“Quick Fix” For Tarp Tie-Downs

“Quick Fix” For Tarp Tie-Downs HAY & FORAGE HARVESTING Miscellaneous We don’t have a hay shed on our ranch so we always cover our haystacks with tarps or big strips of durable black plastic which will often last several years The biggest enemy of a tarp is the wind Unless the tarp is tied down securely it can whip the tarp around and tear holes in it and even tear out the grommets You need to create a reinforced “ear” to tie the tarp down with a rope or twine so it won’t pull off in a strong wind This little trick has revolutionized the way we cover haystacks The best way we’ve found to make an “ear” on black plastic is to wrap a small smooth rock into the material and then tie the twine tightly around it The rock creates a solid lump in the plastic that will hold the twine so it can’t pull off To keep wind from getting in under the plastic we tie it down in many places With big round bales we like to make long rows of bales - usually 2 bales high - with enough space between the rows so we can tarp each row by itself without the rows touching each other Putting a big tarp over multiple rows creates valleys between the rows which collect water and snow that creates big ice chunks when it freezes That makes it difficult to remove the tarp when uncovering the bales for feeding Black plastic is so slippery that it sometimes works better than canvas for shedding moisture and snow and it heats up from the sun so any snow melts and runs off Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Heather Thomas P O Box 215 Salmon Idaho 83467 ph 208 756-2841

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