7 Best Tarp Fasteners For Temporary Goat Shelter That Old Farmers Swear By
Secure your temporary goat shelter with 7 farmer-approved tarp fasteners. This guide covers time-tested options for all-weather reliability and animal safety.
A surprise downpour is rolling in, and you need to get a temporary shelter up for the new doelings, fast. You grab a heavy-duty tarp and a few cattle panels, but the real question is how you’re going to hold it all together when the wind kicks up. The right fastener isn’t just a piece of hardware; it’s the difference between a secure, dry shelter and a shredded, flapping mess that spooks your herd.
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Securing Your Tarp: A Goat Farmer’s Guide
Choosing a tarp fastener is about more than just holding plastic down. You’re balancing tension, wind load, and the destructive curiosity of goats. A fastener that’s perfect for a calm day’s sunshade will fail spectacularly in a 30-mph gust.
The key is to match the tool to the specific job. Are you creating a semi-permanent roof over a hay feeder or just a temporary windbreak for a kidding pen? Goats will rub, chew, and test every part of their enclosure. A fastener that can be easily loosened or has dangling parts is an invitation for trouble.
Think about failure points. Grommets are always the first to rip out under high tension. A good fastening system either reinforces the grommet or bypasses it entirely. The goal is a setup that is strong, safe for the animals, and easy for you to adjust or take down when the season changes.
Keeper Ball Bungees for Quick Tarp Setups
Ball bungees are the go-to for speed. When you need to get a roof over a pen in minutes, nothing beats looping a bungee through a grommet and around a post. The elastic nature provides constant tension, which helps prevent the tarp from flapping violently and tearing itself apart in a light breeze.
Their flexibility is their greatest strength and biggest weakness. They allow the tarp to give a little under a wind load, which can prevent grommets from ripping out. However, in a serious storm, that same stretch can become a liability, allowing the wind to get underneath and lift the entire structure. They also degrade in the sun over a season or two, losing their elasticity and becoming brittle.
Use them for quick, low-stakes shelters like sunshades or temporary rain covers that you check on frequently. They are perfect for lashing a tarp to a series of T-posts or a cattle panel arch. Just don’t rely on them as your primary fastener for a winter shelter in an exposed field.
Gator Grip Tarp Clips: No Grommets Needed
A ripped grommet used to mean a compromised tarp. Gator Grip clips (and similar cam-locking styles) changed that. These brilliant little clamps let you attach a line anywhere on the tarp, not just at the factory-installed weak points.
The design is simple: the harder the rope pulls, the tighter the clip bites down on the fabric. This distributes the force over a wider area of the tarp material, drastically reducing the chance of tearing. You can use them to add an anchor point right in the middle of a tarp to prevent it from sagging with rainwater or to salvage a tarp after its grommets have all failed.
These clips are a homesteader’s best friend for custom shelters. Need to create a tight, angled roofline? Add a clip. Need to secure a flapping corner where there’s no grommet? Add a clip. They fundamentally make your tarp more versatile and extend its working life. Keep a half-dozen in your barn toolkit; you’ll be surprised how often you reach for them.
SGT KNOTS Sisal Rope for a Natural Hold
Sometimes the old ways are best, especially when livestock is involved. Unlike nylon or poly ropes that can cause serious digestive blockages if chewed and swallowed, sisal rope is a natural fiber. If a goat manages to chew a piece off, it’s far more likely to digest safely.
Sisal offers a firm, no-stretch hold that’s ideal for securing corner points. Learning a few basic knots, like a taut-line hitch, allows you to create adjustable tension without any hardware. This gives you precise control over how tight your tarp is, letting you snug it down to prevent flapping.
The trade-off is durability. Sisal will degrade in the sun and rain faster than synthetic options. You might only get a season or two out of a length of rope that’s left out in the elements. But for its safety and low cost, it’s an unbeatable option for lashing shelters directly to wooden posts or trees.
Rhino USA Ratchet Straps for High-Wind Areas
Secure cargo with this 4-pack of heavy-duty 15-foot ratchet straps. Featuring a 2,200-lb break strength and safety-lock S-hooks, these straps ensure reliable transport for motorcycles, appliances, and more.
When you absolutely cannot have a shelter fail, you use ratchet straps. For large tarps stretched over hoop houses or long fence lines in open pastures, bungees and rope simply don’t provide enough consistent, high tension to fight the wind. A loose tarp acts like a sail, and the wind will destroy it.
Ratchet straps allow you to crank a tarp down drum-tight. This eliminates the flapping that precedes tearing. By securing the tarp to a solid frame—like a cattle panel arch or a welded gate—you create a structure that can withstand serious weather. The strap’s wide webbing also distributes pressure better than a thin rope, further protecting the tarp material.
A word of caution: it’s possible to over-tighten and rip a tarp, especially at the grommets. The trick is to get it just tight enough to remove all slack, but not so tight that you’re putting immense strain on the seams. Use them for your most critical, semi-permanent shelters where reliability is non-negotiable.
TR Industrial Zip Ties for a Secure, Low-Cost Fix
Heavy-duty UV-resistant zip ties are one of the most underrated fasteners in the barn. They are cheap, surprisingly strong, and incredibly fast to use. For securing a tarp to a wire fence or a cattle panel, nothing is quicker than a zip tie.
They provide a secure, non-stretch hold that is perfect for shelters you don’t plan on moving for a while. Because they lock down tight, they prevent the small, repetitive movements that cause a tarp grommet to wear out and fail. You can put them on in seconds, creating a very rigid connection point.
The obvious downside is that they are a one-time-use item. Adjusting or removing the tarp means cutting all the ties and starting over. Always be sure to snip the tag end of the zip tie completely flush. The sharp edge left by a diagonal cutter can easily injure a goat’s eye if they rub against it.
WORKPRO Spring Clamps for Moveable Shelters
Think of these as extra hands. Heavy-duty spring clamps are the perfect tool for temporary and highly mobile situations. If you need to block the wind on a section of fence for just an hour while you’re trimming hooves, you can clamp a tarp in place in ten seconds.
These clamps are ideal for tasks where you are actively present and need to make quick adjustments. Clamping a small tarp over a gate to provide shade during feeding time or holding a cover in place while you work on a piece of equipment are perfect uses. Their grip is strong enough for calm conditions but won’t hold up to a significant breeze on its own.
They are not a solution for unattended or overnight shelters. A determined goat can knock them off, and a good gust of wind will send them flying. But for their speed and convenience in short-term, supervised scenarios, they are an invaluable tool to have hanging on a nail in the barn.
General Tools Grommet Kit for Tarp Repair
This isn’t a fastener, but it’s the tool that keeps your fasteners working. The number one reason a tarp shelter fails is a ripped-out grommet. A grommet repair kit lets you fix that weak point in minutes, often making it stronger than the original.
Instead of throwing away a perfectly good tarp because one or two eyelets tore out, you can simply punch a new hole and hammer in a fresh grommet. This simple act of maintenance can double or triple the effective lifespan of your tarps, saving you significant money over time. You can also use the kit to add new grommets wherever you need them, customizing a standard tarp for your specific needs.
Keeping a grommet kit in your workshop is a proactive strategy. The time to discover you need one is not during a hailstorm with a flapping tarp over your kidding does. A five-minute repair on a sunny afternoon prevents a crisis during the next storm.
Ultimately, there is no single "best" fastener. The smartest approach is to build a small kit: a handful of ball bungees for speed, some gator clips for repairs, and a few ratchet straps for the high-wind days. Being prepared with the right tool for the job means your temporary shelters will be safer, last longer, and give you peace of mind when the weather turns.
