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Product information

Classic Caterpillar Tunnel

$1,171.00
As low as $105.69/mo.

Product options


Size
Bow Spacing
Package
Free shipping to contiguous USA.*

Everything Grows Better in a Tunnel

The Farmers Friend Caterpillar Tunnel kit brings the ben­e­fits of green­house pro­duc­tion to your farm in an easy-to-assem­ble and afford­able pack­age. No bend­ing hoops or shop­ping for ran­dom parts. Quick to build and move. All while pro­vid­ing excel­lent air­flow for prop­er ven­ti­la­tion and pro­tec­tion from rain and light snow. What’s more, all Tunnels now include FREE SHIPPING, regard­less of how many you order!

All kits include 6 mil green­house plastic.

Quick assembly
Quick assembly
As low as $1.82/sq. ft.
As low as $1.82/sq. ft.
NRCS grant eligible
NRCS grant eligible
FREE SHIPPING on all tunnels!
FREE SHIPPING on all tunnels!

New Length Options

25-ft Tunnels are Back!

Perfect for backyard growers, urban farmers, and market gardeners who are looking for a space efficient propagation house or smaller growing space, the new 25-ft Caterpillar Tunnel is everything you love about easy to build caterpillar tunnels all in a new convenient size!

All 25-ft tunnels now come with 55-ft of greenhouse plastic (up from 32-ft) so you have plenty of extra plastic for the standard cone-shaped ends, or to use in alternate end wall coverings.

All-season growing

Year-Round Crop Protection

Caterpillar Tunnels are often viewed pri­mar­i­ly as a sea­son exten­sion tool, but that’s real­ly only half of the sto­ry. Covered grow­ing space pro­vides year-round pro­tec­tion for your plants from things like rain, pests, frost, heat (when using shade cloth), wind, and even from dirt being splashed onto your plants in heavy down­pours. (Image shown with option­al Zipper Door End Wall)

Rain Protection
Rain Protection
Pest Reduction
Pest Reduction
Frost Protection
Frost Protection
Heat Protection
Heat Protection
Wind Protection
Wind Protection
Cleaner Crops
Cleaner Crops

Why choose Farmers Friend Caterpillar Tunnels?

Year-round crop protection

Irrigate on YOUR sched­ule

Quick and easy assembly

Step-by-step instruc­tions with pic­tures+ video

NRCS grant eli­gi­ble

Cheaper than DIY

Comes with all parts need­ed!

FREE SHIPPING on all tun­nels! (to con­ti­nen­tal USA)

New Tunnel Options!

Wider, Stronger Tunnels Now Available!

Max out your farm with the thick­est gauge steel Caterpillar Tunnel on the mar­ket! We now offer a 16-ft wide tun­nel (up from 14 ft) with 40% thick­er, 14-gauge steel bows (up from 17 gauge).

With steel strength typ­i­cal­ly found only in com­mer­cial high tun­nels, these 14-gauge tun­nels are designed to give you greater peace of mind on stormy nights. Plus, being 2 feet wider, you’ll have plen­ty of room for 18-inch path­ways to more eas­i­ly trans­port har­vest bins/totes, or if desired, shrink your path­ways to 10 inch­es and fit five 30-inch grow­ing beds.

Gothic Tunnels

The Perfect Tunnel for Northern Growers!

Perfect for north­ern cli­mates with fre­quent snow­fall, the Gothic (pic­tured) will allow you to grow longer into the win­ter than a Classic Tunnel. This new tun­nel also includes a sol­id purlin and wind brac­ing to add even more rigid­i­ty to your structure.

For extreme win­ter grow­ing, upgrade to the Gothic Pro, which includes a Solid Purlin, Wind Bracing, Crossbars, and 16-inch Lift Kit for added strength and height.

Classic Tunnels

…And Southern Growers!

The Classic tun­nel is our most cost-effec­tive green­house. The Classic tun­nels fea­ture a round­ed, quon­set design that is wind resis­tant and is also our fastest green­house to build with just a 2 – 3 hour assem­bly time.

Our Classic Pro includes a 16-inch Lift Kit for added height, plus Wind Bracing and a Solid Center Purlin for added strength and rigid­i­ty, as well as greater peace of mind.

Caterpillar Tunnel Options

Classic vs Gothic

The Classic tun­nel (LEFT) is cost-effec­tive and portable. It’s a great starter tun­nel and is excel­lent for those who fre­quent­ly move it around their farm. The Gothic tun­nel (RIGHT) is an excel­lent choice for those liv­ing in north­ern cli­mates where snow is a fre­quent threat.

