A warm welcome back to this month’s grain storage feature where the topic is…Selecting Covers!
Selecting the right cover is vitally important to the success of your stored grain. The degree of risk you are prepared to accept will influence the final selection of a suitable cover. There is a whole raft of options out there when it comes to bunker covers - some great products and some not so great products... not all tarps are created equal!
Reinforce, Reinforce, Reinforce
As general rule, the lighter non-reinforced plastic’s will not give you the degree of reliable protection warranted by the investment in your stored grains. They are cheap and cheerful, but not made for the long haul.
For reliable bunker protection, a reinforced fabric is always the best option. This means that the fabric has a woven base cloth for strength, which is then coated with a waterproof coating to make it water-tight and gas-proof.
We will be able to advise you on the best fabric for your application, but as a guide when selecting covers you should be looking for the following:
• Minimum of 3 year UV warranty
• High wind flap resistance
• High tear and fabric strength
Material and Weight are Key
Other factors which will help unlock your choice of tarp cover are the type of material and weight. Discuss this with us when making your choice and we will assist with the process. As general rule however, there are 3 main categories:
250-300 GSM Woven Fabric’s (polyethylene):
• 3 year UV warranty
• High abrasion resistance
• Economically priced
• Light-weight – easy to handle
• Must be well tensioned on the dump to prevent wind-flap to ensure full lifespan
• Recommended width no wider than 25 metres
330-400 GSM Woven Fabric’s (polypropylene):
• 3 year UV warranty
• High strength to weight ratio
• Better flex resistance
• Still light-weight and easy to handle when compared to other options
• Doesn’t go brittle
• Handles larger sizes – wider than 25 metres
610 GSM Woven Fabric’s (PVC’s)
• 3 year UV warranty
• Heaviest and strongest material available
• Sits snug on the grain and doesn’t blow around
• Easier to patch
• Economically priced for strength
• Heavier to handle
The second part of ensuring a high quality cover is the fabrication of the fabric itself into a cover of your required size. Tail-Wind Tarps covers are manufactured using the latest technology in heat-welding systems that combine heat, speed and pressure to provide a 50mm overlap seam, that is stronger than the fabric itself.
Regarding the actual sizing of your cover, in a previous issue we worked through "Calculating the size of your Bunker Pad". Further to this, the below graphs correspond with these pads sizes to give you a straight forward guide on your tarp sizes.
These tables refer to bunkers with a wall height of either 0.5mt or 1mt and are for wheat, barley, sorghum or oats. For anything outside these parameters, please contact us and we are more than happy to calculate this for you.
So this sums of this month’s newsletter on Selecting Covers. Stay tuned for the next edition for the next step in the bunker building process…
We hope it find this helpful, it’s just one of the things we do to give our customers the service they expect!
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