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Post by Teachndad on Nov 2, 2014 7:14:53 GMT -8
Hi, We got our first little rain yesterday. I bought a tarp a 16 x 30' tarp. More than long enough, but I wanted some coverage on the sides and it was within my budget. BTW, it's no fun fighting with a brand new tarp and trying to open it up to get on to the top of the trailer. Ugggh.  I did some searching in the forums and couldn't find anything. Anyone got any tips on how to wrap up your trailer with a tarp? This past rain had only a little wind. I had run a long bungi cord from one gromet to another from end to end and then put tubs of water over the excess tarp material that was on the ground to keep it from blowing and flapping. How do you all fasten the tarp together? Clips, bunji's, rope, clips,bricks? I should mention I can't suspend a tarp over the trailer. I don't have any structure, so the trailer has to be wrapped like a present, so to speak. Thanks Rod |
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SusieQ
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Post by SusieQ on Nov 2, 2014 7:35:04 GMT -8
I can tell you what I do; I have two methods. This is the way I tarped mine while I was working on it and I have my *new* one tarped this way now and we're having a Nor'easter with 30+ mph winds and it's holding. I cover it and bungy it front and back to the frame and the sides. Then I run a string of bungees all the way around it.
I modified this after I had new paint on it so the tarps wouldn't rub my new paint. I put 1x4's across the top and let them hang over and staked and weighted the bottom of the tarp. It essentially made a tent around it without the tarp touching the sidewalls.
If you are going to have snow, you want to reinforce the roof. I put light plywood across the top from edge to edge, presently, it's on top of my 1x4's. Mobiltec has an example of making supports from the inside to hold the roof up.
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mobiltec
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Post by mobiltec on Nov 2, 2014 11:47:01 GMT -8
The tarps that they are selling today, as opposed to less than a year ago are COMPLETE CRAP! Mine have only been lasting about 5 weeks max before they fall apart. They have made a bunch of sudden changes in the way they make them so that they fall apart MUCH quicker. I won't go into that now though... Just want you to know in advance that they won't hold up to the weather very long. I have been taking mine back every 4 to 5 weeks when they come apart and demanding a new one. Im on my fifth one from the same receipt now as far as my heavy duty silver and black tarp is concerned. The blue ones are even worse as they are not heavy "heavy duty".... At $40 to $70 a pop I refuse to buy a new one each month. So far ACE has been allowing me to return them and get a new one in their place so hold on to your receipts. Home Depot's tarps are even worse.
All that being said, if you tarp your trailer you do not want puddling on top. So you need to put something on top that will "tent" the tarp. I usually just run an 8 foot 2x2 up through the vent hole with a pillow duct taped to the top to reduce wear on the tarp/tent. That creat's a peak so that the water will run off. Then I use dacron line (any type of rope will do) to tie the tarp down over the front rear and sides to the frame underneath.
DO NOT USE BUNGIES.... The hooks will dig into your trailer when it's windy and it doesn't take long to wear a hole in your aluminum. If you tie your lines too tight the grommets will tear out very quickly. If you tie them too loose the tarp will tear itself apart in the wind.
I am going to build a hard cover to work on my trailers under as soon as I heal from the coming surgery because I have bought enough tarps to build 2 hard covers now.
I would have to dig out my external hard drives to find photos but you can see a sample of tent-tarping in my "Taking My Act On The Road" series when I went to Colorado. That series is in the Trailer Tidbits section of my website. It rained on me almost every single day there so it worked out quite well. I was still able to work on the trailer by just folding back the front or the rear part of the tarp depending on which I end I was working on at the time.
