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market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] Buying a used greenhouse

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  • From: Richard Robinson <rrobinson AT nasw.org>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Buying a used greenhouse
  • Date: Sat, 3 Apr 2010 19:55:57 -0400

On Sat, 3 Apr 2010 16:41:21 -0400, Lova Andriamanjay wrote:
> Hi everybody,
>
> we are currently researching for the purchase of a greenhouse/high tunnel
>and
> since money is tight at the moment we might want to buy a used structure for
> the time being before splurging for something much bigger next year. We also
> thought about making it ourselves but still not sure.
>
>
> I would like to have some feedback from fellow market farmers who did buy a
> used structure or made their own. What problems did you encounter, would you
> recomment doing so, etc.


Here's what I wrote to the high tunnels listserv on this topic:

=======
I just dismantled a 30x96 house. I think useful things to consider in
choosing a house are
--are any of the bows are out of true?
--are the bolts holding things together badly rusted (which will make removal
more difficult)?
--can you salvage the end walls? More value if you can.
--are you required to take away everything, even if you don't want it?
--is there a market for any of the equipment you won't be reusing?
--can you buy replacements for anything you need that can't be reused?
--how trashed is the site--are there nails and such lying around that will
puncture a tire or a shoe?
--is there electricity on site? You'll want it to run the sawzall.
--how far away is the site, and how many trips will you need to make? I ran
about twice as many as I thought I would.

I had to remove everything, which meant a few trips to the dump, but it also
meant I got more resourceful than I otherwise would have, and figured out new
uses for some stuff i would have trashed.

I attached a pulley to the intact frame to lower the heaters into the bed of
my truck. If you have a partner, this step would be a lot easier with two
people. I also used the pulley to lower the bows to the ground--very easy
work once they are free of the ground posts.

My biggest fear was removing the ground posts, but they didn't go too
badly--I bolted a loop of chain to the ground post with a bolt through the
uppermost bolthole, and pulled them out using a high-lift jack. Most of them
are not reusable, though, as they have rusted. It was actually more work to
get the baseboards free of the ground posts--all those bolts had rusted, and
needed to be cut with the sawzall.

I brought everything home in my little pickup. I slung the half-bows onto a
rack, bow pointing down and back, lashed them tight, and drove slowly.
========

I'll be putting it back together later this spring.

--
Richard Robinson
http://www.nasw.org/users/rrobinson/






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