Hello. Here comes simple question No.1. 
How do you undo or do up a curtain?
I must have seen it done a thousand times, but never paid attention,now I’ve realised I might well need to know this very, very soon.
Had 3 drops in a transit with a curtain once, but they were pallets of cardboard boxes…so I shoved them towards the back doors…hehe
Any advice would be appriciated…cheers
Each make seems to use a differant system, bu the priciples are the same.
To open undo the clips and then realise go to the front or back of the trailer and release the tension on the curtian and remove the pole from it locating point. Slide the curtain open.
To close. pull curtian closed. replace pole in locating point. (easier said than done on some trailers, especially if the pole is bent 
) Tension the curtain and then do the clips up. (Don’t over tension the clips. It’s not a Drum and it damages the runners)
Thanks. It’s the ratchet that I have trouble with mainly, the one I tried to do on the ■■■■■■ had two levers, one looked like the main ratchet (easy enough I guess), but it looked like the other lever was locking it in and I couldn’t work out how.
Most ratchets have 2 “controls” - one which winds the curtain pole, and one which is the catch to stop the pole rotating back again.
What you do is you grab the winder, and wind the curtain up a little bit tighter; the ratchet catch should move in some direction (some of them go in, others come out). Push/pull the catch in the same direction, so that the catch is no longer latching in the ratchet ‘cog’, and then the curtain pole should be free to unwind. Once the curtain is loose, you should be able to lift the pole out of the ratchet mechanism.
When you put the pole back in, you shouldn’t have to fiddle with the catch; just wind up the curtain until it’s tight (try to wind evenly from both ends).
If you want more advice, I think you’ll have to post a picture of the exact mechanism you’ve got. Or ask another driver who’s physically there.
the rachet should only be hand tight,not like some i have had where you need both hands to loosen the dam thing,then use the strapps to tighten the curtain,it’s not difficult mate.just watch your fingers with some of the ratchets,they can give you a sore one if to tight 
So the second, smaller lever acts like the release mechanism built into the levers on ratchet straps?
Andyroo:
So the second, smaller lever acts like the release mechanism built into the levers on ratchet straps?
yes mate,lets talk you through it,please keep in mind there are different types of opening ratchets,but are all based on the same principal.
your standing at the front of the trl,and your looking at the rachet opening system,there is two levers,1 is to release and the other is to tighten.push the 1st lever away from you to release the tenson of the curtain,and then pull the curtain towards you.this will allow you to lift curtain pole out of its housing,( normally a hole at top of trl) once you have got your frieght off trl and you wish to close the curtain,your going in revearse order now.obviously pull curtain closed and ensure the top of the pole fits in the hole above,once it is in, place the bottom half in the slot on the ratchet,( you may have to turn the lever to line slot up ) once it has dropped in ( keep fingers clear as it can take finger straight off)pull the 1st lever and it will click in to the locking position,then use lever 2 to tighten the curtain up pushing it away from your body.hand tight is sufficent,once tightened you then tighten the curtain in the normal manner.hope this is off help,but if you got a photo of the vehicle and trl then we could help you better.
Ace. I think with that in mind and a bit of common sense and playing about I should be ok. Thanks.
What no-one’s said is that sometimes when you pull the smaller ‘release’ lever out it doesn’t actually release the curtain tension. The reason this happens is because the ratchet level is still sitting against the ratchet cog and that’s now doing the job of the small lever by holding it. What you’ve got to do is make sure the inner end of the big lever is clear of the ratchet cog - usually by ‘pivoting’ it out of the way - and then pulling the smaller release lever home to release the ratchet and curtain tension.
Even following these rules the curtain may look as if it hasn’t released - especially if it’s old and not stretchy anymore - so what you do is grab the bottom edge of the curtain and - ensuring both the levers are clear of the ratchet cog - yank the curtain and it will unravel until you get to the end of the pole where you can lift it out.
Additionally, you’ll regularly find many trailers aren’t kept greased up on those moving parts and the curtain pole will appear to be seized solid on its pin. Much strength is required to jolt them up and out .
Finally, when you’ve got the curtains open, make sure you keep the poles well out of the way of the fork trucks as they’re the ones who get them caught as they lift the pallets on/off and bend them into a banana shape. Once they’re bent you’ll have one hell of a job getting them relocated - if at all.
Hope that’s of use. I couldn’t figure them out on my first job out either so don’t worry. Just ask someone like I did - they’ll show you I’m sure
Like Rob says, grab the bottom edge of the curtain and yank, but if you go back down the trailer a step or two first, then grab the curtain or straps and yank, it will pull all of the loose curtain away from the corner. It usualy bunches up as it unrolls, at the corner, making it more difficult to lift the pole out, because it gets jammed under the pelmet.
Don`t forget all the different roof supports many of which seem to be designed to trap fingers, break noses and knock teeth out 
Sloshed:
Don`t forget all the different roof supports many of which seem to be designed to trap fingers, break noses and knock teeth out
I have the cuts and bruises to prove it 
If possible, always wear gloves when you deal with curtains, and definitely with roof supports. And remember that when they are wet it is almost impossible to get a decent grip on the pole, and on sunny days it is impossible to see the top location point with the sun in your eyes.
I don’t think anyone bothers to grease ore oil the runners, so very few cutains I’ve used actually slide open the way they should.
