ajt:
F-reds:
I’m no muscle man, but if you can’t get enough tension on a strap using a hand tightened well lubricated ratchet, either you aren’t doing it right, or you aren’t using the correct form of restraints.
Its not about the initial tension. The tighter you get the strap eliminates the need in the vast majority of cases to stop further up the road.
You get a 5’ fella slightly built vs a 6.6 inch brick out house and a couple of extra clicks is nothing.
The length of the original handle is a design feature and does the job. Using a bar/lever with care ‘might’ be OK but the manufacturers say not.
If you’re a strapping 6ft plus lad then use the shorter handled ones. If you’re a 5ft weakling get the longer handled ones. It’s about having the right tools and using them correctly. It doesn’t take much for the locking plate or ratchet teeth to distort.
If you have a look at a Spanset ABS ratchet compared to a run of the mill cheapie you’ll see the ‘sprocket’ is actually 3 on each side compared to a single on the cheapie. They also have twin locking plates. These ratchets are good for 750Dan whereas the cheapie are sometimes only 240Dan. Use a lever on the cheapie and it’s likely to fail.
As I referred to earlier, as a mechanic I would never apply a lever/extension to any of my tools - I’d get the right length tool in the first place.
As for initial tension I disagree. It is ALL about the initial tension. If this is correct there won’t be any settling of the load and subsequent retensioning of straps. Settling of the load is another phrase for a loose/unstable/shifting load. We don’t want the load to become loose or unstable at all. We also don’t want drivers injured/killed whilst trying to re-tension straps. The BSEN 12195 standard refers to this as the ‘K’ factor where it is known up to half the initial tension can be lost if it isn’t right to start with.
Spanset have a great device called a Tension Force Indicator that lets the driver check how much tension he has and whether he has equal tension side to side. It’s a brilliant idea but not generally seen in the UK.
I also don’t like the method of stashing the spare webbing behind the tensioned strap. This can cause the main strap to loosen. It’s almost like having a cushion behind the strap.
We all have differing experience and ideas and what works for you may not work for another. There is plenty of ‘official’ guidance and standards available but unfortunately most haven’t even glanced at it and won’t realise what they are doing might not work until all the circumstances come together and they find out it didn’t work. It is my experience many then still don’t understand why their load shifted and therefore may not learn from this particular experience.
cav551:
Would a Dan be in some way related to a Rod, Pole or Perch? because it means SFA to me. Kilograms and pounds I can relate to but this unit is meaningless. Typical marketing gobbledigook. 
It would help if typed it correctly in the first place (flamin ipad!!).
The correct unit of measure is daN (Decanewton). 1 daN = 1kg numerically.
Javiatrix:
shep532:
If you were using simple ‘over strapping’ then try this calculation to find out how many straps for a 5000Kg load loaded away from the headboard.
5000 x 0.8 = 4000
5000 x 0.4 = 2000
4000 - 2000 = 2000
350 x 1.5 = 525
525 x 0.4 = 210
2000 / 210 = 9.5
9.5 x 1.25 = 11.87
Total 12 straps
The above is a simplified version of the BSEN 12195-1:2010 lashing calculation.
If we allowed for 2 ratchets per webbing (one each side which would be the ideal) it’d only be 9 straps.
As for storing the tail end of the strap - if you store it as you described, trapped behind the strap, this can cause a drop in tension during transit.
Of course I’m going to get told this is a load of crap but if anyone wants any of the numbers above explaining - just ask 
Yes please, would be interested to know! 
Really■■? Bugger … I’ll do it tonight when I’ve got access to a proper keyboard
Re using extensions to tighten ratchets …
When I used to carry round timber on a flatbed , I found that if I tightened the ratchets with a 16" approx long tool that I made I no longer had to stop and retighten after a few miles because of the logs settling .
Didn’t have any broken ratchets and they weren’t exactly new although I did look after them eg oil them regularly .
I hate seeing dry / rusty ratchet mechanisms , all for the sake of 2mins with an oil can or squeezy bottle with some gear or engine oil from the garage .
Out again today (someone forgot to lock my cell) and I saw two contradictory restraint methods. Both C+E flats, both hauling full loads of bulk bags.
One had two straps positioned diagonally across the arse end two bags.
The other had a strap over every pair.
Wasn’t there a thread recently that VOSA dislike the former…?
Reef:
ajt:
Its not about the initial tension. The tighter you get the strap eliminates the need in the vast majority of cases to stop further up the road.
Bone idleness then?
It’s lazy, corner cutting [zb] that have killed this job and given rise to all the H&S bull [zb] we find ourselves now drowning in.
