How to use a Ratchet Strap

hey if you've ever tried to use one of these things and it just confused the heck out of you well I'm here to help in just a few moments I'll show you how to become a ninja Master of the ratchet [Music] strap hey dirt farmer J here from dirtfarmer j.com well thanks for visiting our video here and you are visiting us because you probably have some difficulty with this little device this little system and in this case I've got a little cargo container that's going to be right in the back of the pickup truck but it could be another load also like for instance the tailgates up and I've got 2x4s or a piece of sheet Goods a piece of plywood OSB something like that and you need to secure it conveniently and well in the back of the truck and that's just half of it it also needs to be convenient when it comes time to unload the item and so you want these to come apart very easily and this is where this system really excels unfortunately sometimes this is intimidating to people well stick with me just for a moment here and I'll give you some insights on how to use this the best thing to do is to understand what this little part of it's doing if you understand some of the little Parts in this from now on you'll never be confused again F first thing to look at here is the handle on this strap you're going to attach this to the load attachment part on your pickup truck or your uh tractor Trail or your uh trailer but this side is where the passive side attaches to and there's a couple features you got to understand first of all this is the handle this is the handle you're going to grip to be able to tighten the strap that goes to it hence it makes sense that You' never put this upside down in the load or backwards down under here you would always place it hooked on and the handle up and if you can do that first step you're halfway home right now and using this every time so you're going to attach this on the side with the handle up now notice what happens when you grab the handle and you rotate it do you notice this section inside they rotating every time I go it turns but notice it only turns in One Direction when I back up it stays in position then advances forward and this is what gives the power of the ratchet strap to tighten up the strap for you now what makes this happens is the ratchet area you see these teeth and this little device that moves in and out notice that every time I go you'll see those teeth go past and under that and then it catches in past and under it does not allow it to turn backwards only forwards so that's what gives you the power every time you go forward like that it's catching and releasing or bypassing every time I go forward now to make this work notice that this column or this Rod to do here is slot it and you can see that right there so that is where your strap is going to go now notice that this is the up direction right I'm put it on there this is going to I put it onto the side of the vehicle is what I mean to say and notice that what I need to do is put the strap through that slot and back towards the direction of the attachment by doing so after just a few rotations the tail of the strap will get wrapped up in this and cause it to attach and to tension so that you can really tension down the load now that's one half of it once you've attached this and you have ratchet it forward and got it stowed and locked in you've taken your load where it needs to go it's done its job now comes time to undo it well how do you undo that well here's a couple things one there's only two two steps you need to take one you're going to open this up and grab that do you see that and pretty much all systems have a similar type of thing a release Here notice this is up I'm just I'm going to grab here and rotate forward notice it's not doing anything now it's disengaged the second thing to let this spin loose is I've got to move that back see that and that's done right here in the top with that device right there see it there and every time I move that back it clears the teeth so if I release this and pull that notice everything spins loose now and that allows me to undo the strap from the other side here all right let's go ahead and put it in use now that now that you understand the different devices or parts of this working end of the system let's put it to use so the first thing we're going to do is we're going to take it over here and attach this to the cargo Loop in the bed of the truck notice when I did that I put the handle up again keep in mind this is where we going to ratchet I don't want it down here and trying to see all those parts you're going to put it up here where it's most convenient for you the second thing we're going to do then is take the end of the passive end and put it through this end just for clarity see there's that slot we just talked about so what I'm going to do is I'm going to put this through here now real quick little tip here this one's free I'm not going to charge any extra for this if you were putting this over the top of a tall uh cargo container refrigerator or that sort of thing and you put straps up vertical like this or high angle and over the top they'll tend to buzz and vibrate in the wind really badly so you'll see this in some of your professional loads that go down the road next time look and see when you see large cargo straps over large loads many times they're Twisted that wasn't because the guy didn't know what he was doing he put that in there to reduce this vibration and to dissipate it and to quiet down the load as it goes down the highway you need to find the end of the passive end you're going to Simply pass it through the slot right here pull it through you're threading a needle and then you're going to feed it back and I just crammed it through like that okay now when I do that I now have that and notice I can pull all I want this way now I pull this forward I start ratcheting now look careful here zero in in this Watch What Happens as I go around that traps and inches that now I can put an unbelievable amount of pressure on that and tighten that down you can see by listening that we've got all sorts of tension there I'm going to let it take out the tension by doing exactly what I said pull that up pull the back it off pull the whole thing just comes apart all right and now you are a ratchet strap ninja you can Amaze your friends and family with your finesse of being able to use one of these and you can drive down the road knowing that load is well secured if you like the video please like it or visit our website at dirtfarmer j.com and pass us on to your friends until the next time I'm dirt farmer [Music] J