I love the way the web cargo straps tighten down with their ratchet action, but I always seem to need three hands to release them in order to change the length. Surely there’s a trick I’m missing to this that one of you knows.
Yep. There’s a little release handle in the center part of the top movable piece. You pull it, lock them “open” and then the cylindrical part the strap wraps around rotates freely.
I am not very good at explaining this. Let me find a link.
Yeah, see what this guy does?
Yeah, um, he’s found something I can’t figure out. I have to be holding the springs open on both sides to unroll mine. It hurts, plus I have no hand left to pull the webbing out. What’s wrong with me?
The spring thing should lock open, with the two parts of the ratchet 180 degrees. Are you opening it all the way and locking the spring part?
It wasn’t till someone showed me that they lock WIDE open and THEN press the springs/handle that I got it. You’re not alone!
They must lay flat not in a v to get them to release the strap. IF totally flat you can pull the end of the strap while it is hooked to a bumper/person holding ( may not work). I swear if you thread them incorrectly to start they don’t just pull out. It took me years to get this. Some are easier to work with then the cheep versions. Many trips to the feed store to ask the guys to fix them for me . They smile and laugh and would show me. They so help when they work and so frustrating till you learn your pair.
[QUOTE=ML;7877418]
…I swear if you thread them incorrectly to start they don’t just pull out…[/QUOTE]
I agree. You need to make sure the strap is laying perfectly flat, and enters the ratchet so it STAYS flat. If it has a twist in it that gets sucked into the ratchet, it does make it very difficult to release/undo.
Ratchet straps are the best thing since sliced bread. I do not miss the days of having to know every type of knot known to man in order to tie down a load of hay - lumber - whatever.
You do have to have them TIGHT in order to work, if you are using the hook ends to secure them. If the strap goes slack, the hooks on the end can release. If I am strapping down a load where I cannot make the straps super tight, then I will find a way to 100% secure them at the ends (but not tie them!).
It can be done easily with one hand.
There is a release plunger in line with the handle you crank. Depress it towards the pointy end of th handle you crank, hold it , and pull the lever all the way up until it’s straight in line with the part opposite it on the other side of the hinge. Once it’s straight, the ratchet is disengaged from the teeth. At that point, pull the tail end of the strap until it’s no longer wrapped around the middle of the crank, and you can see the slot.
I don’t know how to explain it but I know how to do the big ones, they have to be cranked down tight, take your two fingers with the heel of your hand on the bar and pull on the spring thing and they bang or pop open. If you have to grab up the end of the strap and then pull the whole unit towards you so it unrolls neatly - or you can cheat and have E-tracks in the truck body and the little brackets that fasten into them. Just get a few inches of play and unhook and then hang the strap up on the truck wall by the handle.
They’re all a little different depending on the size and whether they have clasp centers or are fed together so it’s the ends you need to take off because they hook under the truck body somehow, we had a bunch of those, and then my mom’s wheelchair van had little cute ones that clipped on to the chair and the floor both,those were a real PITA, so you just need to practice, and having a wide screwdriver helps the first few times till you see what exactly you need to have happen.
I think the OP will benefit from knowing that the interior latch will lock open when you open the overall assembly past 180 degrees.
But there is another problem that is related and may apply to the OP.
I find that even with the interior latch snapped in the “open” position, the center spindle does not like to rotate and unwind. When they’re brand new it’s not too bad but after a while they take a lot of force to turn and if not fully unwound they are difficult to work with.
I’m thinking about putting a few drops of oil on the ends of the spindle, but I’m concerned about the oil damaging the nylon.
Thoughts from the group?
After pulling the release handle, make sure you have the ratchet pulled as far back as it will go. Almost past 180.
Handy video; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sRHz4Nhh5w
Or try these !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mx-5aug2bLc
I use large ones for hay and usually end up opening the ratchet to 180 and standing on the short end and pull hard on the long side to unwind it.
After you get the handle locked in the past 180 position, pull on the tail end of the strap to unwind the spool.
Don’t feel bad. I had to teach a couple of Nobel Prize winning AstroPhysicists how to operate them.
One thing that’s important is to make sure you’ve pulled the loose end all the way to tighten the strap enough, such that when you start to ratchet it down really tight, you don’t end up with very many rotations through the mechanism. Too many of those makes it harder to get it to release. In other words - don’t ratchet it down to take up the slack - pull the slack through first.
Some also are just harder to do 
