Conestoga / rolling tarps systems

Maintenance is minimal on them. Just keep rollers lubed and like you said, keep people off the rail w hth en getting unloaded and loaded and you will be fine. Once you have one you will never go back to regular flat again.

 

The maintenance isn't bad. keep in mind you cant haul tall loads like lumber or insulation. You also can haul over dimensional or i beams that need to stick off the front. You may even not be able to haul sheet steel that is 102 wide. The biggest maintenance i'v seen is replacing the tarp pieces and arms when they are backed into. They get damaged a lot easier then the rubrail on your flatbed.

 

Just make sure that you measure the inside dimensions before you buy one. I know that Quickdraw and Fasttrack will make custom heights. I assume that the other mfr do too. I know a lot of guys with 7'11'' tall kits. Just be aware of that if height is important to you. My Quickdraw is actually 7' 3''. As long as you buy one with rubrails you should be able to load 102" wide freight. Getting the loader to put it square on the trailer may be another issue.

 

Another height option is going with a Q-D on a stepdeck with short rubber ie: 19,17 or 15" tires..
And if it was me I would look real hard @ a 53' stepdeck.. would give you 42' of lower deck with an 11' upper deck, and sliding tandem to spread axle setup which would work for Cali & parts of Canuckistan as well as the normal states/provinces.

 

Bought my Roll Tite used from another driver in July. I love this trailer! Was pleasantly surprised to see my fuel mileage go up 1.5 mpg!

The previous owner told me that tree branches are your biggest enemy. Watch those tree's

 

If you buy the right one your inside width is like 106" or 108" and a 8'2" roof. There arent too many loads of lumber they stack higher then 8'

 

they need a little. i would not recommend lubing the rails as it will only attract more dirt. you want to keep the rails and tracks as clean as possible. i replace my bearings every 1 to 1/2 years. cheap and allows the curtain to be used instead of fought. biggest think is to keep the tension as tight as possible on the curtain. movement wears all the components out. all that said , my original cover lasted 8 years and the system is now 12 years old total. you are only limited by your or your shipper's imagination. hope this helps , johnny

 

Ruthless,have you taught about a way to use the Roll Tide open?
It would mean you being more flexible in the loads you can do.
And it is not as difficult to realise as you might think.