A Tunnel for Every Farm.

Which Caterpillar Tunnel is right for you?

Classic / 2-3 hr assembly
Classic / 2-3 hr assembly
Classic Pro / 4-8 hr assembly
Classic Pro / 4-8 hr assembly
Gothic / 3-4 hr assembly
Gothic / 3-4 hr assembly
Gothic Pro / 5-10 hr assembly
Gothic Pro / 5-10 hr assembly

Profitability

High profitability. Low cost. Free delivery.*

The Farmers Friend Caterpillar Tunnel Kit is one of the most cost-effec­tive options on the mar­ket — even when com­pared to DIY kits. Plus get FREE ship­ping right to your door on all tun­nels of any kit size — regard­less of how many you order! Your plants will thank you.

*Free ship­ping to con­ti­nen­tal USA. Discounted ship­ping to Canada.

Versatility

Changing with the seasons.

Our Caterpillar Tunnels work great for start­ing crops ear­li­er in the spring, and keep­ing them going longer in the fall. In the heat of sum­mer you can eas­i­ly push the plas­tic all over to one side, or take it off com­plete­ly, and replace it with shade cloth to pro­tect your crops from the sum­mer heat.

Plastic in early Spring and late Fall
Plastic in early Spring and late Fall
Shade Cloth in Summer
Shade Cloth in Summer

Assembly & Mobility

Easy up. Easy down.

With our in-depth instal­la­tion video and includ­ed step-by-step instruc­tion guide, this will be the eas­i­est tun­nel you’ve ever built. Two peo­ple can ful­ly assem­ble our 14′ × 100′ Classic Tunnel in as few as two hours. Our Caterpillar Tunnel kits are fast and easy to move around your farm as pro­duc­tion needs change through­out the season.

FAQs

Have more questions about this product?
Check out our knowledge base of support articles below.

Tech Specs

Assembly & Instruction Manual

14-ft wide

Download

10.06 MB pdf

16-ft wide

Download

10.04 MB pdf

Peak Height

Classic

7 feet 8 inch­es (2.3m)

9 feet with Lift Kit

Classic Pro

9 feet (2.7m)

Lift Kit included

Gothic

9 feet (2.7m)

10 feet 4 inch­es (3.2m) with Lift Kit

Gothic Pro

10 feet 4 inch­es (3.2m)

Lift Kit included

Tunnel Width

14-ft wide

14 feet wide

16-ft wide

16 feet wide

Bow Diameter

1 ⅜” out­side diameter

Plastic

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

Crossbar Height

-

-

Gothic

6 feet 9 inch­es (2.1m)

8 feet 1 inch (2.5m) with Lift Kit

Gothic Pro

8 feet 1 inch (2.5m)

Lift Kit included

Purlin Type

Classic

1″ flat polypropy­lene strap

Classic Pro

1 ⅜” diam­e­ter 17-gauge gal­va­nized steel pipe

Gothic

1 ⅜” diam­e­ter 17-gauge gal­va­nized steel pipe

Gothic Pro

1 ⅜” diam­e­ter 17-gauge gal­va­nized steel pipe

Assembly Times

Classic

2 – 3 hours

Classic Pro

4 – 8 hours

Gothic

3 – 4 hours

Gothic Pro

5 – 10 hours

NRCS specifications

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

Delivery

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.

Unloading

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.

Wind Rating


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.

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Product Reviews

4.7 / 5.0

Review data

5 star reviews

80%

4 star reviews

13%

3 star reviews

7%

2 star reviews

0%

1 star reviews

0%

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Recent reviews

Farmers friend cannot be beat.

5 out of 5 stars

Craig C.about 2 months agoVerified buyer

This was my second order with farmers friend and I legitimately did not think they could outdo themselves from the first time.
Ordering is a breeze, they are standing by to answer any questions or concerns you may have and they are seriously the friendliest group of people I’ve encountered through a business. The greenhouse kits are great, they sent an extra of every single piece, just in case something was missed and if you do happen to need help or are missing a part they will have it to you priority. 10/10 and I will absolutely be going through them a third time when I need more gear.

It’s Tops…!

5 out of 5 stars

Eric C.3 months agoVerified buyer

After researching greenhouse’s for about 2 years I decided to go with Farmers Friend and I can definitely say it was a great choice. I just finished assembling my 16’ X 25’ Caterpillar Classic Pro with additional drip irrigation package and the whole process went very smoothly.
I wholeheartedly recommend you check these folks out, you won’t be disappointed.