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SusieQ
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Post by SusieQ on Nov 2, 2014 11:58:41 GMT -8
DO NOT USE BUNGIES.... The hooks will dig into your trailer when it's windy and it doesn't take long to wear a hole in your aluminum. If you tie your lines too tight the grommets will tear out very quickly. If you tie them too loose the tarp will tear itself apart in the wind. I didn't have a problem with the bungees digging into my trailer. I suppose that depends on where you place them. But, I didn't want to take a chance on the cords rubbing my paint, nor did I want the tarp touching my paint. The tarps are very acidic and will eventually eat the paint, especially new paint. The tent type method allows it to breathe. But the "tent" is problematic here with Nor'easters which sometimes have gusts as high as 70mph. I used concrete blocks to hold the bottom of my "tent" down because the grommets become compromised quickly with gusty winds. |
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mobiltec
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Post by mobiltec on Nov 2, 2014 12:31:22 GMT -8
DO NOT USE BUNGIES.... The hooks will dig into your trailer when it's windy and it doesn't take long to wear a hole in your aluminum. If you tie your lines too tight the grommets will tear out very quickly. If you tie them too loose the tarp will tear itself apart in the wind. I didn't have a problem with the bungees digging into my trailer. I suppose that depends on where you place them. But, I didn't want to take a chance on the cords rubbing my paint, nor did I want the tarp touching my paint. The tarps are very acidic and will eventually eat the paint, especially new paint. The tent type method allows it to breathe. But the "tent" is problematic here with Nor'easters which sometimes have gusts as high as 70mph. I used concrete blocks to hold the bottom of my "tent" down because the grommets become compromised quickly with gusty winds. I used a cinder block once on my Deville and a dust devil came through and got ahold of the tarp and actually lifted and threw that cinder block into the rear of the trailer causing a HUGE dent in the lower rear metal. There was no damage to that metal before that so I had to replace the metal. Of course this is in the video series.... Not going to argue with you on the reasons for not using bungee cords. Just offering up my experiences... After all, I make mistakes so you don't have to. We have up to 100 mph winds here by the way... I have videos of them of course and they show the damage afterwards. The best thing to do is get the dang thing buttoned up as soon as possible so you have no need of a tarp in the first place. |
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65callie
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Post by 65callie on Nov 2, 2014 13:58:35 GMT -8
We buy our trailer tarps from here: www.tarpsonline.comThey ship fast and don't charge outrageous shipping fees. Many sizes, colors, and thicknesses to choose from. The brown ones are heavy and last at least 2 years for us. The white aren't as thick but we like them because they blend well with the trailer. |
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mobiltec
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Post by mobiltec on Nov 2, 2014 14:00:44 GMT -8
By the way I found the emoticon I have been looking for....  |
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mobiltec
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Post by mobiltec on Nov 2, 2014 14:01:53 GMT -8
We buy our trailer tarps from here: www.tarpsonline.comThey ship fast and don't charge outrageous shipping fees. Many sizes, colors, and thicknesses to choose from. The brown ones are heavy and last at least 2 seasons for us. The white aren't as thick but we like them because they blend well with the trailer. Thanks I'll take a look at that. I'm so sick of being screwed by corporate bean counters.... |
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mobiltec
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Post by mobiltec on Nov 2, 2014 14:36:56 GMT -8
We buy our trailer tarps from here: www.tarpsonline.comThey ship fast and don't charge outrageous shipping fees. Many sizes, colors, and thicknesses to choose from. The brown ones are heavy and last at least 2 seasons for us. The white aren't as thick but we like them because they blend well with the trailer. Thanks I'll take a look at that. I'm so sick of being screwed by corporate bean counters.... All I can say is WOW! These tarps are built to more than Twice the standards of the Ace and Home Depot standards. And at less than HALF the cost including shipping. I will be buying ALL of my tarps from here now. |
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shastajeff
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Post by shastajeff on Nov 2, 2014 15:37:48 GMT -8
Check out your county fair grounds. I store my camper in a nice clean, dry pole building with a concrete floor from November- April for 11 dollars a foot. So I pay $152 to store it for the entire winter. No buying tarps or expending the labor to wrap it.
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Post by bigbill on Nov 2, 2014 16:10:28 GMT -8
I tie ropes over top of the tarp which holds it in place and keeps the wind load off of the eyelets, Just start by tying the rope to the tongue or the rear bumper which ever you prefer then proceed to spiral wind the rope completely around the trailer till you get to the other end, then take a couple wraps front to back. I use cotton clothesline which is inexpensive and in the spring I throw it away.
