50 foot long 4” straps between Joplin and Sioux Falls , SD?

Big and tall stuff

 

Machinery packaged in large crates. This one was 13W and 13H. 30ft straps with 10ft chains and binders on both sides to reach the deck under the sides.

 

Put another way, than the way these other folks presented it with pictures, think about the area that your 30' can cover. Your trailer is typically 8.5' wide. If you're using a flatbed, that means that if you have to strap over something, you have to have at least 8.5 feet on the top. If you have a load that is max height for a flatbed, which sits about 5' above ground at the hump, you can only have 8.5' of additional height being legal. That means to cover both sides in a straight down pull, and run across the top, your strap has to be a minimum of 17' + 8.5'=25.5'. For that 30 is fine, since you'll have the other 4.5' to wrap around the winch.

Now, that's a standard Flatbed. Now, if you run a Step Deck, that formula changes. Typical step deck is 3' - 3.5' high. Now what happens to your side measurements to reach a height of 13'6" maximum? Right, now you have either 10.5' or 10' side heights, meaning you need 20-21' for sides and the 8.5' across the top for square freight bringing your total minimum strap length to 29.5' minimum. This doesn't include oversize values for wide or high needing permits..so you can see how you're starting to get close to the 30' length, just on normal freight on normal trailers. By the way, I'd want more than 6" to wrap around a winch, considering if it's exactly at 8.5' across on the deck, I'm also going to the outside of rails (something I try not to do) or I'm bringing it back in under the freight and back into the rail, which adds more length needed, so even at this point, 30' may not be sufficient length.

The equation changes even more now, when you're using say, a double-drop trailer that is maybe 18 - 24" off ground. Now your max legal height from top of deck goes to 11.5 - 12', meaning your straps now have to be on the sides 23-24' and 8.5' across the top for a total of 31.5-32'....so now your 30' strap length is short, just for normal non-permit required freight. When you add OS/OW to the mix, your numbers go much higher especially if you're not able to use chains to secure it...so now you can see why 50' might be called for.