Gothic Caterpillar Tunnel5-ft Bow Spacing: 20-ft Length / Standard / 14-ft

14-ft wide

• Standard, 5-ft bow spacing
• Pro, 5-ft bow spacing
• Standard, 4-ft bow spacing
• Pro, 4-ft bow spacing

16-ft wide

• Standard, 5-ft bow spacing
• Pro, 5-ft bow spacing
• Standard, 4-ft bow spacing
• Pro, 4-ft bow spacing

14-ft wide

14 feet wide

16-ft wide

16 feet wide

1 ⅜” out­side diameter

14-ft wide

28 feet wide

6‑mil green­house plastic

4‑year rat­ing

16-ft wide

32 feet wide

6‑mil green­house plastic

4‑year rat­ing

Our tun­nels meet the basic 325R National NRCS spec­i­fi­ca­tions. Ultimately, you should con­tact your local NRCS rep and pro­vide our instal­la­tion man­u­al found at the top of this page and the spec sheet(s) attached to our knowl­edge base arti­cle, ​“Do your tun­nels meet NRCS spec­i­fi­ca­tions?” for their review. Also, check out the NRCS guide below for step by step instruc­tions on how to apply!

NRCS Documents and Guides

• 5 Steps to Assistance — How to get assis­tance from NRCS for farms, ranch­es, and forests.
• 16-ft Tunnel Specs Letter — A doc­u­ment with the spec­i­fi­ca­tions of our 16-ft tunnels.
• 14-ft Tunnel Specs Letter — A doc­u­ment with the spec­i­fi­ca­tions of our 14-ft tunnels.

In the unfortunate event that your caterpillar tunnel experiences storm damage, simply reach out to our customer service team to initiate the claims process. Our knowledgeable staff will provide you with the necessary assistance and guidance. When filing a claim, please include detailed information and photographs of the damage incurred. Tunnels with a storm damage warranty will be eligible for a 50% price reduction for any replacement parts needed to repair the tunnel, plus free shipping.

Upon receipt of your claim, we will meticulously assess the damage based on the photographs provided. If the damage falls within the scope of the warranty, we will promptly proceed with the required repairs or replacement. Labor or crop loss will not be covered. Rest assured, throughout this process we will maintain clear and open communication with you to ensure a satisfactory resolution within these guidelines.

Please note that our warranty is non-transferable and remains tied to the original owner for the duration of the five year coverage period. Should you require any clarification or have inquiries regarding the warranty terms, our customer service team is available to assist you.

The Caterpillar tun­nels are shipped on a 4×8 wood­en pal­let via motor freight (an 18 wheel trac­tor trail­er). Depending on the order, some­times mul­ti­ple tun­nels can fit on one pallet.

You will receive a pro num­ber for track­ing from Farmers Friend when your ship­ment is picked up from our facil­i­ty. It is rec­om­mend­ed that you con­tact the car­ri­er pri­or to deliv­ery to make arrange­ments for time and date. There is some flex­i­bil­i­ty in date and time of deliv­ery, but cus­tomers in remote areas should accept deliv­ery at the car­ri­ers con­ve­nience to avoid exces­sive delays or extra charges.

Prior to mov­ing or unload­ing, please take pic­tures of the order. This is in case items are miss­ing or dam­aged we have a way to ver­i­fy con­tents and con­di­tion. We rec­om­mend con­duct­ing an inven­to­ry of the ship­ment with your includ­ed pack­ing list as soon as pos­si­ble after unloading.

As far as unload­ing, it is the cus­tomer’s respon­si­bil­i­ty. The car­ri­er will not have a fork­lift to unload. A fork­lift or trac­tor with forks is not required, as the ship­ment can be unloaded by hand with two peo­ple. Simply break the bands and remove the pack­ag­ing. The indi­vid­u­als unload­ing should be capa­ble of team-lift­ing 130 pounds. Out of con­sid­er­a­tion for the car­ri­er, we request you pre­pare to unload as quick­ly as possible.

Farmers Friend will not autho­rize the use of any lift­gate ser­vices, and they are not includ­ed in any ship­ping charges, nor is it includ­ed with free ship­ping. If the local ter­mi­nal or dri­ver offers lift gate ser­vices, do not accept them for any rea­son as there will be an addi­tion­al charge billed to you from Farmers Friend at $150.

There is no offi­cial wind rat­ing on our tun­nels. The cater­pil­lar tun­nel is designed to be a move­able struc­ture. Therefore, it is inher­ent­ly not made to with­stand high winds.

A tun­nels abil­i­ty to with­stand wind is based on at least 6 factors:

1. Soil type
2. Water Saturation
3. Bracing
4. Anchoring Selection
5. Wind Direction
6. Customer Installation

Soft soils have less grip on the anchor­ing mate­ri­als, while more com­pact soils hold better.

Related to soil type is ground sat­u­ra­tion. How wet is the soil at the time of said wind event? Saturated soil will be more like­ly to let go of the anchors.

The stan­dard cater­pil­lar tun­nel is sta­bi­lized by a nylon purlin strap. Accessories that increase rigid­i­ty while main­tain­ing the cater­pil­lar attribute of move­able are: Solid Center Purlin, Wind Bracing, and Spring Wire.

Anchoring options that exist for cater­pil­lar tun­nels are rebar, cement­ed ground posts, and Earth Anchors. Rebar is the most eco­nom­i­cal indus­try stan­dard effec­tive in mod­er­ate winds. Cemented ground posts elim­i­nates the Caterpillar Tunnel strength of tem­po­rary, but pro­vides a rock sol­id foun­da­tion. Earth Anchors are an expen­sive ground screw option that holds like con­crete but is eas­i­ly removed and reused.

Tunnels have also been report­ed as hav­ing prob­lems with the plas­tic being blown to one side from broad­side winds. Spring wire is a solu­tion to aid in pre­vent­ing this occurrence.

Customer instal­la­tion is the final fac­tor. Assuming all instruc­tions are fol­lowed and instal­la­tion is cor­rect, the stan­dard tun­nel can with­stand light winds and mod­er­ate gusts.

With all that said, our stan­dard tun­nels have with­stood winds up to 50+ miles per hour. In the cas­es where sim­i­lar winds have dam­aged tun­nels, the six fac­tors must be analyzed.

The pru­dent grow­er would do well to eval­u­ate these six fac­tors in light of their bud­get, short and long-term farm plan, and spe­cif­ic grow­ing context.