What a super idea!
I'm pretty committed to free ranging, but only time and predators will tell for sure, so I'm keeping this in mind if l ever need an easy way to connect an additional cheap (ala Joel Salinger) chicken tractor, to my main heavy duty (opposite of Joel Salinger) chicken tractor!
I move my heavy tractor once a week, and that's fine, since they free range every day, and only sleep and lay in my tractor, but if predator pressure ever became too much, I could build a cheap companion tractor like Joel's, to be beside my heavy tractor, connected with an easy to remove tunnel like this, doubling or more, my grazing space.
Since my heavy tractor is predator proof, I'd run any chickens in the cheap tractor back to the heavy tractor each night. However, I would bet the chickens would go back on their own because the roosts are in the heavy tractor.
There's one little thing that comes to my mind after being jogged by this great idea.
What if instead of cutting the hardware cloth in the short four foot direction, you cut the total length you needed off a 50 foot roll of four foot wide, half inch hardware cloth, then rolled it into a circle, in the short four foot direction, the total length you wanted, then use heavy zip ties applied from the outside of this tunnel you've made, every foot or so.
The basic difference is laying out say a 25 length of four foot wide hardware cloth, maybe start at each end, rolling it and keeping it square (easy to see, since its a grid), then working your way toward the center, kind of like rolling a cigarette, if the paper were the wire. That leaves the seam running whatever the length of the tunnel is.
I've had plenty of practice at this little skill, put a sharp kink in the end of the zip tie, push it into the hardware cloth, then lift the zip tie back up, bringing the end of the fish hooked shaped zip tie, up through an adjacent cell of the hardware cloth, grab that end and zip it down.
You could drive a wooden stake or a piece of rebar every ten feet or so, on either side of the tunnel, to keep it from rolling. Although, after attaching it to whatever you're connecting together at either end, depending on the length, perhaps even that wouldn't be necessary.
I'm thinking that would be easier, and make the hardware cloth go further, than making overlap connections every four feet. It would also offer the benefit that the long seam down the length of the tunnel, would have the smooth edges of the uncut hardware cloth. That'll save you the trouble of cutting all those exposed edges at each four foot joint as you had before. Besides that, let's face it, even if you cut the edges flush, you'll still be left with a sharp edge where you cut off the wire.
I also don't think you'd even need to bother keeping the long seam at the top of the tunnel, since it has a smooth edge, and also its pushing outwards, I think the chickens could walk on the seam, if it happened to be on the bottom, no problem.
Just an additional note I found out the hard way. Home Depot has a four foot wide, 25 foot long roll of half inch hardware cloth for $58. I found the same width roll, but TWICE the length, at 50 feet, at AgriSupply for $57. Between covering my entire tractor in hardware cloth, and it's anti-dig mats being covered in it, and covers for big plastic bins to transport the chickens, I used at least four, maybe even five, 50 foot rolls.
How great is that, twice the same wire, for a dollar less!
Here's a link to the AgriSupply web page with the 50 foot, half inch hardware cloth.
http://www.agrisupply.com/in-hardware-cloth-ft-roll-in-x-in-grid/p/32410/
I'm pretty committed to free ranging, but only time and predators will tell for sure, so I'm keeping this in mind if l ever need an easy way to connect an additional cheap (ala Joel Salinger) chicken tractor, to my main heavy duty (opposite of Joel Salinger) chicken tractor!
I move my heavy tractor once a week, and that's fine, since they free range every day, and only sleep and lay in my tractor, but if predator pressure ever became too much, I could build a cheap companion tractor like Joel's, to be beside my heavy tractor, connected with an easy to remove tunnel like this, doubling or more, my grazing space.
Since my heavy tractor is predator proof, I'd run any chickens in the cheap tractor back to the heavy tractor each night. However, I would bet the chickens would go back on their own because the roosts are in the heavy tractor.
There's one little thing that comes to my mind after being jogged by this great idea.
What if instead of cutting the hardware cloth in the short four foot direction, you cut the total length you needed off a 50 foot roll of four foot wide, half inch hardware cloth, then rolled it into a circle, in the short four foot direction, the total length you wanted, then use heavy zip ties applied from the outside of this tunnel you've made, every foot or so.
The basic difference is laying out say a 25 length of four foot wide hardware cloth, maybe start at each end, rolling it and keeping it square (easy to see, since its a grid), then working your way toward the center, kind of like rolling a cigarette, if the paper were the wire. That leaves the seam running whatever the length of the tunnel is.
I've had plenty of practice at this little skill, put a sharp kink in the end of the zip tie, push it into the hardware cloth, then lift the zip tie back up, bringing the end of the fish hooked shaped zip tie, up through an adjacent cell of the hardware cloth, grab that end and zip it down.
You could drive a wooden stake or a piece of rebar every ten feet or so, on either side of the tunnel, to keep it from rolling. Although, after attaching it to whatever you're connecting together at either end, depending on the length, perhaps even that wouldn't be necessary.
I'm thinking that would be easier, and make the hardware cloth go further, than making overlap connections every four feet. It would also offer the benefit that the long seam down the length of the tunnel, would have the smooth edges of the uncut hardware cloth. That'll save you the trouble of cutting all those exposed edges at each four foot joint as you had before. Besides that, let's face it, even if you cut the edges flush, you'll still be left with a sharp edge where you cut off the wire.
I also don't think you'd even need to bother keeping the long seam at the top of the tunnel, since it has a smooth edge, and also its pushing outwards, I think the chickens could walk on the seam, if it happened to be on the bottom, no problem.
Just an additional note I found out the hard way. Home Depot has a four foot wide, 25 foot long roll of half inch hardware cloth for $58. I found the same width roll, but TWICE the length, at 50 feet, at AgriSupply for $57. Between covering my entire tractor in hardware cloth, and it's anti-dig mats being covered in it, and covers for big plastic bins to transport the chickens, I used at least four, maybe even five, 50 foot rolls.
How great is that, twice the same wire, for a dollar less!
Here's a link to the AgriSupply web page with the 50 foot, half inch hardware cloth.
http://www.agrisupply.com/in-hardware-cloth-ft-roll-in-x-in-grid/p/32410/
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