How many different types of tarps do you guys carry?

Can't get too many they'll weigh you down. I carry 2 4ft drops and 2 6ft drops

 

If you get a 3 pc 8 foot drop set with d-rings all the way around, that should cover all your needs in the beginning. A set of four footers would be nice as well for convenience.

 

can,t beat a nice coil tarp

 

I carry 2-24by16 2-24by20 D rings all the way around and 1 24by24 d all the way around

 

I have a four piece system. Froint is 14x25 with front flap, middle two are 16x25, rear is 16x25 with rear flap. Lots of extra D-rings. All four pieces have 8 foot drops, if you turn the two middle tarps sideways that gives you 4 foot drops and 25 feet of length. On top of that I have a 12x12 smoke tarp, and a $30 grader blade tarp that is 12x35. We haul a lot of cutting edges and they really destroy tarps, and they don't really need to stay dry, just the stickers need to stay on.

So that's 6 tarps, and I'm thinking of getting another one. I can fit the 4 piece system into a 18x24x60 tool box.

 

4 ft drops, 4' side skirts to make 8' drop (never used 'em yet, no one wants to pay my 8' tarp premium) smoke tarp, 2 medium and 1 large coil shroud.

 

Personally I carry a standard 3 piece set of 8 foot drops and that covers 90% of anything I haul that needs tarped. Most of our really specialized stuff, jet airplane wings, rudders, engine covers etc. all use specialized trailers that usually have fitted tarps just for whatever that trailer hauls. On the odd occasion when I get a super oversized that requires tarping I have a 50' x 70' tarp but since it weighs almost 600# I don't carry it along all the time. There are 3 of us in the company with those tarps and the customers who require them also pay for them as well as provide a crew at both ends to help. The nice thing about those loads besides the pay, I usually know weeks in advance of moving and have plenty of time to gather the right equipment from the shop.

Personally if I were just starting out I would get a high quality 3 piece set with 8' drops and about 150 31" bungies, 250' of nylon rope, a dozen 1" ratchet straps and call it good. There's very little you won't be able to tarp. Will everything be easy to tarp, no but don't waste your money on specialized tarps that your going to use only a couple times a year. Yes, tarping a big jet engine is easier with a fitted tarp, takes half the time but if I spend $3500 on a fitted tarp and only use it a few times a year, it will decay from dry rot before it ever pays for itself in time saved.

 

I carry two 4 foot drops, two 8 foot drops, A smaller tarp that I cant remember the size of and two mesh tarps.