Adding shade

[gimpyrobb]

Going on vaca tomorrow won't be able to ship till next week.

[dubby]

Thanks, but they're not what I was looking for exactly--and part of that is my fault from the wording in my post. I needed the eye to be offset, and then instead of the bolt, I needed a hole there. I'm going to use a lag bolt into the telephone poles. I still know I've seen such a thing but damned if I can find it anywhere.

Amazon is delivering a 4-pack of the engine lifting mounts today that have the metal bracket with a chain ring installed through them. I'm sure it's overkill but it's something to attach the ends of the wire rope through. The latest update is that the tarp will be delivered tomorrow.

Maybe by the time you're back from vacation I will actually have this thing installed! Hope you have a great trip!

[gimpyrobb]

Like this?

https://www.uscargocontrol.com/produ...8aAgO9EALw_wcB

[gimpyrobb]

You could always go the easy route and use a door hinge...

[dubby]

I finally had the bright idea to google "telephone pole hardware" and got a few more results, at least somewhat closer to what I had in mind. Angle eyelet. It's still not exactly what I envisioned but would have done the job.

Amazon has delivered my lifting eye hooks that should be okay. They'll just be lag bolted into the telephone pole and I can run the wire through the chain link.

FedEx says the tarp is out for delivery today, but I am not holding my breath. When it shows up, then I'll know it got here. Their tracking system is trash and unreliable.

[dubby]

Well... I have learned a lot.

It has always been my experience that when you order a tarp, or screen, that it is generally smaller than the actual measurements. The spacing for my poles was 13' from the container, and 29' from each other total. I picked the closest size I could find at 12x25' expecting it to be closer to 11.5' x 24'. The length didn't really matter to me as I knew it would come up short. My "idea" of how this thing was going to go together relied on it being too narrow as well.

After by buddy Diaz got up on the ladder and started welding on brackets, we found the 2.5" S hooks would be all that was needed to attach it to the container and the poles. There wasn't enough room there to stretch it any tighter--and that's what it really needs.

At the other end, there was plenty of room for stretch, but all the tension is just going one direction. This is already causing problems with the grommets in the tarp. It's also causing the one end to sag. We took some extra parts and pieces to try and figure it out but things just never got better.

Shortly after all my help left, a gust of wind caught it and disengaged the central S hooks from the container. There just wasn't enough tension there to keep them in place. I found a couple cheap clips and swapped them out. That seemed to do the trick and I left for the night with limited optimism.

[dubby]

I woke up kinda excited this morning, posting on the employee group page that we got the tarp all rigged up. I expected my guys to really enjoy it today. One, who is working this morning, even commented on "How nice it was going to be". My thought process is that he was already out there enjoying it. BUT... he then sent me a message asking if there was a particular way to hang it up and where I had put it when we closed. Uhhh...that ain't how that was supposed to work.

Every grommet but one failed. The rings seemed to hold just fine but the fabric just ripped clean.

So, after I finish my coffee I'm going to drive out and pick up the pieces and try and rescue the shipping box and send it back. There were a number of issues with my sketchy installation--and even the idea itself. But this thing seemed weak from the get-go.

[BukitCase]

I tend to put up "temporary" shelters at my place, it's on a hill with winds anywhere from 10-50 mph - the ONLY way I've found to get much use out of a tarp is to run a "messenger" cable (either 3/16" or 1/4") then I grab a handful of these - this link is for 50, brings the cost down to .80 each -

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...e?ie=UTF8&th=1

the ONLY place the tarp grommets are used is one shackle per grommet with the screw part thru each and every grommet, with the "U" part around the messenger cable.

The other nice thing about using the shackles - it's real easy to make a "sliding door" with another tarp; it can be done just threading a cable thru the grommets, BUT the aluminum grommets don't last under sliding along the cable.

Keep in mind that as the tarp gets bigger, the stress on a single grommet MULTIPLIES... that's why I use ALL the grommets, with a shackle in each one.

The ends of the cable get done like you did, and the end connectors are as bullet-proof as I can make 'em.

Any tension on the tarp itself is done with bungee cords so the tarp can move a bit but NOT rip the grommet out (kinda tricky the first few times)

I used to use Costco tarps, but they only came in one size (12'x16') and a couple years ago the bastards discontinued them...

The harbor freight grey tarps typically last til the first wind over maybe 12 mpg...

But recently they brought out their "extreme duty" 12 mil black tarps - the other side is SILVER, guess which side goes toward the sun

Here's their size availability - I've had a couple of 'em up (using the above methods) for 2 monsoon seasons, they're still there -

https://www.harborfreight.com/search?q=black%20tarp

Do NOT waste your money on their "EPDM" "trucker" bungees, they get brittle and disintegrate...

Another advantage of the above methods is that you only (especially for shade) need to get ONE of the dimensions right - the OTHER one can be accomplished by slightly overlapping a SECOND tarp, 'cause the messengers take the brunt of the stress... Steve

Oh, another advantage of the galvanized shackles is when your tarp finally dies, the shackles are re-usable...

[toprecycler]

Live and learn, on to plan B.

I think the grommets on the canopy tarp I put up are about every 2’ apart. It was pretty windy today, but everything stayed where it was supposed to.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[dubby]

Our internet searches last night drifted from any sort of plastic or man-made fabric to a true canvas. We have plenty of wind, and there was space around the experiment to allow any trapped heat out. I've about decided on one type to order, but having issue deciding on what size to get. I wasn't happy with the fitment of the 12x25 in either direction. I'm leaning towards two 10x14 units now. There will be a gap between them and I'm going to lose some coverage on the sides, but the simple solution is to not stand in the sunny parts.

The guy that helped me remove the last of the dangling bits and get it packed back into the amazon box had suggested the messenger wire idea as well. He has a large dog run in his back yard that's done the same. Not real sure why these guys don't speak up when I'm in the planning phase of these projects out there, but have plenty of input afterwards.