dozy:
How do you get the straps up and over the high stuff, porta cabins , modular buildings etc , more so when your parked next to tris , I just can get the technique, now getting problems with shoulders ( maybe old injuries +age ) , I end up with more straps comming down on me or near me than up and over the top , think the problem is I’m having to chuck up 8/12 straps to get the 4 over that I need , which is taking toll on shoulders / back etc .
Normal height stuff I’m fine with , or if I’ve room to stand back and throw over , not up and over
How do lads who transport pallets get on , there highish , but I guess parked normally in middle of yard its throw over , not up and ovet. Ta
Nb go away nodding donkey , I’m after some genuine advice , as left shoulder I’d that bad I’m struggling to drive , not your normal tripe
Dodgy shoulders for me as well. Stand facing away from the load. Bend forward a bit and with a straight arm throw the strap backwards over the head. It’s like a highland games throwing a weight over a bar. Looks odd, get’s the job done.
Decided to tell my old man who works in H&S about what the job entails. He went white. I watched an older Irish man climb up the side of a decker once. A light pallet had fallen over so he climbed up the side rail, and his mate (a driver from another company) pushed it from below. I stood ready to break his fall
Tie a rope,the type that was used to secure loads before straps became the norm, on the hook end throw the rope over and pull the strap over,that way its only the rope that is going to come back on you and not the metal hook.
damoq:
I don’t need to worry about chucking straps over my pallets anymore. My new trailer has got those ratchet straps that run on a cable and bungee system attached to the roof. Undo the the ratchets and the straps pull themselves back in.[emoji1]
I think those straps are a load of s…t.
They don’t seem strong enough to me. 9 times out 10 they look cheap s…t.
They ok if got really light load but wouldn’t fancy securing heavy pallets.
Never coil a strap up with the hook in the middle . You a r throwing a lump of metal . Your leaving your self wide open for all sorts of trouble with damage to people and property . As said coil tightly ( easy winders do this nicely ) hold the hook stand back and lob it over
It’s a dogs toy Heavy enough to go over, not so heavy to smash glass etc, just a thought. Bit like a thread pulls a bit of twine, pulls a rope etc etc. I was going to suggest a tennis ball but no way of securing it, with this you have a loop to use.
Dipper_Dave:
I did portacabins for years and was really accurate using the hand grenade technique (can’t discuss why I’m good at this). Then they switched to short straps on the legs for the ones with fragile roofs.
Simply stand back and arc arm and throw, ideally not into the wind.
A little twist of the hips and firm follow through action helps (that’s what she said).
Oh and never throw metal end over.
Done right the metal end will still be in one hand for placing on secure anchoring point.
I find them easier to throw using the metal end as a weight… I make sure there’s no one else in the entire area before taking this approach though.
I also find straps easier to throw straight - when rolled up into a coil. You can then throw them “American Tickertape” style.
I’ ve kinda developed a technique where I can get a strap over a high load with little roof clearance. In fact a couple in the past have said ‘how the hell did you manage that’ .
It involves chucking it over, doing a flick with my hand, and a little jump as I let go…only problem is I caught sight of myself one day in a reflection doing it, and it looks really camp ,… like some kind of gay ballet dancer turned trucker, so I always check to see if anybodys watching first.
robroy:
I’ ve kinda developed a technique where I can get a strap over a high load with little roof clearance. In fact a couple in the past have said ‘how the hell did you manage that’ .
It involves chucking it over, doing a flick with my hand, and a little jump as I let go…only problem is I caught sight of myself one day in a reflection doing it, and it looks really camp ,… like some kind of gay ballet dancer turned trucker, so I always check to see if anybodys watching first.
robroy:
I’ ve kinda developed a technique where I can get a strap over a high load with little roof clearance. In fact a couple in the past have said ‘how the hell did you manage that’ .
It involves chucking it over, doing a flick with my hand, and a little jump as I let go…only problem is I caught sight of myself one day in a reflection doing it, and it looks really camp ,… like some kind of gay ballet dancer turned trucker, so I always check to see if anybodys watching first.
I find that if you stand 4ft back and concentrate on getting the height with your throw it will unwind itself and go over using its own momentum after it hits the top of the load.
It will naturaly unfurl.
As an experiment try and roll out a strap across a trailer bed…it takes hardly any effort. Obviously gravity will help you on the other side. So just make sure you get the height with a slight angle…4 feet or so back from the load.
On a windy day it can be troublesome…every man for himself, but get the wind behind you.
Please dont chuck the metal hook over, theres no need to even in the wind and it seldom ends well.
I did a bit of pallet work recently and got the knack of chucking over, but really, its a pain for plenty of other reasons so I aint doing it anymore.
thanks all, I would say I’d try the different suggestions , but I’ve admitted defeat , just not settling at all, not sleeping , worrying etched etc etc , told them today they either have to take me off job or I leave , not a threat I just have to look after myself .
Thought I was settling this week , just on concrete ( flats ) this week and I started to settle down a bit , but told me got to take a big building into central London the pick part of a tower crane up , my mind went everywhere ,so much to think about , permits, height, width , times etc etc .
Have it my best shot but I just end up worrying about everything , thinking , just dreading sat , if I can get back to yard dump it , not sure I’ll return
Thanks again for your advice , sorry to ramble , my heads going again
some loads you couldn’t strap as you would either damage the load or lose the straps because you couldn’t strap tight enough, so you would sheet load and rope in between palllets,easy,straps have there uses ,but i never lost anything etc, etc ,
I was starting to struggle then I saw how the yanks do it, they make a loop like a slingshot and increase the effort you put in, see how to throw straps over 14, high loads by sergei dratcher
si-d:
straps are for wimps. learn to rope and sheet like the good’ol’days…
Even the sheeted loads now seem to use straps rather than ropes, so no need for dolly knots in most cases. I know of a few cases however where they’d be useful, especially for covering skips. As for doing one - I could last month and I’m a newbie but doubt I can remember even now.
Regarding throwing straps - I was told the worst thing you can do is chuck the metal end both for the person standing the other side, and if the wind catches it and throws the strap sideways. In theory it could maybe even come back right round and lasso the sender…ideally with someone videoing it for youtube naturally.
Btw, in the interests of health & safety bods, you need to attend a how to climb a ladder course before using that and on some sites you’d need to build a small tower scaffold instead!
I watched an older Irish man climb up the side of a decker once. A light pallet had fallen over so he climbed up the side rail, and his mate (a driver from another company) pushed it from below. I stood ready to break his fall 
