new tarp for the grain truck

Last Fall, the old roll-top tarp for the grain truck finally bit the dust. The springs had broken and the cables were slack. The tarp was ripped and the steel supporting rails inside the box were bent and misshapen.

 I was deliberating what to do and pricing out a replacement roll-tarp seemed to indicate that that wasn't going to happen any time soon. So, in the interest of trying to become profitable in 2011 I simply bought an old-fashioned truck tarp. The kind my grandfather used his entire life without complaint. All told I spent around $100 for the tarp and a few rubber tarp straps. I removed the steel rails and bent them back into shape by wedging them under the propane tank in the yard and lifting until the needed bend was put back in. 

So, now I have a new truck tarp. It is nowhere as convenient as the old roll type, but it keeps the rain and snow out of the box and will prevent precious grain from blowing away as I travel the highways. Bottom line is that it works and I will simply have to climb up onto the box to get it out of the way for loading grain. Perhaps I will have some time this summer to figure out some sort of system to more easily get it out of the way during loading?