UKtramp:
As I resembled a scarecrow myself, they probably thought nothing to it. This was a huge farm that resembled more like Downton abbey than a mucky old farm that I was expecting. The cup was fine bone china which no doubt they reserve for guests like me. As I sipped my coffee with my little finger held properly out, I heard the farmer whisper to his wife “bit of a posh [zb] here isn’t he” get the chocolate biscuits out as he looks like royalty. Perhaps I heard wrong, I am not sure.
In reality, you were in a shed waiting to be unloaded up to your knees in cow dung … did you offer to service The refrigerating system free of charge.
UKtramp:
…Had a good laugh with the farmer and the laborers about my lack of knowledge of whether I was carrying hay or straw!!..
Ok, I will ask the question. As a born and bred South Londoner, where acres of swaying, golden corn fields are few and far between, what IS the difference between hay and straw?? I confess I don’t have a clue, I thought it was all the same stuff.
Another, more contentious question no doubt, but why on earth are hay / straw / thatch stuff, delivery drivers not required, by law, to sheet the (zb)ing the load. At least put a top and rear sheet over it, instead of having it shedding all over the place?
UKtramp:
…Had a good laugh with the farmer and the laborers about my lack of knowledge of whether I was carrying hay or straw!!..
Ok, I will ask the question. As a born and bred South Londoner, where acres of swaying, golden corn fields are few and far between, what IS the difference between hay and straw?? I confess I don’t have a clue, I thought it was all the same stuff.
Another, more contentious question no doubt, but why on earth are hay / straw / thatch stuff, delivery drivers not required, by law, to sheet the (zb)ing the load. At least put a top and rear sheet over it, instead of having it shedding all over the place?
I didn’t know myself till now, hay is animal feed they can eat it like grass whereas straw is used for bedding, it is what is left over from the crops of wheat etc. The top of the wheat is used and what is left is then straw. As for sheeting it is due to you can’t get on the top to sheet it up, it would be too dangerous asit is unstable. I was amazed at how much of the load is shed in delivery. I didnt get lost coming home as I just followed the trail of straw on the road.
bullitt:
Another, more contentious question no doubt, but why on earth are hay / straw / thatch stuff, delivery drivers not required, by law, to sheet the (zb)ing the load. At least put a top and rear sheet over it, instead of having it shedding all over the place?
As a person who’s never had anything to do with hay/straw haulage I’m gonna take a punt at an answer that may be near the truth or may be ■■■■■■■■ . I reckon it’s not sheeted because it would be impractical and probably unsafe (for the sheeter to do), plus it’s 100% biodegradable and whilst it may be irksome driving behind a straw wagon in the blizzard of crap coming off it is in no way dangerous or detrimental to road safety. That’s my take anyway.
the maoster:
As a person who’s never had anything to do with hay/straw haulage I’m gonna take a punt at an answer that may be near the truth or may be ■■■■■■■■ . I reckon it’s not sheeted because it would be impractical and probably unsafe (for the sheeter to do), plus it’s 100% biodegradable and whilst it may be irksome driving behind a straw wagon in the blizzard of crap coming off it is in no way dangerous or detrimental to road safety. That’s my take anyway.
the maoster:
As a person who’s never had anything to do with hay/straw haulage I’m gonna take a punt at an answer that may be near the truth or may be ■■■■■■■■ . I reckon it’s not sheeted because it would be impractical and probably unsafe (for the sheeter to do), plus it’s 100% biodegradable and whilst it may be irksome driving behind a straw wagon in the blizzard of crap coming off it is in no way dangerous or detrimental to road safety. That’s my take anyway.
As my answer above maoster, your dead right.
Dead wrong,Any load of fodder going onto a ferry has to be sheeted due to fire risk
Ok, so, its wheat not corn! And the hay / straw is the stalks, stems, what ever, after the wheat bits (ears? ) have been removed? Proper farming stuff!
With regard to sheeting, forget all that biodegradable, health and safety nonsense. There cant be any other load where it is acceptable to load it onto an open deck, flat bed truck, chuck some straps over it then drive away discarding a quantity of it down the road as you go, spreading it all over the carriageway and onto following vehicles. Strange but true, allegedly!
UKtramp:
…As for sheeting it is due to you can’t get on the top to sheet it up, it would be too dangerous asit is unstable…
Seriously? So you can stack and strap one bale high or two bales high, but three bales is TOO high to strap down and then stand on and sheet over??
It is to unstable to stand on AFTER strapping down and the vehicle and trailer are stationary, but you can “safely” still drive down the road with it shedding all over the place…after strapping it down??
Just strap it down then sheet over it! Just a top and rear sheet would do. Or is it that the truth is that its just to much trouble, and, as there is no legal requirement to do so, then you wont / don’t do it??
Edit… this is not aimed at you personally, just a general enquiry to the straw, hay, thatch haulage boys and girls.
UKtramp:
…As for sheeting it is due to you can’t get on the top to sheet it up, it would be too dangerous asit is unstable…
Seriously? So you can stack and strap one bale high or two bales high, but three bales is TOO high to strap down and then stand on and sheet over?? Just strap it down then sheet over it! Just a top and rear sheet would do. Or is it that the truth is that its just to much trouble, and, as there is no legal requirement to do so, then you wont / don’t do it??
Edit… this is not aimed at you personally, just a general enquiry to the straw, hay, thatch haulage boys and girls.
On average they are 3 to 4 bails high which is really quite a height, I certainly wouldn’t be trying to walk along the top of it even if I could get up to the height although you would need a cherry picker to get up there. The straw is ok to lose on the road as it blows away and degrades naturally. I admit it is a bit ridiculous the amount that blows off as your driving along but in reality there isn’t much you can do to prevent it. I am sure if you had to sheet it that someone would come up with an auto net or something like what is fitted on tippers.
