Ratchet Straps

I've never seen a bad ratchet strap - I'm sure they exist but likely they're the "too good to be true" end of the price range.

I've seen a lot of people who are incapable of using them and think the strap is at fault because they're confident they're not an idiot.

The ones I use are basic halfords jobs (or the big burgers are "donated" by hgv drivers with my deliveries.)

I bought a couple for my boat trailer from a military surplus place - they have nato labels on. Figured that was as good a mark of quality as one can expect. I’ll try to find a link….

Go to halfords/screwfix. Buy mid priced straps. Move on with life.

Screwfix are generally good.

Learn how to use them properly.

A bit of lube helps as well.

the aptly named 'Ratchet Straps Uk'are reliably good quality and decent value - loads of  length options and various hook and D ring options  too. Their ratchet mechanisms hold up to the weather well if being used on a trailer

I find some cheaper straps from places like toolstation the ratchet mechanisms themselves are made of quite thin metal and can easily deform and start to foul up the mechanism.  If you're using straps with hooks I tend to find the more 3 dimensional 'J' hooks tend to work better in most applications than the flatter 'S' hooks you tend to get on cheaper straps - with the latter theres often situations where the shape of the flat hooks blocks you from getting into certain anchor points

Thanks, I will have a look at the recommendations, had a feeling user error may be a factor as well.

I’ve had lots of experience of the ones supplied by MachineMart, the good ones have a certified load rating label attached and last for years.

I've got some expensive ones, but recently bought some on impulse in the Aldi aisle of dreams for much cheapness.  They are surprisingly good quality.

As above, any reasonably reputable straps seem to survive.

Halfords do some useful ones that auto retract, just press a button, they wind up then add a couple of strokes to tighten it.

DO NOT GO ANYWHERE NEAR THE LOAD RATING ON ANY STRAP.

A 200kg object will impart far more than a 200kg of force when it's being bounced around. Putting two straps on it doesn't always help as one will ne dup taking the brunt of the force and snapping first. I made this mistake putting a car on a trailer once. Strapped it down properly, then put a few extra 25mm straps just to be sure. All that I achieved was to destroy all the 25mm straps as the car bounced around on it's suspension and snapped all of them.

I use these

https://www.theratchetshop.com/ratchet-straps/ratchet-straps-below-3000kg/800kg-mini-ratchet-endless.html

I always use endless, seen far too many peoples bikes after a part/full unplanned dismount from their trailers after hitting a bump (suspension loads, hook end drops out of the mount, bike pings itself off the trailer)

Well worth practicing in the dry to make sure you understand which way to thread the strap into the ratchet. As opposed to trying to do it outside a strangers house in the dark, pissing down, where you've just picked up the bike....

Remember to put a twist in the strap otherwise it hums in the wind and drives you crazy

Remember to put a twist in the strap

But remember but to feed it through the ratchet...

csb - that sounds a bit like my level of planning, I take it that’s from experience. I will need to have a dry run as the trailer is in pieces and needs to be assembled. It’s a Motolug one, seems like a good design. It also has a front wheel chock so at least that helps.
Lots of good tips and advice to consider.

There's some clever variations for motorbikes, I had a bar strap kit and an over-tyre harness thing that made it tons easier, cost a bit more but totally worth it. Dead easy to strap a bike down, not quite so easy to strap a bike down without damaging anything.

And yep remember the load rating is total load, so it's the maximum force that the thing you're strapping down can provide, which is generally more than you think, PLUS also the tension you're applying on the strap. With bikes you'll generally be compressing it into the travel as you ratchet it down, and that works exactly like it usually does- if a 60kg rider sags the bike by an inch, then sagging the bike by an inch with a strap is adding the equivalent of 60kg load to the straps. Though at the same time, a bike that's strapped and is well into its travel is also inherently more secure, since it's constantly pushing against the straps and taking up any slack.

All the above plus - if you imagine the bike/trailer/straps make a triangle, make those triangles as chunky as possible.

After a day MX-ing with a mate I was so knackered I decided to drive the 1 mile or so home from his with my bike on one side of the trailer. Within 200 metres the bike had fallen over as the weight of the bike had too much leverage over the "steep" strap which apparently stretched just sufficiently to allow the other strap to unhook itself with predictable results.

If you are new to all this take a mate with you, easy enough to load a lightweight MX bike on your own, a road bike would be a different matter and the seller may not be much help.

This is a bit more complex than I thought. I saw the handlebar attachment and thought that looked good. It is a fairly light bike, ironically I’m going on a trail maintenance course and one of the topics is trailering your bike…