0:00Hi guys, I'm here at Bountiful Blessings Farm with my dad, John, and we're going to be talking about some things to take into consideration when purchasing a

0:07high tunnel. You have purchased probably a few 10 or 12 high tunnels at this point. And so from a grower's

0:16perspective, what are some of the key things that you consider when purchasing a new tunnel?

0:24We should say that a lot of your tunnels are not from Farmer's Friend. Yeah, that's true. Uh,

0:32also a lot of your tunnels were purchased before we were selling tunnels, but that's true, too.

0:40I I think in my mind the biggest thing is shape.

0:45I really dislike the quanset shape except in the caterpillar tunnel. it it's fine for the caterpillar tunnel,

0:56but for a greenhouse,

0:58for reasons that I talked about in other videos, the quite shape is not good in my opinion. I like something

1:07with straight sidewalls so you can walk along the edge at least 6 foot high. So,

1:14that shape is is something I definitely am looking for. the the Gothic shape sheds snow much easier, much better. Um,

1:24then the second thing I think I would look at is the the thickness of the steel. Mhm.

1:30You know, there's a lot of variation on that and um you want something a tunnel

1:38is not a place to scrimp money. I I feel, you know, you may end up paying

1:44um more than, you know, the the cheaper options out there, but you want

1:52something that you're not going to have to replace in a few years because the bow's bent or whatever. Mhm.

1:59So, tunnel thickness, I mean, the the bow thickness,

2:03I don't know. The the smaller the number, the thicker, right? The thicker it is. Yeah. Yeah. So, um,

2:1114 gauge is pretty standard on on a lot of larger high tunnels, and that's what we use for all of our tunnels except for

2:20the classic Caterpillar tunnels. We do 17 gauge, but yeah. And and we have had

2:30some of those bend in the wind, so if I were replacing them, I would definitely get the 14 gauge. Yeah, it's it's

2:40significantly stronger. Uh almost double the strength. Um so yeah, lower lower the gauge number, the thicker the the

2:48material. So that's critical. Um bow spacing is another important thing. And that varies depending on what part of

2:57the country you're in. If you get a lot of snow, you want to go with the 4ft spacing, bow spacing.

3:05Um we don't feel the need for 4 foot. Um our tunnels are either five or six feet and that's worked fine for us.

3:18But then um your uh what's the word for your the trusses? Trusses.

3:28Um I think it's good to have trusses on your bows.

3:33Every bow. Well, I mean, for a wide tunnel, for a 30 foot wide tunnel, I Yes,

3:41we lost two tunnels. I'll just tell you one of our heartbreaks. We lost two

3:46tunnels um to ice and I still think it

3:52was um a manufacturing or an engineering defect. the the the trusses were up too

4:01high and and they they bent right at the edge of the truss.

4:09Ice storm took them out. Huh.

4:10Yeah, it was. I mean, we were shocked to be honest. We didn't think it was enough

4:16to cause any issues. So the fact that two tunnels came down in that in my

4:24opinion was an engineering um mistake. Interesting.

4:32Uh so but I do believe in trusses.

4:36What about size of tunnel and you know how what what size tunnel would you recommend when people are getting started?

4:43I mean the biggest you can afford.

4:46That's what I would recommend. Um but but without scrimping on quality because you can buy

4:53pretty big tunnels uh for a small price but they're just not going to be quality.

4:59Yeah. And I've seen those tunnels come down. Um I I have friends that you know

5:07they're just trying to get some covered growing space. But yeah, just this last winter had a friend up in Indiana lost

5:16two tunnels. But they just weren't they they were cheap tunnels. Yeah.

5:22And um you don't want cheap tunnels. Yeah. Wind bracing is another thing. You know,

5:30we had a tunnel got one of our early tunnels didn't have any wind bracing on the corners. I think that's really important.

5:41Um number of pland. I don't know how important that is, but it makes sense to

5:48me that the more plland sturdier it's going to be. Yeah.

5:54So, those are de uh all steel. You know,

5:59that's a mistake we made in the early years. We use wood on the sides and end

6:06walls and stuff. And I mean, I know some of your tunnels have wood. Um, on the end walls, it's not as bad,

6:14but on the sidewalls because you've got moisture coming off

6:20the the roof of the hoop house. Um, our we didn't use treated wood. We didn't

6:28want that anywhere near the soil. And that wood lasted maybe 2 or 3 years. You have to redo it.

6:38Yeah. Yeah. It's a lot of pain for sure.

6:41So all steel is the way to go in my opinion.

6:44Yeah, for sure. Cool. Well, thanks for those thoughts. Um there's so many things to take into consideration when

6:51you're looking to purchase a tunnel. And uh I will say too just you know when we started selling tunnels the caterpillar

7:00tunnels especially we had in mind this goal of selling just the the most inexpensive but yet still fairly quality

7:07tunnel and we sold a lot of them but we have had in the early days and a lot of those 17 gauge structures especially

7:15when we started doing 17 gauge gothic structures that we started seeing more damage from storms and stuff and we we didn't like that. you know, it's

7:23devastating for growers. And so, we've even redone a lot of our kits to include 14 gauge standard across the board on on

7:31almost all of our kits except for the classic Caterpillar tunnels. And um it's just not worth trying to save a few

7:41thousand dollar, you know, um if you lose the tunnel, you're going to lose a lot more than that in lost crop. Um so,

7:48I think it's it's good hearing that coming from you.

7:52um just go ahead and invest in something that you have a high level of confidence all metal kit ideally um metal baseboard

8:01and then from a purchasing standpoint you know be looking at what's included in the kit. A lot of greenhouse companies like to kind of put out uh a

8:10real compelling price initially but then when you get into it you realize it doesn't come with a bunch of stuff. It doesn't come with rollup sides. it does,

8:16you know, all of these things have to be added on uh to even get a functional product. Um and then another really

8:24important thing if you're thinking about building it yourself, look at the instruction manuals, the supporting documentation, the videos, cuz it's not a

8:32most of these tunnels are not um it's not a beginner uh DIY project, you know,

8:38and so you really want to look at the supporting documentation that comes with it. If you've never built one before,

8:45you get this big pile of metal and it can be a bit overwhelming.

8:50Um, once you've done a few, they're all pretty much I mean, you know, they're pretty similar, so it's not a big deal,

8:58but for that first one or two, having really good instructions is key. Yeah.

9:05Yeah. Instruction manuals and videos and stuff, that's important to Yeah. to have a good experience for sure. So, any other final thoughts on high tunnel purchases?

9:20You can never have too many high tunnels. That's my final thought. You know, we're always every year we're putting up a new one, it seems. Um,

9:31just the weather is just getting more and more crazy.

9:36And like I said in a previous video, if we hadn't had high tunnels, as many high tunnels as we have this spring, we would

9:45have been up a creek because we had so much rain. Yeah, that's it's true. Um,

9:52you look at I I was we were recently talking about the Netherlands and the incredible production uh vegetable

9:58production there and and they contribute their their success largely to tunnels.

10:04So, um, it's definitely something that needs to be taken in consideration hopefully early on in your farming career. Uh, invest in some good quality tunnels and it will serve you well.

10:14This tunnel is 25 years old. Yeah. And going strong.

10:22All right. Well, I hope this information has been helpful and until next time, happy growing.

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