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market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] For those who have built tunnels using Johnny'shoops bender

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  • From: Todd Lister <toddlister1 AT gmail.com>
  • To: Tom <tomsgardens AT yahoo.com>, Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] For those who have built tunnels using Johnny'shoops bender
  • Date: Sat, 18 Feb 2012 20:06:54 -0500

This approach is not unusual and as a 35 year builder I have total confidence in the bracing.
My example is applied to a house made of 1.5" pipe.
The original question was likely much smaller pipe.
I would have no issue with this approach as long as there was corner bracing.
Connectors can be an issue. Commercial hoop house manufacturers offer houses with 4'+ side walls.
It's all about the bracing.
http://www.greenhousemegastore.com/product/30-foot-cold-frame-sidewalls
Farmtek also has tall wall houses.
http://www.farmtek.com/farm/supplies/cat1a;ft1_greenhouses_accessories


On Sat, Feb 18, 2012 at 7:38 PM, Tom <tomsgardens AT yahoo.com> wrote:
I haven't built one of these structures, but I have some building experience and I would be quite concerned about putting 2 feet of the post into the ground and leaving 4 feet out for the hoops to sit atop. That sounds very shaky to me. I doubt if these posts are designed to withstand the kind of force that would result from the weight of the structure plus wind acting on a four foot lever arm at the top of each post.  That's a lot of leverage for a thin steel post to resist.  In a moderate to strong wind I think one of two things would happen.  Either the posts would fail and bend at the ground level or they would rip out of the ground.  I would even worry about just the spreading force of the hoops being enough to bend the tops of the posts outward a bit -- maybe a lot.

I built a Hanley-style hoop house and I had 13 two foot rebar lengths pull out of the ground simultaneously during a fairly strong wind, and that house had no flat sides.
 
In short, I think you will need to build a more substantial four foot wall to rest your hoops on - something that can provide some serious lateral stiffness both along the length of the wall and perpendicular to the wall.
==============
Tom at Tom's Gardens
Cut Flowers & Veggies
Northern Lower Michigan


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