[Jonny D]

 I was looking to put an upright 650l tank in my trafic and secure it with 5 ton ratchet straps to the anchor points and I wanted to know if this would be secure enough. Does anyone have this kind of weight secured with ratchets or do u think I should go for a flat or smaller tank?

[mac74]

    Re: securing your tank?
« Reply #12 on: Yesterday at 08:13:18 pm »    

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The ratchet straps are only as strong as the weakest link, and i very much doubt the van anchor points are up to this. I used long shank M12 eye bolts straight through the floor with a (SWL) Safe Working Load of 0.5t stamped on each, x4 to strap down a cagged 500l tank, plus 100mm steel washers dble bolted underneath the van, and 6 straps =ing  8ton neatly around it. If this is right, means the eye bolts will take 2 ton of pressure before they fail.  But remember, eye bolts are designed to give all their stength when pulled upwards, so if you do fit these, set it up to make sure the strap claws will tug upwards on impact, not sideways if u know what i mean.  

[Richard Neal]

I have 2 straps holding my 500litre flat tank in my Movano (same van as yours) its been there for a year and has never moved, as the cab floor is higher than the loading floor and i feel its very safe wedged up against this ledge.

[gary999]

5 ton ratchet straps are proof tested on a minimum breaking
load of 6:1 on the strapping and 2:1 on the end fittings ie
claw hooks,delta links which are the weakest component on
the unit.

get the highest rated ratchet straps you can find 5ton swl or
above froma reputable company who supply you with a test
certificate or at least a certificate of conformity.

the s.w.l. on a properly certified strap from a reputable
company are well within what the unit can actually take

[dazmond]

i use 5 ton ratchets straps on my 350L TANK.feels very secure and solid.its strapped down tight through the van eyelets.not sure if id be ok in a full on car crash though with full tank of water!i take it easy with a full tank and soon ill have a seperate car so ill just use the van for work.


regards


dazmond

[Blue Frog Systems]

Got 15T straps on mine

The guy i bought them off didnt have the 5T ones in stock so let me have 15T for the price of 5T

[Richard Neal]

Got 15T straps on mine

The guy i bought them off didnt have the 5T ones in stock so let me have 15T for the price of 5T

Theyll be handy if you ever have to pull a bus out of a ditch 

[Jonny D]

Thanks for all the reply's.

Richard do you have any pictures of the back of your van so i could see how you have set it up and how you've strapped the tank down?

Blue Frog what kind of van do you have and what size tank is in it?

[mci services]

Jonny can't help much on this subject as mine is a lay flat tank, but with 5 ton straps in two different vans it has never moved.

On a side note are you still looking for work? I get lots of enquiry's from Polmont and  various other places that I don't really want, probably the wrong side of Falkirk for you but I can pass your number on if you are interested, do get enquiry's now and then from Camelon that might be better for you.

[Blue Frog Systems]

400L flat with a cage

Pegeout Boxer swb

Have one over the top and the other going round it

[Richard Neal]

Thanks for all the reply's.

Richard do you have any pictures of the back of your van so i could see how you have set it up and how you've strapped the tank down?

Blue Frog what kind of van do you have and what size tank is in it?

My van is full of camping gear and bikes as im taking my kids camping for a few days, i can take some pics when i get back if you like.

[alanwilson]

hello guuys just in from the pub - simple maths here from alan the engineer but 400kg head on at 30mph (13.41m/s) equates to approx 5360Nm which correlates to 0.54 tons of force

bear in mind this is instant and not a time applied force.

you should always allow double the load so for a 650 tank full say 700kg incl tank at 60mph = 26.82m/s

18774 Nm = 1.91ton

double this and this will give you a safe value. (3.82 ton)

Anchor points would never take this.

[SunShineCleaning]

hello guuys just in from the pub - simple maths here from alan the engineer but 400kg head on at 30mph (13.41m/s) equates to approx 5360Nm which correlates to 0.54 tons of force

bear in mind this is instant and not a time applied force.

you should always allow double the load so for a 650 tank full say 700kg incl tank at 60mph = 26.82m/s

18774 Nm = 1.91ton

double this and this will give you a safe value. (3.82 ton)

Anchor points would never take this.

This only works if the load is not touching anything else like a bulkhead which will soak up some of the force.

[mikeyfaerosyth]

the anchor points on my kangoo are just bolted to the floor so in a crash are no good,wether u use ratchet straps or sellotape.

[Justen Uff]

Its all very well saying you've got 200 ton straps and the tank has never moved...

Well it won't will it?  Not until you hit a 40 ton truck!  Then you may just see it shift!  But just the once

[Dave Mills]

hello guuys just in from the pub - simple maths here from alan the engineer but 400kg head on at 30mph (13.41m/s) equates to approx 5360Nm which correlates to 0.54 tons of force

bear in mind this is instant and not a time applied force.

you should always allow double the load so for a 650 tank full say 700kg incl tank at 60mph = 26.82m/s

18774 Nm = 1.91ton

double this and this will give you a safe value. (3.82 ton)

Anchor points would never take this.

I may be missing something but it seem to me that you're not expressing anything useful when you multiply velocity x mass.  To say 400kg at 13.41M/s equals 5360Nm is mixing your units more than a little.  However, you were just back from the pub.

Airbags are deployed at somewhere between about 40G and 60G decelerations.  If you're in an accident bad enought to set off your airbags (not desperately uncommon), your load straps on a 700Kg tank and water will be taking a momentary strain of 28-42 tons.  Good luck with that.

[Ian Lancaster]

Airbags are deployed at somewhere between about 40G and 60G decelerations.  If you're in an accident bad enought to set off your airbags (not desperately uncommon), your load straps on a 700Kg tank and water will be taking a momentary strain of 28-42 tons.  Good luck with that.

Taking this a step further: no part of a vehicle could withstand that.  If your straps and anchor points are well thought out (M12 or thicker high tensile bolts through or around chassis members and attached to 5-ton or greater straps) then the part of the vehicle they are attached to will give way first.  As this is the strongest part of the vehicle, then you have done everything possible - a full head-on collision will result in the van floor and chassis coming up with the tank and clobbering you in the back.  At least you can tell St Peter there was nothing more you could have done to make it any safer

[Spruce]

Airbags are deployed at somewhere between about 40G and 60G decelerations.  If you're in an accident bad enought to set off your airbags (not desperately uncommon), your load straps on a 700Kg tank and water will be taking a momentary strain of 28-42 tons.  Good luck with that.

Taking this a step further: no part of a vehicle could withstand that.  If your straps and anchor points are well thought out (M12 or thicker high tensile bolts through or around chassis members and attached to 5-ton or greater straps) then the part of the vehicle they are attached to will give way first.  As this is the strongest part of the vehicle, then you have done everything possible - a full head-on collision will result in the van floor and chassis coming up with the tank and clobbering you in the back.  At least you can tell St Peter there was nothing more you could have done to make it any safer

..............apart from leaving a few minutes later -  you would have missed the accident altogether and wouldn't need to talk to St Peter at all.  

[g.brookes]

so following this advice would it be fair to say that we cant really be protected from our tanks? no matter how its tied down?