Our Hoop House/chicken tractor - Page 20

I did that! I have two small hoop houses using the gray PVC pipe found in electrical aisles. Diameter is not more than an inch. I made a wood base with 8-foot 4x4s for the sides and 6-foot 2x4s for the ends. I use a hole drill like for door knob installation to sink the pipes (I used 5 pipes spaced equally) down into the wood at least an inch. Then I drill a long deck screw into the pipe and wood to secure it. I cover the whole thing with the heavy plastic netting and then with a tarp that protects most of it from rain. I frame in a doorway and attach a screen covered door. Ends are covered with more plastic netting. I wish I had a picture, but I don't think I've taken any. It ends up being only about 4 feet high. I'm 5' 3" so I can duck in and do some work.

I raised up my small batch of meaties in one last summer. Worked great.

I also have a large hoop house made from cattle panels that I've used two years now (including for winter housing). I don't use the small plastic ones in winter, though. I haven't had a predator issue with them -- yet.

I didnt make a hoop house with it I made a Travois for training my draft horse to be a carriage horse.  I was told by others that PVC wouldnt work for that because it was too flimsy.  Because I was stubborn and knew a little more about plasics I went with the heavy wall Grey from the electrical department.  It was four inches in diameter... LOL.  That was ten years ago.  I still have it somewhere.

For a hoop house depending on size of house I would check out the small diameter stuff as small as you can find.  If it seems flimsy use more hoops.  Last time I priced the stuff to run phone lines to the house it was 99 cents for ten feet.    (I have to run a thousand feet in a semi temporary fix)

I have been thinking about hoop houses from this and other conversations and have some Ideas I am going to sketch up....  I will share if I come up with anything worthwile.

i've called around to a few lumber yards and electrical supply houses and found that they're selling electrical pvc conduit in ten foot long sections, they're suggesting couplers to join sections

i think i need about sixteen foot lengths to do what i want to do

does anyone know if using the couplings will work, or will they just be a weak link?

i appreciate your input.

We used the couplers on ours. Started with 2 ft straight then added 10 ft sections to make the hoop. It ended up being tall enough for me to stand in. About 6 ft in the middle. I think we used 1 inch diameter.

that's very helpful information, thank you.

The place I got my conduit was Home Depot.

The conduit  they have has a flaired end for coupling into another conduit.

I was thinking about the length thing the other night.  And While the Connections you make will be very strong they will also be less flexible.  I would experiment with it.  But It would probably work best if you make the connections Off center.  LOL  I am kind of OCD so I would split one and tag the extra length on each end.    So if the hoop needs to be sixteen feet long Id do eight feet then ten feet then eight feet.  but thats me. 

OH and do yourself a favor buy a PVC cutter.  They are about ten bucks and slice through pvc with a ratcheting action.  No sawing or saw dust.  The one I have is good for pipe up to 2 inches in diameter.  I built some Cat enclosures once using pvc and corners and the whole thing went together in record time.

Thanks for all the inspiration on this thread.  I scrounged some lumber, bought hinges, pvc, latches and had the rest here is the nearly finished house.

One thing I'd like to add to this. I made one of these last year to house some young birds for the winter. For them, it worked fine. However, this year I have 8 LF birds in one of these that measures 8' X 8' at the base. There's a lot of feather picking going on and I have to move it almost daily so they aren't in a mud hole. So if you plan to keep a small flock of LF in these I'd suggest making it twice as big...preferably at least 8' X 16'

latebloomer, you'll be fine.  Our cattle panels folded nicely into a "tear drop shape" and we could fit 3 of them snugly into our 8 foot bed w/ cap.  Once you get them bent into that shape they stay that way fairly easily, and the guys at TSC were a dream with helping us get them loaded.

LOVE it, my new project IF I can figure out how to get these panels home