys may want to consider doing some corner wrapping with cardboard, moving blankets, etc. before tarping machinery or anything like that engine...all that tarp is going to be good for after that move is to cover the woodpile.

 

Where did you get the 6 ft drops with 2 ft extensions?