Does the canvas skirt on your mower have a tear or rip? Now is the time to give it a quick repair. We explain just how to do that

Back in great-great grandpa’s day, a tarpaulin was a heavy canvas sheet (a pall) soused in tar to make it waterproof. Them days—and the tar—is long gone, replaced by a flexible plastic, typically PVC, overlaying a natural or synthetic base. Old tech or new, sheets, covers and curtain sides still like to rip when snagged. And a ripped waterproof is not much use over seed bags, on a spreader or a trailer of grain.