Also, you can bet that the day they are in a rush to tip you, with three forkies waiting, you will find a mechanism that you’ve never seen before 
If you’re using the same truck or trailer every time you will get to know its little ways 
gardun:
Sloshed:
Don`t forget all the different roof supports many of which seem to be designed to trap fingers, break noses and knock teeth outI have the cuts and bruises to prove it
If possible, always wear gloves when you deal with curtains, and definitely with roof supports. And remember that when they are wet it is almost impossible to get a decent grip on the pole, and on sunny days it is impossible to see the top location point with the sun in your eyes.
I don’t think anyone bothers to grease ore oil the runners, so very few cutains I’ve used actually slide open the way they should.
Also, you can bet that the day they are in a rush to tip you, with three forkies waiting, you will find a mechanism that you’ve never seen before
If you’re using the same truck or trailer every time you will get to know its little ways
I can beat that Gardun - I had a roof support mid bar smash into my temple and put me u/c for 48 hrs.
Well said there Rob!!
Serious accidents are just waiting to happen with those blinkin roof supports, let alone the curtains themselves. When they are all new and shiny, fantastic, but, poorly serviced, not looked after and they become a very serious Health & Safety issue.
To all concerned, it should only require the minimum effort to open and close these curtains, any extra means of doing so, forks etc. are a big no-no! Please dont take any risks. NONE of us get paid enough to take these sort of chances.
Never actually saw it, but a guy I worked with at TNT had his jaw ripped out by a support post that was forced in by a forkie, was not located properly and as he ‘jerked’ the curtain past the post it swung out and lamped him one up-side his head!
Just another trick for everyone (you all probably know it anyway) is that if someone has over tightened the straps (and the poles) and the trailer has ‘wind-up’ roof supports, just try loosening them before undoing the straps, it just releases the tension enough to make it a little easier to pop the straps.
Terry
Brand new curtainsiders always cause headaches too.
You’ll be driving down the road and you’ll like in your mirror to find half a dozen buckles have worked loose and are wildly flapping about in the wind.
It doesn’t matter how tight you do them up you still get the problem recurring 10 miles down the road.
I found out that the problem was the unstretched curtain material was causing the trailer roof to flex up and down and that simply tightening half a dozen of the roof mounted straps to the side edges of the trailer at equal intervals stopped it flexing and the buckles didn’t work loose anymore 
Now, how many people knew that 
gardun:
I don’t think anyone bothers to grease ore oil the runners, so very few cutains I’ve used actually slide open the way they should.
I don’t think you are supposed to oil or grease the runners. The problem of stiff curtains comes from overtighting of the curtain damaging the runners. You don’t need the curtain to be a tight as a drum skin.
Ron K:
Brand new curtainsiders always cause headaches too.You’ll be driving down the road and you’ll like in your mirror to find half a dozen buckles have worked loose and are wildly flapping about in the wind.
It doesn’t matter how tight you do them up you still get the problem recurring 10 miles down the road.
I found out that the problem was the unstretched curtain material was causing the trailer roof to flex up and down and that simply tightening half a dozen of the roof mounted straps to the side edges of the trailer at equal intervals stopped it flexing and the buckles didn’t work loose anymore
Now, how many people knew that
I’ve done a lot of new trailer deliveries for Frauhauf and Boalloy etc and new curtain siders are always a problem, the taller the trailer the worse the problem. If I remember the curtians have a stickers the say they will strech for the first number of miles. Normally once you’ve tightened them down again they stay. I normally stop on my way to check wheels etc. Not everything that comes out of the factory is perfect and you don’t always notice until the trialer has done a few miles.
always a bit wiery of those ratchets, i think i’ve only let it happen to me twice but twice is enough. when you pop the little ratchet out to loosen the curtain, the bigger ratchet comes flying out and catches you on yer thumb… ouch.
Don’t have probems with any of the straps coming lose down the road, cause we use the hydraulic curtain siders… only pain with them is when the hydraulic line goes a bit tight and then it’s a bugger to get the little fingys back in hehe, ark at me with the fingys going on, i’m female i don’t know what they’re called!
if it makes sense it’s a miracle!
tiggz:
always a bit wiery of those ratchets, i think i’ve only let it happen to me twice but twice is enough. when you pop the little ratchet out to loosen the curtain, the bigger ratchet comes flying out and catches you on yer thumb… ouch.Don’t have probems with any of the straps coming lose down the road, cause we use the hydraulic curtain siders… only pain with them is when the hydraulic line goes a bit tight and then it’s a [zb] to get the little fingys back in hehe, ark at me with the fingys going on, i’m female i don’t know what they’re called!
if it makes sense it’s a miracle!
Pass 
Hydraulic curtains, anyone
Rob K:
Hydraulic curtains, anyone
tiggz prob means this
works off compressed air, you hook the straps on as usual but further back under the trailer to a bar then twiddle a button at rear of trailer which pulls bar in tensioning the curtain,twiddling button other way releases the tension and straps unhook easily
most of the ASDA trailers have this
still get mucky tho 
other system i`ve seen has straps with a sort of huge shirt button on them which hook over a cable that is tensioned and released by air
similar to the first but a bit more fiddly
Dave
they’re ya go sloshed has got it, i was at the time of writing that!