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market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] Pulling Plastic

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  • From: robert schuler <sunnfarm AT bellatlantic.net>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Pulling Plastic
  • Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2004 09:56:40 -0400

Allen, I always cover my greenhouses with the pull rope method. Im not
superman but its a one man job if you know how to do it. The problem is
you need just the right weather conditions, DEAD CALM! air. I once
applied a 32x150 sheet, tack stapled, and a brief breeze lifted the whole
sheet off before I could get the poly lock on. Sunday morning I did a
20x48 by myself one layer took me 35 minutes. A 28x96 took me 1.5 hours
start to finish by myself. Doing it yourself eliminates the problem of
finding help when you need it

On your 48 ft long house you will need three 3/8" soft nylon toe ropes.
Take each end and tie the ropes around a large handful of poly, in the
center get yourself those plastic shade cloth clips and use one of them
to hold the center rope. A forth rope in the center is always useful
because the center ropes are always the ones that rip off, so its good to
have a spare. Roll out the sheet and staple the one side down to the
baseboard. Get yourself a Bostich HB2 or Stanley Hammer staple gun. Then
unfold the sheet just enough to loosen the layers, throw the toe ropes
over the house and start pulling just a little at a time. Occasionally
push up the poly from the other side then pull the ropes more. Getting
the poly over the ridge is the hardest part, that's where the ropes
usually rip off. Once you get it over tack it down and get your final
batten or poly locks on and your home free.
I find greenhouses 20 feet wide the easiest to cover, from now on I only
will build them 20ft wide. Pulling the second layer is very easy because
it doesn't hang up on the purlins, and slides over the first sheet easy.
On my wide houses I pull the new sheet over the old sheet then slide the
old sheet out from under, you might want to try this next time...Bob.
Sunny Meadow Farm
Bridgeton, NJ.


Allan Balliett wrote:

> I send this earlier to the hoophouse listserv, but haven't seen a
> result yet. Probably better posted here, anyway.
>
> I need to skin a 48 ft long 30ft wide gothic house this week. I've
> always done the 3 people thing: setting up the roll on a rod at one
> end of the house and rolling out the plastic over the house, as one
> person on a ladder keeps boosting the plastic up over the ridge pole.
>
> In the Growing for Market book, I saw instructions for rolling the
> plastic down one side of the house, tying ropes to it and pulling it
> (from the side) up and over the ridge until it drapes evenly on both
> sides. This looks to easy to think it hasn't been recommended to me
> by other people.
>
> I'm wondering what your experience is with this latter technique
> and/or if you have other ways of putting plastic on. (I think Steve
> Moore tells of people who actually roll the plastic down the top of
> the ridge pole while they walk the top of the bows, but maybe I'd
> been in the sun too long when I thought I heard him tell this story.)
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