Tarping systems

How much weight to they add to your trailer? I was looking online and it say an 8' tarp for a 48' trailer is 1700pounds?!

 

That's how I got around needing the extra uplift bows. If I needed to roll the tarp forward instead of pushing from the back I would stand at the front and pull each section. However unless your hauling something that the drooping tarp would catch on you could still push it. Most of the time it would just drag along the load.

Here's the trailer I got at an auction. Tall loads weren't an issue unless it was like a piece of machinery that the drooping tarp could catch on.

I dropped my trailer on the scales bare with no extras. (no bulkhead, winches, chains ect.) and it weighed 14,260 before the kit. After it weighed 16,040 and this is on a 50' 102" and I went with the lower 7' kit. For a drop it won't be a whole lot different because your only adding height unless you get a 53' (which adds another car) and the "roll past kit" like Pfuse has because your adding another full set of rollers.

 

Dang 40cal, why not just spend that extra $10k on something else and just carry regular tarps?? I'm not sure you have enough TARP loads to justify the cost and hassles. Then again, I'm probably wrong. I'd love one too but then around here I would be stuck pulling mainly steel and there is already enough competition for that. Not to mention that you are adding wind drag now with a 13'6" bulkhead and the wind is going to play a factor now. I love that I don't get blown all over the road with an open deck.

 

There's a 53'x102 Mac step with 17.5's on truckpaper and it says it has a 35" lower deck height so theoretically you could get it. You just have to weigh your options on whether it's worth the extra cash. We use them because almost everything I haul requires a tarp, and the few things that don't can still fit in the trailer. If you haul a lot of machinery it's nice to be able to do all the chaining inside out of the weather. But if you haul a lot of over width stuff I don't know if I would do it. Cost is a huge factor also, I spend over $15k on a kit for a regular flat, I know a drop with all the options would probably be closer to $20k. I've seen a few installed on RGN's and with all the labor putting those on I'd hate to see the price.

 

I did not know you were running primarly tarped loads. I am going to try to haul as many NON-TARP loads as I can unless the rate is up there enough to justify me getting the tarps out.

 

You can't run with the tarp on the top deck because of the turning issue, but you could, in theory, pin it in place on the first 10' the bottom deck. Not good for containers.

My trailer with kit, boxes, and all gear (chains, straps, j hooks, 8 gallons of engine oil/coolant)weighs in at 13,420 lbs. MAC SDs are a lot lighter than most SDs because they have an all aluminum neck. A friend has a T660 Studio with one of the LH Retnour/Roll Tites and we both weighed empty at the same time with a comparable amount of fuel. One of us was 200 lbs lighter than the other (can't remember which). My truck also has a 110" sleeper and 35 gallons of water.

I didn't have time to get pics this morning, but I'll be loading Wednesday afternoon and I'll try to get some then.

The kit was $23,500 w/FET. The whole trailer came in at just under $70,000.

P.S. I don't have a sliding rear axle. That also helps with the weight.

 

It's not a bad solution. The only time it's a real pita is when the load is up to the step. It's really hard to pull from the front because of how the tarp transitions from the bottom to top deck.