Anybody here ever used reflective hay tarps?

[DudleySmith]

Do the cheaper ones work? I'll be using 20'x30' ones, about the heaviest ones I can handle by myself for the lt. to med. duty ones. I need to reflect both light and heat over a new patch of crops I'm thinking about playing with, and already have all my shady spots full up.

 

[Sunsettommy]

Do the cheaper ones work? I'll be using 20'x30' ones, about the heaviest ones I can handle by myself for the lt. to med. duty ones. I need to reflect both light and heat over a new patch of crops I'm thinking about playing with, and already have all my shady spots full up.

Why not build a shade fence instead, tarps are a bad idea as they degrade in the sun and windblown easily.

 

[ReinyDays]

The cheap tarps will give you a year's use ... then take it down before it degrades ... it's an annual cost, is it worth it? ...

The more money you spend, the more years the plastic will last ... make sure you take it down before it degrades ...

If you have real money, look around roofers websites, see if there's any options there ... plastics degrade in sunlight and you need to take the stuff down before it degrades ...

 

[DudleySmith]

The cheap tarps will give you a year's use ... then take it down before it degrades ... it's an annual cost, is it worth it? ...

The more money you spend, the more years the plastic will last ... make sure you take it down before it degrades ...

If you have real money, look around roofers websites, see if there's any options there ... plastics degrade in sunlight and you need to take the stuff down before it degrades ...

The aluminum foil ones wouldn't pay for themselves, and the heavy vinyl is a weight issue, as I do a lot by myself. Taking up light ones on windy days isn't a big problem. I have all day and night; I retired over 20 years ago. I could go with a number of smaller tarps, I guess, but I prefer not to. I've seen the 20x30 silver hay tarps for as little as $60, but I don't know anything about the brands and quality.

I have had vinyl siding for going on three decades now, and it has stood up to our long brutal summers here pretty good. Don't know about the vinyl tarps, though. Summer here runs 7+ months, sometimes 8 or 9, which would probably rot out the real cheap stuff in about 5 to 6 months. Winds are a problem, so yes I would be taking it down and putting it back up probably several times in the summer.

 

[Moonglow]

The aluminum foil ones wouldn't pay for themselves, and the heavy vinyl is a weight issue, as I do a lot by myself. Taking up light ones on windy days isn't a big problem. I have all day and night; I retired over 20 years ago. I could go with a number of smaller tarps, I guess, but I prefer not to. I've seen the 20x30 silver hay tarps for as little as $60, but I don't know anything about the brands and quality.

I have had vinyl siding for going on three decades now, and it has stood up to our long brutal summers here pretty good. Don't know about the vinyl tarps, though. Summer here runs 7+ months, sometimes 8 or 9, which would probably rot out the real cheap stuff in about 5 to 6 months. Winds are a problem, so yes I would be taking it down and putting it back up probably several times in the summer.

You are not retired if you are farming.

 

[ReinyDays]

... Winds are a problem, so yes I would be taking it down and putting it back up probably several times in the summer.

I would think "less weight" would be cheapest ... we don't have summers in that sense, so my experience is with shedding rain ... what little sunlight we do get quickly dissolves the cheap plastic traps ... so the cost/benefit balance is different ...

 

[ReinyDays]

You are not retired if you are farming.

"Anything less than 25,000 acres is a hobby farm around here" --- Crocodile Dundee ...

 

[Moonglow]

"Anything less than 25,000 acres is a hobby farm around here" --- Crocodile Dundee ...

yeah, only special people get to grow sand dunes.