How safe are tractors made of pvc pipe??

[wombat]

You could fill it up part way with sand for weight. It won't present the freezing problem that water would.

 

[Elite Silkies]

Wombat, thats a good idea! I didn't think about that. That would work perfectly.

 

[shelleyd2008]

So for the hoop-type tractors, what length of pipe would I need to make it like 4' wide? Does it bend easily, or am I going to need to recruit my dad to help me?

 

[CheerfulHeart2]

Well, I used the standard length at Home Depot, I think 10 ft long, and used it to make an arch over my 4 ft garden bed. It bent pretty easy by propping one corning in the bed while bending. Thee were several thickness of pipe though, so I checked them at the store to see how flexible they were before buying.

 

[NHN]

If you make a wooden frame for the bottom, how do you attach the PVC pipe to that?

 

[shelleyd2008]

Clamps I believe, but I'm not sure.

 

[chookchick]

PVC is super easy to work with, and cheap, but I wouldn't use it. It is not meant to withstand direct sunlight, and degrades quite quickly with exposure to sunlight (even schedule 40), becoming brittle. I have made a few hoophouses for plants, and it works well, but if you want something to withstand predators I would use wood or metal. You can get pipe bent to the shape you need, or use cattle panels like Sweetcheeks suggested.

 

[shelleyd2008]

I'd thought about the cattle panel ones, and I'll probably do something like that for my guineas and the few LF we have. But the bantams don't need that much height, so I don't think those would be good for them.

My dog got loose and had a killing spree last night, so she's not a problem anymore. I'm sick of all the dead birds...

She was about the only 'predator' we had a problem with, other than hawks. I'm still going to make sure that my birds each (breed) gets tractors, and that they all have a safe coop to go into. Daytime predators are never a problem, other than dogs and hawks, so at night they'll be locked up safe.

I've been told that the electrical conduit (grey PVC) pipe is UV resistant, and Lowe's has it for $1.2? for a 10' pipe, so I think I'll go with that. I just want to make something that is fairly easy so I don't have to find someone to help me with it.

 

[jaj121159]

I have a duck blind mounted on my boat built from 3/4" PVC. When my lab gets excited or is startled from a nap by a gunshot he will jump on top of the blind and run around. He weighs close to 80 lbs. the key to the strength is building it to be strong. The PVC frame on my boat blind is built with the walls 12" on center. The roof (which he runs on) is supported by vertical PVC coming off the floor. Another way to thwart larger predators is to run the walls at an inverted angle (wider at the top than at the bottom.)

 

[CheerfulHeart2]

I would like to see a picture of that. it sounds very strong!