The type of load you want to strap dictates the type of tensioner you must use. The tensioner in turn dictates the type of sealer you must use.  The following is organized into the basic types of tensioners.  Match the tensioner to your load, and the rest falls into place.

Feedwheel Tensioners

A feedwheel style tensioner is generally the easiest to use and the least expensive style of tensioner. To use this tensioner, make a loop of strapping around the package overlapping a portion of the strap. The strap is not normally cut off first, as this would just waste strapping. The feedwheel style tensioner is usually squeezed to open it slightly, and it is placed on the overlapped portion of the strap. Relax your squeeze, and ratchet the handle back and forth to drive the top strap, while a holding plug in the base of the tool under the feedwheel holds the bottom strap.

Once the strapping is tight, an open U-shaped metal seal is placed on the overlap just ahead of the tensioner. The seal is crimped with the sealer tool, and the sealer is then set aside.  The tensioner is then squeezed again and removed from the strapping. The portion of the strap going back to the coil can then be bent back and forth at the seal, breaking it off flush with the seal, leaving no waste and no sharp end to cut someone later.

The limitations of the feedwheel style tensioner can be seen here.  The overlap of strapping in the tensioner passes over top of the base of the tool, holding the finished strap up off the package a bit.  When the tool is removed, the finished strap drops down a bit, relaxing the strap slightly since the strap is non-elastic. The slight relaxation is not a problem if you are strapping a wood or corrugated object since they will easily make up for this loss.  But a non-compressible object will have a loose strap. A round object is even worse since you had a flat base of the tool against a round object, and this creates a lot of slack when the tool is removed. 

This type of tool can be used on a non-compressible or round product in only two ways: There is enough  wood or corrugated within the load being compressed to make up for the loss of tension when the tensioner is removed, or there is a 'void' area within the load where the tensioner can be located, and it will not touch the load.....Bingo, no loss of tension.

             Steel Strapping Tensioners

Windlass Tensioners

A windlass style tensioner achieves the highest mechanical advantage, yielding the most tension possible.  This also limits the use of a windlass style tensioner to only Hi-Tensile strapping of .75 wide or greater and .025 thick or greater.  Applications typically would be bunks of lumber, plate steel bundles, and bundling roof trusses.

To use the tensioner, encircle the load with a pre-cut length of strapping. The tensioner handle is pressed downward raising the gripper so that the lower strap can be placed, and the handle is then released holding the lower strap. The top strap is then placed through the slotted drum.  The handle is then ratcheted back and forth, turning the drum and winding the top strap tensioning  while the gripper holds the bottom strap in place.

Once a seal is applied on the overlapping area ahead of the tensioner and crimped, the handle can then be lowered, releasing the gripper, and the tool is slid to the side off the finished strap. This will leave a pigtail of strapping coming from the seal area, and if you will be stacking loads or otherwise want the pigtail off, it must then be cut off.  This pigtail is also the reason the strap must be cut to length prior to use, as too much strap can create too much of a pigtail - stopping the tensioning action before the strap is tight. So you will need of pair of strap cutters for the cutting.

       Steel Strapping Tensioners

Pusher Style Tensioners

If you cannot use a feedwheel style or a windlass style tensioner, then you must use a pusher style tool.  To use this type, tool one again encircles the load, but no cutting is necessary.  Take the pusher style seal which was prethreaded onto the strap and held back, and insert the end of the strapping  (which is the bottom strap) through the seal, and then bend backward about two inches of strap underneath the seal.  You have made a big slip knot.

The tensioner is then squeezed to raise the gripper, and the tool is inserted on the top strap only with the strap passing through the slotted nose and under the gripper of feedwheel. Yes, there are tools with a pusher nose and a feedwheel for take up. The handle is then ratcheted, and the strap is pulled through the nosepiece. You could also look at this action as the nose pushing the seal ahead of it. Once the strapping is tight, you crimp the seal, and the tensioner is NOT yet released.  Maintaining tension, raise the tool at 90 degrees to the strap, and bring it back down. A couple of these, and the strap will snap off flush at the end of the seal, leaving no nasty sharp end sticking out.

The drawbacks of pusher style are: it is slightly more time consuming since the seal must be prethreaded.  The tool and seals are more expensive, and you MUST have the seal with the tail of strap under it located against a firm surface of the load, not out in a void area.

Steel Strapping Tensioners

Which should you buy?

I would say to use a feedwheel style tensioner if at all possible for your application due to the ease of use and lower cost to acquire and use. Resort to a pusher style only if necessary. A windlass style would be used only for those applications requiring extreme tension. Please note that the feedwheel style and the pusher style use different types of seals and sealers.  Feedwheel style uses open style seals and a double down notch sealer. Pusher style uses a completely overlapping style seal and a single up notch sealer.

                                                 The Strapping Tool Store