Quick and easy cattle panel hoola-hoop house

[babsbag]

@soarwitheagles, I have been doing this serious ranch stuff for almost 9 years and you will still find me out in the wind/rain taking care of something I thought was already solved.

Here is an idea. If you pound three t posts in the ground on each side of the hoop instead of doing all the nice wood work you could throw up multiple shelters quickly and not have to worry about butting the panels together and tearing the tarp.

I have a big barn, it is a fabric Clear Span hoop structure with open ends. We added a shed type roof to the front (south side) of the barn for hay storage and just for added protection from wind and rain. But we have an opening above the shed roof up to the top of the fabric structure and we have been fighting tarps to keep the rain out. We have some ideas for a permanent fix but no time right now and as you know we are getting slammed. The last band-aid did not work either and right now rain is pouring into the barn. The animals are dry, but it is making a mess. Fortunately the band-aid didn't fail until most of this storm was over. We will see what tomorrow brings. I can't get on the roof to fix this one and DH won't be home until Friday night.

 

[babsbag]

Here is a very basic hoop house, they didn't even use t-posts. No center beam required either. If you are up to the task Thursday looks like the day before another big one on Friday.

 

[Bruce]

Yes one must be careful with the generic term "duct tape" as most of us envision the gray stuff that apparently is good for many things but NOT sealing ductwork. The metal backed stuff is better.

For all things "duct tape" I prefer Gorilla tape. Much stronger and it doesn't rot into bits of "stuff" in the sun leaving a nearly impossible remove hard fiber and glue mess.

I would think if you put the vertical rods of the CPs on the inside, hog ring them TIGHT where they meet (I used slipjoint pliers in some cases when the hog ring pliers didn't 'reach around') and run Gorilla tape along the seam the tarp would be pretty safe. Make sure it is pulled down tight as you can so it doesn't shift in the wind and chafe.

 

[babsbag]

I have been thinking about you during this last storm and hope that you are feeling better and that your critters are all safe. This should be the end of it after this weekend for a little bit. Looking forward to sunshine.

 

[Baymule]

Hope ya'll get some sunshine soon!

 

[soarwitheagles]

Thank you again everyone for your kind thoughts and words. I am beginning to feel better, after chest x-rays, antibiotics, eye drops for an eye infection, and ibuprofen for the body aches. I chose lots of rest, lots of fluids, and staying warm all week long. Today, was a completely different story...

Woke up to discover one of my neighbor's 80+ft eucalyptus tree uprooted, and fallen onto our property, flattening the woven wire fence and barb wire.

So that was the first job.

Next, worked my bottom off standing in and working in mud on the cattle panel hoop house. Now I wish I could change the title of my post. I cannot honestly say it is a
"Quick and easy" cattle panel hoola-hoop house. Some of this turned into a royal pain in the butt.

My wire welder that has worked perfectly for decades decided it did not want to cooperate. So it was re-bar wire to hold the panels together.

Next, I now realize I should have measured the tarp FIRST. It turned out to be 1 inch short. So installed two 2x4 rails vertical on top of the 4'x6' bottom boards. Used flat head screws with fender washers to attach the tarp.

For extra support I installed an "H" post set up on the backside, a single vertical post on the front. Then mounted a 4"x6"x16' beam for the top.

Kinda unusual, but I then added a 2x6 extension so I could stabilize the entire hoop house by anchoring it to a live eucalyptus tree. I did not have time to top/cut the live euc tree, so I left the entire tree there for now. My biggest concern now is that my neighbor's may think I am an illegal immigrant and call the authorities on me...

[Ok, I was only joking].

Large storm with 50-60 mph winds forecast for tonight and tomorrow, so this should be a really nice 24-hour test for our little hoop house. I hope it is still there Monday, or at least I hope I can find the remnants of this hoop house within a half mile radius.

I still need to pile some more dirt on the inside and add some hay. Hope to do that tomorrow.

Right now it feels as if every muscle in my body is aching. Cutting up the fallen tree took energy. I feel like I went to the gym for eight hours straight without a break. So this was some good exercise people!

I am attaching pics of my newly titled "Much longer work time than estimated hoop house."

Have a wonderful day everyone!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Goodness - what a day!

 

[soarwitheagles]

Yes, a lovely day on the ranch. On the brighter side of things, my neighbor just made me $300 richer with prime eucalyptus firewood!

Baymule,

Our soil is presently super saturated on every square inch of our property. We still have a small river flowing through our Ag building for the last few days. Tonight the river will flow even stronger. Our pistol range is now 5-6 feet under water. Later tonight and tomorrow we will have a strong rain storm with 50-60 mph winds. So we just may make some more money on fire wood. Never a boring moment here...

 

[SunnyD]

I also agree with the hog rings! I use them for about everything now as a matter of fact last week I fixed the clip on my bibs with a hog ring. I secured the tarp on my "cattle panel chicken coop" by wrapping light fencing wire across outside of tarp about every 2 feet and attached them to the wooden frame on each side. You spent so much time on a great frame and all why take it apart?

 

[SunnyD]

I have friends that drive t-posts in the ground and put the panels inside of those. For a temp. structure they don't even use wood on the ground, just the t-post.

Thanks for the tip babsbag! I would have never thought of using t-posts. A great idea for trellises and other projects.