Discussion
mat777 said:
why not just go back to a flatbed and a big canvas then?
For a start it takes 5 mins to pull some curtains and half an hour to sheet up, if youre good at it. Then theres the point of part loads and haivng to repeatedly sheet up, theres no way you can carry high pallets without a big headboard anyway and most stuff coming from overseas has a TIR cord on it anyway for security.
I could go on for ages, a curtainsider does more than just keep the rain off
mat777 said:
why not just go back to a flatbed and a big canvas then?
MODS!!!! Ban this man immediately 
Roping and sheeting indeed!!!
I once unbuckled the curtain side trailer I had on, walked to the bag to give a good yank on the curtains to slide them back, only to watch 45 ft of curtain slide out of the runners and onto the floor ad the stop bolt had fell out due to corrosion! I nearly cried!
It took me a very long time to put it back together on my own, in the wind and rain aswell
mat777 said:
I sympathise a lot there! I have an old 45ft curtain rolled up in the garage that I plan to make into some smaller tarps for stuff, and by bloody god is it f
king heavy stuff!
certainly is.king heavy stuff!i was in a yard in northampton, 1 fork lift, and he didn't want to know, so had to go and find a load of pallets, make a sort of staircase out of them, and drag it up onto the trailer, and then thread it back into the runner along the roof of the trailer
it was raining aswell. i'll never forget that poxy day, think it took me about 2 hours
K50 DEL said:
Scary thing is wind.
I once ripped the roof from a 7.5t Iveco on Shap Summit on a windy night.
doors were closed and curtains were drawn but it seems the wind got under a crack in the roof and lifted the whole thing clean off.... I needed new pants that night!
i bet you did, does get a tad windy up there, and bloody cold. shap is still the coldest place i've been in the uk, winter a few years back 2 of us were running to glasgow, it was showing -17 on the dash!!!!!I once ripped the roof from a 7.5t Iveco on Shap Summit on a windy night.
doors were closed and curtains were drawn but it seems the wind got under a crack in the roof and lifted the whole thing clean off.... I needed new pants that night!
chilistrucker said:
Panda76 said:
agent006 said:
Car driver question alert!
Surely it's safer to have the curtains open on an empty curtainsider in winds like that?
Depends on the strength of the roof.Most newer trailers are built lightweight so they can carry more err weight than older heavy trailers.This means the roofs are not as sturdy. In high winds the newer trailers with curtains tied back could result in the roof being ripped off.Surely it's safer to have the curtains open on an empty curtainsider in winds like that?
not 100% where i heard this, so it may be drivers room b/s?
Clivey said:
Genuine question for the HGV drivers here: Is there anything that even the most skilled driver could do in this situation, or are they entirely at the mercy of the wind?
other than knowing when to stop. i'd say its a mercy thing.the wind and rain have never bothered me too much, fog and snow/ice are my big concerns.
steady wind is ok, its the gusts that are the big problem, also depends on what sort of trailer you are pulling, aswell as how heavy you are. the worst i've known, was a few years back, i was tipping in kent with a 15.5 high curtainside trailer on, leaving dover empty and heading back via the m20, it got so bad i was down to 30 mph, at times it honestly felt like the lorry was lifting on the n/side as the gusts were hitting it. i remember that day, as they shut the m25, between j29/30 clockwise, as i think 4/5 lorries had been blown over.
never had anything like it since fortunately.
i am due to go finland in feb, so the snow and cold could be interesting.
Private Pile said:
Chilli, i drove a fair bit in Denmark, and it was proper cold there. I would imagine Finland is worse!
i think your right. my mate lives in sweden so i asked him how feb normally was. apparently its the coldest month, with lots of snow still. deep joy.i feel i'll be getting my first chaining up experience come feb.
where in denmark were you?
we are doing copenhagen, horsens and aalborg i believe.
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