What's up with these tarp shelters at the farm auctions

[check]

If we are talking winter usage, remember that any pins, rods driven in for retention will be frozen into the ground and therefore you don't actually need deep penetration if that helps.

I have a Costco 10' x 20' up at the cottage, and I bolt the uprights down on to a 2 x 6 which acts like a "bottom plate" and then I just put weights on the 2 x 6. Never had a problem.

Also, I clear the roof when it snows by pushing up on the ceiling (bottom side of the roof tarp), from the inside, using a push broom. Makes the snow slide right off. But, of course, you have to be there to do it, or have a friendly neighbour do it when there is a heavy snow and you can't make it up to the cottage. So far, so good!

 

[MossRoad]

If we are talking winter usage, remember that any pins, rods driven in for retention will be frozen into the ground and therefore you don't actually need deep penetration if that helps.

Unless you get a winter like ours this year where the ground never froze more than a couple inches. Exceptionally warm.

 

[mapper]

Mapper, would love to see your greenhouse, I've thought of doing the same thing.

Here some photos from the construction last spring:

Plastic on and inflated, note blower and jumpers to the sides from the top.

First planting, too many tomatoes(learning curve here :laughing

Frame up and ends on

Attaching the plastic, plastic is attached using aluminium "U" channel and wiggle wire.

Turns out that I planted way too many tomatoes, by the end of summer I almost needed a machete to get down the aisle. Cutting back to a single double row this year.
The tomatoes are grown on a string suspended from overhead cables, as the plants grow and reach the cable the string is let down and the stem is played down along the pots.
I also added a fan and vent controlled by a thermostat.

 

[Looking4new]

Do the tomatoes grow better with music?

 

[mapper]

Do the tomatoes grow better with music?

I don't know but since it was mostly funded to a local sports talk station, they were Sahawks fans

 

[check]

Leaving my home I see 5 collapsed shelters on a 10 min run and identify 4 that will probably also bite the dust when it gets milder. When most shedded snow is on one side and frozen that's OK but come spring thaw softens that leaning pile it causes a shelter to fold and collapse. Ideally they want clear passage on both sides to clear snow but also trees to shelter from high winds. The majority sold in box stores are so flimsy that they really don't stand much of a chance of survival for a typical Quebec winter. The real good HD ones cost almost as much as a decent DIY shed would. I built a DIY shed/garage for my mom's car 15 years ago for about $1000. and it still has another 15 yr life in it.

I may consider a hybrid of some sort, whereby I use the sides and frame of the $199 Costco shed, and then just build a wooden/plywood roof over top. A few 2 x 4 studs for extra strength, throw a few shingles on, and it will be good to go!

 

[JRobyn]

Yeah, that'll do it! Was that covered under warranty? :laughing:

Actually, it kinda was - got a giant check from the insurance company mostly due to destruction of fences, but partially because of the "tractor barn".

 

[JRobyn]

Note - anchoring down to some "footer boards", even if they are stout railroad ties embedded in gravel is really nowhere near sufficient. The amount of force created by a 40 mph wind when it gets underneath that 200 sqft of canopy is ENORMOUS! Just think of the force against your flattened palm when stuck out the car window at 40 mph. That's maybe 35 sq in. Your 10' x 20' canopy is 28,800 sq in!

What is better than rebar for anchors are regular fencing T-posts. The little nubs on them helps hold them in the soil. Get the shortest available (like 4 ft) ones, drive them in as far as practical, but at least 18". Then saw them off a few inches above grade (your Li-I angle grinder with a cutoff wheel works perfectly) and drill a 3/8" hole through the web to hook your anchor cable through.

 

[jimmyj]

If we are talking winter usage, remember that any pins, rods driven in for retention will be frozen into the ground and therefore you don't actually need deep penetration if that helps.

I use T bar fence posts to anchor the ones I have. Then I use wire to tie the Tbar to the "feet" of the uprights. It works well although once we had a tremendous wind storm and the poles actually snapped off, the whole shelter blew away except the anchored feet and lower bit of the upright poles that were broken clean off. It must have stated to fail and then flailed around in the wind until they bent back and forth and broke.

Ironically, down back I have a 24' long similar shelter made of 2x2's in a gable roof style shape. The sides are vertical 2x2's that are 5' long and the tops are 3' on each side to the peak (that way the whole thing is made of 2 pieces of 8' 2x2. Then I put a 1\4" ply on the roof and a tarp over top. It's not attached to the ground or anything but it's right between the barn and some trees. Been there almost 15 years and hasn't ever blown away, crazy really. All I do is clean the snow off it each time there is more than a couple of inches accumulation.

 

[RichZ]

WE had 32 inches of snow last week, and my neighbors tarp shed collapsed. I'll try to find out what kind it was.