Don’t be over the top. It’s a few extra clicks on a ratchet which saves a lot if hassle not a industry game changer
shep532:
ajt:
F-reds:
I’m no muscle man, but if you can’t get enough tension on a strap using a hand tightened well lubricated ratchet, either you aren’t doing it right, or you aren’t using the correct form of restraints.
Its not about the initial tension. The tighter you get the strap eliminates the need in the vast majority of cases to stop further up the road.
You get a 5’ fella slightly built vs a 6.6 inch brick out house and a couple of extra clicks is nothing.
The length of the original handle is a design feature and does the job. Using a bar/lever with care ‘might’ be OK but the manufacturers say not.
If you’re a strapping 6ft plus lad then use the shorter handled ones. If you’re a 5ft weakling get the longer handled ones. It’s about having the right tools and using them correctly. It doesn’t take much for the locking plate or ratchet teeth to distort.
If you have a look at a Spanset ABS ratchet compared to a run of the mill cheapie you’ll see the ‘sprocket’ is actually 3 on each side compared to a single on the cheapie. They also have twin locking plates. These ratchets are good for 750Dan whereas the cheapie are sometimes only 240Dan. Use a lever on the cheapie and it’s likely to fail.
As I referred to earlier, as a mechanic I would never apply a lever/extension to any of my tools - I’d get the right length tool in the first place.
As for initial tension I disagree. It is ALL about the initial tension. If this is correct there won’t be any settling of the load and subsequent retensioning of straps. Settling of the load is another phrase for a loose/unstable/shifting load. We don’t want the load to become loose or unstable at all. We also don’t want drivers injured/killed whilst trying to re-tension straps. The BSEN 12195 standard refers to this as the ‘K’ factor where it is known up to half the initial tension can be lost if it isn’t right to start with.
Spanset have a great device called a Tension Force Indicator that lets the driver check how much tension he has and whether he has equal tension side to side. It’s a brilliant idea but not generally seen in the UK.
I also don’t like the method of stashing the spare webbing behind the tensioned strap. This can cause the main strap to loosen. It’s almost like having a cushion behind the strap.
We all have differing experience and ideas and what works for you may not work for another. There is plenty of ‘official’ guidance and standards available but unfortunately most haven’t even glanced at it and won’t realise what they are doing might not work until all the circumstances come together and they find out it didn’t work. It is my experience many then still don’t understand why their load shifted and therefore may not learn from this particular experience.
It’s OK saying use x y z ratchet but most companies you just get what you are given.
We mainly do flat bed work core business of which is timber, steel, concrete and with chipboard movements in curtain siders so pretty key restraining loads and from experience a few extra clicks with a bar is highly beneficial regardless if you are meant to or not especially on the hidden chipboard. Flats not so bad as you can see what’s happening.
Biggest cause of straps coming loose is not having it lined up correctly from one side to the other.
Webbing tucked in behind the ratchet, again never had a issue.
shep532:
Javiatrix:
shep532:
If you were using simple ‘over strapping’ then try this calculation to find out how many straps for a 5000Kg load loaded away from the headboard.
5000 x 0.8 = 4000 (Weight of the load x the maximum G force that will be applied. This is 0.8G in a forward direction. So this means a force equivalent to 4000Kg will act forwards)
5000 x 0.4 = 2000 (Weight of the load x the coefficient of friction. There is a table of these values in BSEN 12195-1. So this is working out how much ‘weight’ the friction can resist sliding))
4000 - 2000 = 2000(Take the 2nd answer from the 1st answer and now we know how much force our straps need to be able to ‘resist’)
350 x 1.5 = 525 (This is the Standard Tension Force from the ratchet label (STF) x the recommended 1.5 to allow for loss of tension due to only having the ratchet on one side of the strap. So instead of having 350daN on both side we allow for only half that on one side giving a total pre-tension of 525dan)
525 x 0.4 = 210(This is the coefficient of friction x the tension in the strap. So this works out how much the tension will increase the friction by - which is what we re trying to do when we overstrap. We are trying to apply a downward force to the load and increase the friction between the load and the load bed)
2000 / 210 = 9.5 (In the first calculations we found how much force we need to restrain (2000). Divide this by how much force the strap is going to create and we get the number of straps required)
9.5 x 1.25 = 11.87 (We multiply the number of straps by a 1.25 safety factor as a just in case measure and then round up to the nearest strap)
Total 12 straps
Yes please, would be interested to know!
Really■■? Bugger … I’ll do it tonight when I’ve got access to a proper keyboard
The above is a simplified method. We could also work out the ‘sin’ of the strap angle in relation to the load bed and take that into account (i.e. the Sin of 80 degree is 0.9848), but as long as the strap angle is above 75 degrees it would make very little difference.
Of course you could just use an App like this one SpanSet - Home which is much easier
