edges straight to enable the next pull to go
smoothly.
If we expect high wind I make sure the
tarp is pulled tight in every direction. We
surround the tarp and pull in every direction to accomplish this. Metal stakes anchor the tarp down and then equipment
is placed on the four corners. I found
that using stakes is the best and easiest
way to anchor the tarp. Sand bags seem
to drag along on the top of the tarp when
wind begins to pick up and they are time
consuming to put in place. If no wind is
expected we then place two carpet drying
fans on the first and third base side of the
tarp and inflate the bottom side to the
tarp. This has really helped with two
problems: the first is this allows air movement and cuts down on disease; the other
is it will help to shed some water off of
the tarp. It's amazing what these can do
with the short amount of time it takes to
set them in place. Take care of your tarp
and it will definitely save you time and
labor when used correctly.
www.stma.org
COREY RUSSELL,
Myrtle Beach Pelicans
Last year in Myrtle Beach we had a
total of 55 tarp pulls. These were either
overnight, in game, during the day,
etc. We only had to pull twice in-game for
a short delay. For those in-game pulls we
try to aim for 60-90 seconds to get the
field covered and then worry about getting
it bagged down.
Here at the beach with the coastal
weather, we see a lot of our wet conditions
as pop up thunderstorms off the water between 2 pm and 6 pm. So a lot of our
concerns are whether or not to cancel batting practice and trying to get as much of
our pre-game routine done before the tarp
goes on if it looks like it we won't be able
to get it off until closer to game
time. We've put it out with 6 people and
that is the BARE minimum. About 10 are
what we shoot for. We actually had some
bad rips in our tarp, some that got to be
more than 100 feet long by the end of the
>> COREY RUSSELL leads his crew in repairing a
torn tarp last summer in Myrtle Beach.
SportsTurf 27