UKtramp:
…Had a good laugh with the farmer and the laborers about my lack of knowledge of whether I was carrying hay or straw!!..
Ok, I will ask the question. As a born and bred South Londoner, where acres of swaying, golden corn fields are few and far between, what IS the difference between hay and straw?? I confess I don’t have a clue, I thought it was all the same stuff.
Another, more contentious question no doubt, but why on earth are hay / straw / thatch stuff, delivery drivers not required, by law, to sheet the (zb)ing the load. At least put a top and rear sheet over it, instead of having it shedding all over the place?
Hay is dried grass.
Straw is the stalks of cereal crops, barley and wheat.
Cows will eat barley straw but have a hard time digesting it so is used mostly for bedding.
Wheat straw is made available to them as a bit of roughage when they are eating silage during winter time.
They will eat hay until the cows come home.
Before I took my HGV in 1975 I drove a ten ton gross TK Bedford for a forage merchant on my car licence. We carried small bales, with a rack over the cab and a ‘greedy board’ extention on the rear body. Mostly Barley straw loaded 7 layers high as they are the lightest bales.
We always sheeted the top, especially barn stored bales, it is surprising how many bales you could get on a small vehicle like that!
the maoster:
As a person who’s never had anything to do with hay/straw haulage I’m gonna take a punt at an answer that may be near the truth or may be ■■■■■■■■ . I reckon it’s not sheeted because it would be impractical and probably unsafe (for the sheeter to do), plus it’s 100% biodegradable and whilst it may be irksome driving behind a straw wagon in the blizzard of crap coming off it is in no way dangerous or detrimental to road safety. That’s my take anyway.
As my answer above maoster, your dead right.
Dead wrong,Any load of fodder going onto a ferry has to be sheeted due to fire risk
I and most others do not go on a ferry, you are such an arrogant know it all arn’t you, Any time anyone says anything you always have to have your silly input, so how many straw wagons do you see sheeted up on the roads Mr Simpleton? After this one I am popping you on ignore as you are not worth speaking to. Every single post I have put up onTNUK, there you are with your snide comments. Bye bye your off where you deserve to be.
All lorrys should carry the sheets as vosa can tell you to sheet up but how they expect you to do it at the side of the road i dont know and everyone i know hopes that you loose most the loose stuff before you get near vosa
And sometimes they will stack bales across the bed and the only way to strap them down is to get on top and run a strap the whole length of the load
Which can be a bit daunting
the maoster:
As a person who’s never had anything to do with hay/straw haulage I’m gonna take a punt at an answer that may be near the truth or may be ■■■■■■■■ . I reckon it’s not sheeted because it would be impractical and probably unsafe (for the sheeter to do), plus it’s 100% biodegradable and whilst it may be irksome driving behind a straw wagon in the blizzard of crap coming off it is in no way dangerous or detrimental to road safety. That’s my take anyway.
As my answer above maoster, your dead right.
Dead wrong,Any load of fodder going onto a ferry has to be sheeted due to fire risk
I and most others do not go on a ferry, you are such an arrogant know it all arn’t you, Any time anyone says anything you always have to have your silly input, so how many straw wagons do you see sheeted up on the roads Mr Simpleton? After this one I am popping you on ignore as you are not worth speaking to. Every single post I have put up onTNUK, there you are with your snide comments. Bye bye your off where you deserve to be.
Ooh,we are a bit touchy.I see sheeted straw wagons heading for Cairnryan most days. I like having a pop at you and your alter ego’s. Like most Walter Mittys eventually the stories that are weaved start to unravel. Think some loose threads are starting to appear here.Pity you won’t see this
not wanting to get involved But any load of hay or straw I pulled out of the scots borders south,west had to have a tarp over the top…no ifs or buts (didn’t want too but was condition of contract)I’m sure the yellow /hay straw trucks from Dumfries had the same conditions.didnt matter if round or small bales.
JIMBO47:
not wanting to get involved But any load of hay or straw I pulled out of the scots borders south,west had to have a tarp over the top…no ifs or buts (didn’t want too but was condition of contract)I’m sure the yellow /hay straw trucks from Dumfries had the same conditions.didnt matter if round or small bales.
Well I have just had two days of it so not exactly experienced in straw movement but I did ask if we sheeted the load as I didn’t know one way or the other and basically was laughed at, these people do it every day and have done for years so I am relying on their experience rather than mine. I personally have never seen any sheeted down, but wondered why not as I would imagine that the rain on the straw will act like a huge sponge.
Rather an interesting read about covering straw when transporting by road. hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg125.pdf
It is advising not to sheet straw as it is dangerous and working at height rules come into play, also by covering the straw with any covering whilst transporting it encourages the growth of mould and traps condensation. So Mr know it all GOG47 who actually knows nothing is yet again wrong.
Excert from the HSE web site for the know it all GOG47 who told maoster that I was dead wrong,
Sheeting or netting bales on trailers or lorries If road traffic and environmental laws allow it, leave bales uncovered wherever possible if they are to be transported by road.
However, if it is necessary to cover bales, then avoid the need for work at height
by, for example:
■ using automated sheeting systems that do not require people to climb on the
load or vehicle bed;
■ attaching a net to a pole, both of which are lifted by telehandler over the load;
■ lifting a folded net by telescopic handler onto the load and unfolding it, using
ropes, from ground leve
I confess I don’t have a clue, I thought it was all the same stuff.
. I reckon it’s not sheeted because it would be impractical and probably unsafe (for the sheeter to do), plus it’s 100% biodegradable and whilst it may be irksome driving behind a straw wagon in the blizzard of crap coming off it is in no way dangerous or detrimental to road safety. That’s my take anyway.
