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Lightweight Portable Low Tunnel....Chicken Run
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Posted by eric_wa San Juan, z8 WA (ejellison@rockisland.com) on Thu, Feb 4, 10 at 18:13
| Hello,
Just whated to show off the Low Tunnels I welded up for my brother. I made 6 total
They are made of #4 rebar (1/2"), 3/4" irrigation tubing and covered with 7ft heavy duty deer fencing.
The frame is 36" wide and 100" long. The irrigation tubing is 60" long. The upright stubs are 8" long and spaced about 33" on center. There are also 4 cross the bed rebars. One on each end and two in the middle. These are welded 3.5" off the ground
We covered the frame with deer fence. The mesh is folded around the bottom and hog ringed. (See photo) The reason for this is, now the tunnels can also be used for chicken runs.
Very lightweight one person can move.
Eric |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Lightweight Portable Low Tunnel....Chicken Run
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| Eric, These are BEAUTIFUL! Can you make a few for me, and send them over? I could one 4 X 10, a 3 X 10, and a 4 X 8. Thanks. Let me know when they are done and I'll send you my address! j/k. These are great though. I think I'll be making my own versions. Now I just have to figure out where I will store them when they are not in use! |
RE: Lightweight Portable Low Tunnel....Chicken Run
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| Thank you. We will be using them most of the year. No need to store. Cover them with plastic for season extender. Covered with Remay for bug control. Deer fence covered for chicken tractor or chicken runs. Very portable. Eric |
RE: Lightweight Portable Low Tunnel....Chicken Run
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| I looked at them last night on the other thread and I think they are wonderful. No if I can just talk my neighbor into welding them for me. LOL |
RE: Lightweight Portable Low Tunnel....Chicken Run
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| Well maybe barter with him/her, with all the extra veggies you can grow. "Vegetable futures" Eric |
RE: Lightweight Portable Low Tunnel....Chicken Run
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| Very nice. Do the verticals extend below the side stringers? Dan |
RE: Lightweight Portable Low Tunnel....Chicken Run
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| Dan, No, They are welded on top. Take a look at photo #3. The verticals are 8 inch stubs. The cross brace is welded 3.5 inches above the side stringer. That leaves a 4.5 inch stub for the irrigation tubing to overlap. The deer fencing keeps the tubing in place. Eric |
RE: Lightweight Portable Low Tunnel....Chicken Run
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| Eric, Is that plastic fencing, or plastic coated fencing or just wire fencing? I am not familiar with deer fencing. |
RE: Lightweight Portable Low Tunnel....Chicken Run
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| sooner, The link below is an example. Buy locally if possible. Heavy duty plastic fencing. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Heavy duty plastic fence
RE: Lightweight Portable Low Tunnel....Chicken Run
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| wow,those are great! They look too heavy to be portable? I am curious, do they "flip up" or something so you can tend to the rows on the inside? |
RE: Lightweight Portable Low Tunnel....Chicken Run
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| ezzi, Like you see them in the photo, we just lift and lean it agents its neighbor. If its a solo tunnel you could prop open with a stick or maybe roll it completly over. Eric |
RE: Lightweight Portable Low Tunnel....Chicken Run
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| I built 6 of theses tunnels for my brother. Now it's my time. 6 or 8 for me. Mine will be 3ft x 10ft. Two end to end will cover one raised bed. Here are some photos of my first one. 
Tomorrow I will finish installing the plastic deer fence. Eric |
RE: Lightweight Portable Low Tunnel....Chicken Run
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| One of six ready for the garden. 
Ok, talk to myself later. Eric |
RE: Lightweight Portable Low Tunnel....Chicken Run
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| Nice. No purlins for wind protection? Dan |
RE: Lightweight Portable Low Tunnel....Chicken Run
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| Dan, Do you have any ideas. I thought about putting in a diagonal brace on the ends. This keeps the deer mesh tighter also. Try to keep this tunnel light weight. 
Eric |
RE: Lightweight Portable Low Tunnel....Chicken Run
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| No, you need to keep your plastic from gaining height aerodynamically and flapping up and down on the hoops and mesh, which weakens it. This is why you'd attach purlins in this setup, as you will find it hard to attach clips to keep the plastic from flapping with the mesh in place. But we have tremendous wind here and you have less there, so it may not be an issue for you. But as to the lateral pressure from wind, most put a brace at the very top. 1/2 in EMT with a notch in either end, PVC if the plastic is warranted with PVC touching it, maybe rip a furring strip and cut notches in the end. Lash all with cord. If I were to do that rig, I'd leave some rebar on the ground side as well to shove in the soil. And its a clever idea and i'll reflect on it when I start mine out of cattle panel here soon. Dan |
RE: Lightweight Portable Low Tunnel....Chicken Run
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| Just wanted to say thanks for taking the time to post the photos - really makes your construction technique clear. |
RE: Lightweight Portable Low Tunnel....Chicken Run
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nhbabs,
Your welcome, but is the design any good? Triditional you would use pipe clips to hold the the cover on. Like Dan stated. Now I may have to use shock cord or something over the top. Dan, not sure I like the pegs in the ground idea. I will be lift one side of the frame for weeding and harvesting. Pivoting wood cause the pegs to tear through the soil. Eric |
RE: Lightweight Portable Low Tunnel....Chicken Run
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| Fair enough. Mine will be mounted to wood and sit on a base with hinges, so I'm in that mode, as well as securing against the constant, harsh wind. Another idea for reducing aerodynamic flapping is running twine across the top. Dan |
RE: Lightweight Portable Low Tunnel....Chicken Run
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| Dan, I'd like to see your cattle panel setup. Will you be posting pictures?? I think the panels here are about $60.00 each. 5ft x 16ft. Will you be building one tunnel per panel? Eric |
RE: Lightweight Portable Low Tunnel....Chicken Run
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| I'll post Eric. Here they are 19.90/per, one panel/tunnel. Dan |
RE: Lightweight Portable Low Tunnel....Chicken Run
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| Run some twine diagonally across each 'bay' to secure your material, snug it to the frame. For really windy locations, leave 6-8 inches of material and plant a couple dirt-filled bags on the weather side. Bungie cord to really snug it down. I know that sounds like a mess, but it really is an elegant method to secure material - twine is pretty cheap and it composts to boot, should last a couple seasons. Nice frames - thanks for sharing! |
RE: Lightweight Portable Low Tunnel....Chicken Run
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| sfallen2002, Well thank you very much! That's my best Elvis I'm leaning towards some cheap bungies. They would be a little easier to go from Reemay to plastic as the season progresses. You can see in the first photo my brother is using bricks. Sandbags might be better.
Eric |
RE: Lightweight Portable Low Tunnel....Chicken Run
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| Jonny's Seed has pictures using the sandbags & they don't rip the material like brick or stones. Bungie might work in place of twine, but what I was saying about the twine & what sfallen helpfully clarified about my unclear comment is twine diagonally is easier & cheaper & reinforces itself, whereas bungie cords don't, unless you can get 6-footers and run diagonally ($$). Eliot Coleman has a couple pictures of twine in one of his winter gardening books. Target dollar bins have rolls of jute twine. Dan |
RE: Lightweight Portable Low Tunnel....Chicken Run
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| I am very interested in this as I was planning on building something that sounds similar. I would love to see the photos, the seem to have been taken down. Any chance you can upload again or email to me.... thanks. |
RE: Lightweight Portable Low Tunnel....Chicken Run
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| Looks like I forgot to post pix: 
Dan |
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