Such things do exist Spardo 
Spardo:
Firstly, a thought on that load. I would much prefer to use chains and check them after the first few miles and then frequently. If forced to use straps there is no way I would turn a wheel without something substantial between them and the steel.But the main thing which concerns me is the headboard, as others have said. Not just the height but also (and I can’t see clearly enough myself) if the steel isn’t in contact with it. I always worked on the principle that if something has a chance to start moving then there is also a very good chance that little will stop it. If it can be prevented from starting its journey then there is a very good chance it won’t set off.
It is many years since I carried steel, but back in the day I did a lot of it (young and fit I didn’t need the exercise and hated handball
) and often thought what a good idea it would be if someone could invent a movable headboard fixed in place by the sort of posts used to prevent sideways movement. Did someone get round to doing something like that? If not then that is yet another chance I missed.
When I was a young lad in a body building shop, we built some steel carrier bodies for Struthers and Carter in Hull. They had a “rolling” headboard, which was made from 3’’ box section and hinged with tractor pins. It allowed the thing to be unclipped and unfolded, which pushed it back about 4’
We used a similar design on caravan transporter bodies to move the front tow hitch further back on the rigid. This worked for the big statics with a bay window on the front.
The issue of providing flexible and effective location and achorage points,in the fore and aft plane,seems to have been ignored over the years in most cases where it’s obvious that moveable locking headboards/posts/etc and strap/chain achorage points across the deck at frequent intervals are required for many types of loads.
Rikki-UK:
any movement in that steel will cut through those straps in a micro second, if your going to strap steel (which is an accepted way of restraining) then you need rubber between the steel and the strap to stop it cutting through.I would have chained personally and if I had any dunnage used it to pack out the headboard- but thats just me having had a 20 tonne oiled and pickled coil slide down the well and then telescope I tend to go a bit overboard with lashings
That’s interesting Rikki, I had a very similar experience but luckily it didn’t telescope. Loaded a 15 tonne oiled coil off Whitby dock and unbeknownst to me the dockers had damaged the packing and done a bodge-it job; the coil slid back down the well, leaving the outer packing where it was. I have to tell you it makes you concentrate when going up Blue Bank and you can feel the weight gradually lifting off the unit.
shep532
As for chains or straps … I’d use straps with this kind of load. More chance of them staying tight. A correctly tensioned strap will stretch up to 20% meaning if the load settles you have that little bit of extra tension that might still hold the load. A chain would simple go loose if the load shifted. Obviously the straps may need protecting from the edges of the load.
I can see 5 ratchet straps but I’m guessing there are probably 7 or 8 on the whole load. Each assemly appears to be a 2.5t lashing capacity or rated assembly strengh - therefore about 2t of force being applied. The load needs securing to 100% of it’s weight in a forward direction and 50% sideways and backwards - so not enough straps in my opinion - but I don’t know the weight of the load. Obviously the side pins and headboard count fdor some of the load containment.
Clearly just reading some of these posts, and I’ve pasted this one as an example, there are few of you promoting straps that have never carried steel. There are several faults in the photo an older hand would pick up. Firstly he would use chains, the amount of applied pressure put on a chain that is surrounding load and chassis far exceeds what a human can apply with a ratchet. Tenshioners used to tighten chains aren’t just pulled down by hand, a tube for extra leverage is used and you may already have pre tenshioned the chain once or twice to gain an extra link before final locking of the tensioner. You just can’t do this with a strap I don’t care what figures and tables you read to convice yourself.
Secondly no driver worth his salt would secure to the chock rail or rope hook (something that tends to happen a lot today), either the chassis rail or fixed shackle points with strap hooks and all around the chassis with chains. The headboard height limit seems to me to be a modern thing, loads above headboard have always been the norm, they are only around 3ft or so high anyway and you would never have got your full payload if you stuck to ‘only headboard high’ rules, you would have just been told to go home if you pushed that one. Thirdly Battens, Kickers, Timbers whatever you locally call them are as important as the securing method. No hardwood, softwood battens allow the steel to bite into them and have to be positioned in a way that when the chains are fitted they pull down on the battened area. Needless to say they also have to be in good condition.
Moving any kind of load as this finally comes down the the driver, his experience, ability and common sense. If he feels he needs another or more aids to further secure then put them on, even straps if they are used in conjunction with chains and properly protected and fitted, they won’t exceed the holding power of chains though, probably why we see so many of them in bits lying at the roadside. You would know believe me if you have used chains how good their securing abilty is and its dissapointing to see these items discarded in favour of straps instead of being part of the drivers tool kit with them. Ive had straps loosen but never a chain unless a piece of packing or support has broken allowing this, put on correctly they stay put. As for the pic, well many steel loads as shown are likely moved in that manner thesedays, it wouldn’t be for me or others of my generation and probably why we are still around to talk about it. Cheers Franky.