Trying something new with my bungies.

great! keep us posted, I'd like to try this out as well. I'd get me some pretty red ones matching the tarp set I am to get soon ! lol

 

bungees dang sure don't last forever anymore, bungees used to last til the rubber dry rotted, not anymore, the break long before that, I think buying them in bulk would work just fine. bungees are an expendable deal, they don't last forever and are replaced constantly. bad monkey, I like the idea. and considering you are new to flats, it impressive you thought of this. I think its a great idea, they are like the bungees , if they break replace em.

 

Its a good Idea I mean If the salt eats the spring away cut the dang clip off its got just as much curve as the s hook and its got a heck of a lot smother edge keeping the end from tearing the tarp. what's load rating got to do with it they are not holding your load on just the tarp in place and you have a bunch of them doing the job I doubt you'll get more than a 50lbs of pressure against them IF tarped right.
Either way keep us informed how its working out for ya

Good to see someone thinking about their job and how to make it easier not just doing it.

 

I never had the problem in the winter.. I guess you just need to make sure the pipe is the correct length.... I used this idea for as long as I was in flatbed and it worked great for me.. As long as your on stretching the crap out of them they will compress a little bit.. Again the pipe size needs to be right... Now sure you might get the odd bungee that will be over stretched then you just throw that once in a box.. I'd rather have 290 bungees organized and 10 in a box then having 300 all in a box getting tangled with each other... This idea worked for me and I don't see it being a waste of time..

Again this is a good idea Bad Monkey not trying to "rain on your parade" ... Like I said if you spend your time in the southern states and they are not exposed to the harshness of winter weather then I am sure they will hold up pretty good... I would like to point out tho that the cheap hooks (those ones posted in bulk for .13cents/each) they will break quickly as they are not as durable as rock climbing ones.. YES you can still use them even with the clasp missing (or not working) because it will essentially then work like the S hook, but then this would completely defeat the purpose of doing this in the first place.. So now the cost you spent on hooks to stop tangling bungees has just been flushed down the drain...

I too agree I have used these for my keys and over time they just go for a crap and stop working.... It takes a longer time but then again I'm not opening and closing the clasped as often as you would flatbedding..

Again very intuitive idea and I hope it works out for you for sure. New ideas never heard regardless of if they succeed or fail because if it fails then you can improve on it if you want, if it works out then you not need worry about improving it..

Another way of storing them which minimizes (but doesn't stop all of it) tangling is lay one bungee on the ground and put a bunch of them in a little pile on top of that bungee.. Wrap the bungee around the pile once and hang them from the cross members under your flatbed.. I have seen many flatbedders do this (as have I) and it works as well but not as good as the pipe idea that I mostly ran with.. Sometimes I would use this other method for excess bungees I had and not enough pipe.. This isn't going to stop all tangling but it helps for the most part...

 

Hanging them from the crossmembers gets them stolen or lost quick.
I out of my dumb mind dont think I'd cram 300 bungees in a single box/bucket.
I put 50 in their original box, open the box on the floor by my drives (after the tarp is ready to be held down and it's already spread, and its hung of the corners by a few bungees) then with the box open I grab as many or all of the bungees with both hands and pull them out. Then I proceed to walk torwards the rear of the trailer shaking the bundle and dropping them almost in an even manner, sequentially walking around the trailer and having a trail of them almost or all released.
Then I walk back picking them up and hanging them where I'm about to pull them to anchor.

 

ours are permanently attached to the tarps we use the rubber cord slight tangle every once in a while but no biggy biggest problem is they stretch or break

 

*Snipped*

Personally I'd like to see it fly off in that scenario. ....just sayin. .

 

281ric mentioned a "tips and ideas" thread with a sticky. I think that's a great idea. I wouldn't know half of what I've learned if I hadn't talked with other drivers or observed how they do things. That's one of the things I like about the job. There's always something new to learn.

 

If anyone would like to start one I would be more than happy to "dock" it.