Well that sucks. I'll have to check em out tomorrow. The only ones I have in partial sun are the ones on the 2 racks for about a year. The ones that have been out of the sun have been there for over 2 years and are fine. Looks as tho their claim of UV protection isn't worth much.
I use to be in the furniture moving buisness and still have several furniture pads left. Ive thought about cutting a few down to size to simply drape them over the top of the stack and allow some material to drape over the edges to protect a tarp. Im still not tarping, havent jumped into action yet.
For the money used billboard signs are are about the best thing going- short of used rubber roofing. I have a bunch of these in various sizes. They are 2-4 times as thick as generic tarps.
Good idea, never knew this was an option. Where do you get them from? I found this site. Looks like about 8 bucks for a decent sized one repurposed for hay cover. Hay Tarp Supplier | Buy Tarps Online from Billboard Tarps
I went out and took some pics of my Yuma clear tarps today. Here's what I found... These on the racks are in the sun from noon on. Been there since fall last year. This one is constantly in any wind, but no sun at all. Up since fall 2013. And, this one has been in the sun all the time. Rolled up and down since fall 2013. Tied up now. I grabbed it and moved it all around... all seemed fine. I doubt if it got all that hot though, even in the direct sun... being mostly white. I wonder if your tarp got a little hotter somehow. Still not reason enough to come apart like your's has, Paul. I sure would like to know why it did that. Just for the h*ll of it, I sent an email to Yuma asking about this. I'm sure, if I hear anything, it'll be "gee, we've never had that happen before".
I wish the shipping was a bit cheaper. You end up paying more to ship than the cost of the tarp, which is why I haven't ordered any.
I just gave the one that cracked trap a better look. It is in a partially shaded area. The area that is brittle gets more sun. The back and side that receive more shade are not cracking and are not brittle.
Well if this true, then my tarps will be toast by this time next year.... Mine is in the direct sun from 10 o'clock on and in the summer full penetration of the heat.... ... But my wood dries nicely there....
Yep... there UV protection on the tarp you have is crap, that's for sure. I'm gonna try to keep contacting them. I'd really like to know what they'd have to say to greenhouse size setups. I bet those customers would be very unhappy with only a couple years in the sun.
That is the place I looked. Shipping must be less to WI. The shipping quote to get a $13 tarp to NY is $19.72
My personal preference is to use metal-why not scrounge/search for scrap metal roofing or old barn tin, etc? I will be covering my stacks in November and will be using 2' wide metal roofing, its forever...just my two cents though I would not say no to some used rubber roofing-Have a great day all
Well, Stinny & Paul bunion , my tarps have failed too... Looks just like Paul's tarp, hole filled.... I got that same tarp... It's only one year old ... Onto finding some EDPM...
All of the tarps I have used in the past never lasted more than a year, some even less. This was with the black on one side, silver on the other - sometimes black side up and other times silver, some silver, and some camouflage. I have some white that seems to be holding up for other things but once I'm done with those projects, I'll see if white holds up (probably not) Don't waste your time with clear or opaque plastic. They only last a few months at the outside. Right now I'm trying out the black 6mil plastic, which was cheaper than most of the other tarps. And if it fails, I still have better than half a roll left (about 55 feet x 12) I have heard good things about the clear reinforced plastic. I'm not sure what they are reinforced with, be it fiberglass or some other kind of string netting. (see post #46 of thread) I'd say salvaged tin, but in the area where I live, people tend to sell it because people want to do their game room up in rusty tin or something. The same applies for old rotted barn wood. Even used EDPM is sold for a premium (just a few dollars shy of new) If your lucky enough to find some EDPM for little or nothing, take all you can get!
I didn't read through all replies but I use bunker silo plastic from farmers, white on one side black on the other, farmers throw it away often times in 30'lengths up to 20'wide, the stuff DOES NOT tear, but cuts easy with a knife, and the snow just rolls off. And best of all you can almost certainly get it free! Only bad part is it tends to be pretty stinky until all the silage dries off or gets washed off
I didn't see that post was from a year ago, but oh well, also the plastic is uv rated, wind proof uv proof tear proof water proof it's really good stuff.