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Post by Teachndad on Nov 3, 2014 17:27:49 GMT -8
All that being said, if you tarp your trailer you do not want puddling on top. So you need to put something on top that will "tent" the tarp. I usually just run an 8 foot 2x2 up through the vent hole with a pillow duct taped to the top to reduce wear on the tarp/tent. That creat's a peak so that the water will run off. Then I use dacron line (any type of rope will do) to tie the tarp down over the front rear and sides to the frame underneath. When I tarped Andy, my trailer recently, I threw two large empty plastic cat litter containers on their sides, up on top, just to do something similar. It gave a non flat peak when I through the tarp over it. It was something I came up with on the fly. |
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Post by Teachndad on Nov 14, 2014 21:25:35 GMT -8
Hi,
One think that should be added is how to fold up your tarp once it's no longer needed. I have a plan. The next time it rains, I will take pix of how I fold it up and post them in a thread, so it's really easy to unfurl it before an upcoming rain.
It drizzled last night and I came up with a method when I was folding it back up, but didn't think to take pix. The extra time folding would result in a very easy tarp drop from the top of the trailer.
BTW, always open up your brand new tarp on the ground, not on the top of the trailer........
Alll bee Bock.
Rod
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mobiltec
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Post by mobiltec on Nov 15, 2014 5:43:53 GMT -8
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Post by Teachndad on Nov 21, 2014 22:59:15 GMT -8
Hi, One think that should be added is how to fold up your tarp once it's no longer needed. I have a plan. The next time it rains, I will take pix of how I fold it up and post them in a thread, so it's really easy to unfurl it before an upcoming rain. It drizzled last night and I came up with a method when I was folding it back up, but didn't think to take pix. The extra time folding would result in a very easy tarp drop from the top of the trailer. BTW, always open up your brand new tarp on the ground, not on the top of the trailer........ Alll bee Bock. Rod Okay,
Here we go. Here's Rod's way to roll up a tarp so that it is easy to roll down off the top of your trailer when the rains come. Maybe it's nothing new, but I figured I would post my how-to anyway. My tarp measures 30 x 16'. It is too long and doesn't cover the sides of the trailer completely when fully rolled out over the trailer. In the images, the silver side is top side and the brown is the underside of the tarp. Two people works better than one, but it can be done. When working on a ladder always try to have someone brace the ladder for you for safety.
Step 1. Sweep or blow away all the dust, dirt and leaves on the surface where you will roll up the tarp.
Step 2. Place tarp underside down on the ground(brown side down). The top surface(silver) of the tarp should facing upward and should be visible.
Step 3. Fold the outer edges towards the middle. Keep the full length. Underside is now on top. 
Step 4. Roll up both narrow ends towards the middle. 
Step 5. Once rolled up(as pictured above), store tarp somewhere that you can keep the tarp at the rolled up length. In this case about 8 feet. I suggest not folding it because, I believe where the folds are created will be where the tarp begins to deteriorate first. If you roll it up in the manner in which I suggest, then your folds are over the top edges of the trailer and not directly over the roof.
Step 6. Rolling out the tarp before a storm. Place the rolled up tarp on the middle of the roof parallel to the front and the back. Place over the vent as much as possible. I placed some large cat litter containers on the roof under the tarp to create a pitched like roof to increase runoff and minimize puddling on the roof. My roof currently has depressions on it. And what looks like unsealed screws on the roof vent. It's leak heaven. 
Step 7. Covering the trailer - Roll out the sides of the rolled up tarp. One roll goes towards the back and one goes towards the front. It's really quite easy from here on out. You roll it out and the ends fall down over the side. Fasten as you want.
Step 8. When you want to remove the tarp, make sure you don't try to pull it off from one side or the other of the trailer. This can cause rips or cuts and increases stress on the seams. Stepping up on a ladder, put one half of the tarp back on the roof lengthways(parallel to the sides of the trailer. Once you do this on one side, then you can pull the lowest ends of the tarp OVER towards the opposite side and then it just peals off easily back onto the ground.
Step 9. See step 1.
Cheers
Rod
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