grsthegreat
Super Star Member
hmmm, send one of those here to north idaho... my wife would love it
Building a Greenhouse
- Thread starter pajoube
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OP
pajoube
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2001
- Messages
- 2,225
- Location
- Montana (Near Bozeman)
- Tractor
- Former Owner PowerTrac 425 (September 2003)
Now it is middle of winter and the snow is coming down. Anyone have a good idea of how to get the snow off the canopy? I currently use a very soft broom on a long pole to pull the snow down but wondering if there is another way.
PJ
PJ
grsthegreat
Super Star Member
my wife uses a roof razor... works great
Amazon.com: MinnSNOWta Roof Razor® Roof Rake Metal Roof Kit: Patio, Lawn & Garden
joeyd
Platinum Member
I also use a roof razor for my home roof which is comp shingle. I don't think it would work too well on visquene. You may have the answer with the broom. Have you thought about a heater in the greenhouse? Just keeping it warm enough to melt the snow so it would slide off or not collect on the roof at all.
grsthegreat
Super Star Member
we use ours on the wifes polycarbonate greenhouse and a friend uses one on his plastic covered greenhouse. they work 100% great
GrowFarmers
Member
pajoube said:
Are you located in an area that gets a great deal of snow? If you are, you probably want to look into getting cross braces to help with your structural integrity. I would be careful with any sort of metal roof rake, it is so easy to rip the plastic especially if you catch a corner. One way that works pretty well is to take a push broom and hit the plastic from the inside and the snow will slide right off. Watch out though, you can get soaked if there is a lot of condensation on the inside of the plastic.
OP
pajoube
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2001
- Messages
- 2,225
- Location
- Montana (Near Bozeman)
- Tractor
- Former Owner PowerTrac 425 (September 2003)
We do get about 300 inches of snow a year but our area can be heavy or light depending on the year. I have used the broom from the inside and it has worked well except for getting the very top. If I do not plow the snow away from the sides the buildup does not allow for future snow to slide off.
PJ
thats a nice looking tunnel. the snow load sounds like it could be a lot. i agree with GF that a truss would help. i have a 26 wide tunnel and it has trusses and truss braces.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...216051d1307298550-high-tunnel-hightunnela.jpg
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...216051d1307298550-high-tunnel-hightunnela.jpg
GrowFarmers
Member
With that amount of snow, I would definitely recommend putting up some trusses and truss braces like randy41 shows in the link he posted.
I think any method of clearing the snow off the hoophouse, other than melting, will require you to clear the snow away from the bottom especially since yours is curved all the way too the ground. One idea that I have toyed with, but never tried it, is using a rope that goes lengthwise and you kinda "floss" the snow off. The problem is it probably takes 2 people, unless you maybe tied one end to the peak at one end. It might take some tinkering, but I think it has potential. Let me know if you end up trying it!
I think any method of clearing the snow off the hoophouse, other than melting, will require you to clear the snow away from the bottom especially since yours is curved all the way too the ground. One idea that I have toyed with, but never tried it, is using a rope that goes lengthwise and you kinda "floss" the snow off. The problem is it probably takes 2 people, unless you maybe tied one end to the peak at one end. It might take some tinkering, but I think it has potential. Let me know if you end up trying it!
grsthegreat
Super Star Member
I tried that rope trick on my barn about 2-3 years ago. had almost 3 feet of snow/ice on a 4:12 pitch roof. I was able to saw thru the entire thing, but nothing ever came off of the roof.
I ended up having to bring in 2 salamander heaters , each running 175,000 BTU to shed the building.
