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permaculture - Re: [permaculture] [SANET-MG] Hoop house pipe benders

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  • From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <venaurafarm@bellsouth.net>
  • To: david@h4c.org, Sustainable Agriculture Network Discussion Group <SANET-MG@LISTS.IFAS.UFL.EDU>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] [SANET-MG] Hoop house pipe benders
  • Date: Sat, 08 Jan 2011 19:19:13 -0500

On 1/8/2011 4:04 PM, David wrote:
It is of course possible to purchase hoop houses, HH kits and parts, and
as well to make them ad hoc from PVC pipe which easily bends. Further,
if one wishes to DIY using conduit or similar metal pipe, there are hand
benders that are widely available, although they are intended for making
angle bends (45, 90, etc._ at one point along the pipe, rather than
making a sweeping arc along a long section of pipe.

This shows building a hoop house using the electrician's manual pipe bender I mentioned in my last post:
A chronicle of an organic garden.
Building Hoop Houses out of Electrical Conduit
April 17th, 2010
http://chiotsrun.com/2010/04/17/building-hoop-houses-out-of-electrical-conduit/
The pipe bender:
http://chiotsrun.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/pipe_bender.jpg

http://www.mofga.org/Default.aspx?tabid=844
Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association
Extend the Growing Season with Coleman’s Double-Covered Low Tunnels

Concord Magazine Blog
Welcome to the blog version of the Concord (Massachusetts) Magazine!
http://www.concordma.com/blog/2009/12/hoop-benderwhite-house-hoop-house-1.html
Hoop Bender/White House Hoop House
By Debbie Bier on December 16, 2009 9:15 PM | No TrackBacks
benerside.jpgDid you catch the news stories yesterday reporting that the now-famous White House veggie garden is utilizing hoop houses to extend the growing/harvesting season? We're way ahead of you Beltway guys! See a report here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2009/12/16/planting-winter-garden

At right and below is the conduit-bender my husband created to bend the hoops for the low tunnels, which I said yesterday I'd photograph and post (click on either to see an enlarged version launch in a separate window). There are commercial pipe-benders that electricians use on this type of conduit, but they create angles. Anything but a rounded shape would cause wear (and eventually tear) on the plastic and floating row cover, so a smooth hoop is desired.

We found a seedsman offering a bending machine for low tunnels of a 4' width, but it cost around $100, including shipping. Another for a different width bed for another $100. We constructed this one from used 3/4" plywood and about $50 worth of off-the-shelf hardware store fittings ("tarp rope hooks" and screws from Concord Lumber). If we wanted to make hoops for a different width bed, the hooks could be re-set and re-used without further cash outlay.

To use: align the bottom of the 10' length of conduit to a line at the bottom left of the bender (not in photo). Insert the right edge of the pipe into the loop of the first hook on the left, bending just a little to the right. That will allow the next hook to be aligned with, followed by a small bend... next hook, another bend bend. This actually can be done in just 3-4 smooth movements, covering all 17 hooks in about 30-60 seconds.


http://www.johnnyseeds.com/Assets/Information/Quick_Hoops_Bender_Manual.pdf
shows snow loading
http://growingideas.johnnyseeds.com/2009/09/product-spotlight-october-2009.html
Quick Hoops Bender
Johnny's is pleased to introduce the Quick Hoops Bender, a tool used to make hoops for low tunnels quickly and neatly. It is the result of a collaboration between Johnny's Selected Seeds, Lost Creek Greenhouse Systems, and Eliot Coleman, who advocates the use of Quick Hoops in his new book, The Winter Harvest Handbook. Coleman notes that three rows of Quick Hoops cover the same area as a 22 x 48 foot greenhouse, at 1/20th the cost. He uses Quick Hoops to overwinter onions, lettuce and spinach, which will be ready for harvest a month ahead of the earliest spring-sown crops.
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/t-quickhoops.aspx
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/c-598-quick-hoops-benders.aspx?source=QHoopLanderBenders
Quick Hoops™ Benders
Extend the growing season for cold-hardy crops with a very late season harvest or overwinter them for earliest possible Spring harvest. Benders allow you to do this by creating low tunnel hoops out of galvanized electrical conduit.
Call us Toll Free @ 877-Johnnys (877-564-6697)



  • Re: [permaculture] [SANET-MG] Hoop house pipe benders, Lawrence F. London, Jr., 01/08/2011

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