1 person found this helpful

Great improvements

5 out of 5 stars

Amy W.5 months agoVerified buyer

I purchased my first tunnel about a year ago and we put it up and I absolutely love it. The tunnel is so great even in high winds that we decided to purchase the second one. We noticed some improvements in the parts and pieces of the second one that make it even easier to install. I'm looking forward to this growing season and all of the abundance I'm going to get because of these tunnels.

1 person found this helpful

Great job 👏

5 out of 5 stars

Beth K.5 months agoVerified buyer

I am figuring it out. Love the videos you have done to help with this process

Soooo much better

5 out of 5 stars

Customer7 months agoVerified buyer

I’m using mine for propagation, and I can already see improvement in the quality of my seedlings. Very straightforward to assemble between the manual and videos. I was able to do all of it myself except for the plastic. Great product!

1 person found this helpful

Will buy again

4 out of 5 stars

Christy S.8 months agoVerified buyer

It went up fairly easily. But I had to request more wiggle wire and channel, since what was provided was not enough. To other buyers especially those with NCRS grants, make sure you get enough wiggle wire and channel, you’ll need to order extra. To Farmers Friend, please consider adding more wire and channel, enough to completely cover the ends from one side to the other.

2 people found this helpful

Missing parts but over good quality

3 out of 5 stars

Sarah B.8 months agoVerified buyer

While I greatly appreciate the quality of the tunnel. The first missing part was the white house for the irrigation system. Since the tunnel was delivered during an ice storm it took us sometime to get to putting it together. Customer service was great. Received the piping. All other parts were in bags and I honestly just didn't think to count each piece. BUT upon actually putting the system together discovered that the hose adapter piece was also missing from the kit. We live in a very rural area , outside of 1 hardware store it's a 40 min drive back to the city. Only adapter I could get local was brass and it cost me time and another $35,xx. We are a small family production farm , new to this property we have a lot of work. Having small errors like missing parts sets us back and really affects our operation. I am a content creator on TikTok I bought this on my own accord and while I want to be transparent about the struggles of farming. I want to show my followers companies and products worth their while. I do not want to bash companies but I need to be honest about the experience I've had. I left a second message with farmers friends about missing parts and have yet to receive a call back. It's very frustrating to want to boost a company and to also be disappointed in the execution of it's arrival. Small farms just don't have the time and extra money to be taking extra trips to the store for parts they already paid for or waiting for them to be shipped out days later. Again I do overall like the tunnel , it's sturdy and easy to assemble! There is a lot going for this product!

2 people found this helpful
Farmers Friendreplied:

Hi Sarah, I'm so sorry about the issues you experienced with your order! This isn't the experience we want for our customers and your frustration is understandable. Your issue has helped us to discover a loophole in our packing system that our team is currently digging into. While I know it doesn't completely solve the problem, I hope the new white tubing we sent and the refund we provided to cover your brass fitting purchase could at least get you back up and running.

Worth the Money/ Great Product

5 out of 5 stars

Phillip D.8 months ago

Wife and I are first time farmers. We researched countless companies and finally settled on FF. We purchased 2- 100 x 16 foot classic pro tunnels using the NRCS program through the USDA. Purchasing and shipping were extremely fast, even with supply chain nonsense. Once we inventoried the kits, I found we were short 2 of the lift kit legs and had an extra bow. I called and got an immediate answer. The 2 legs were shipped out; arriving 48 hrs later.
We were able to complete our build in no time. I was able to build one kit by myself entirely in 2 days, even being a disabled vet. My wife helped with the second one, so we blew through it in half a day.

Pros: Packaging is excellent, Instructions are stupid proof, Plenty of info provided, videos are available if you get stuck, common sense construction, DIY Door Kits are fantastic, strong construction, all the parts do what they are supposed to. Great customer service so far.

Cons: Tek Screws on one kit sucked. I kept burning the self-tapping portion off of them.

Update: **We have had several TERRIBLE storms here in South East Louisiana. All have had tornadoes, high winds, hail, or frigid temps with ice. So far these high tunnels have held up with no issue. (thank God.) Will definitely buy again.

2 people found this helpful

Can’t beat ‘em

5 out of 5 stars

Brady C.9 months agoVerified buyer

I run a nonprofit and we have a couple of urban farms in the windy, hot, cold, and rough weather of the Texas panhandle. We’ve been ordering these tunnels (50’ & 100’) as we’ve expanded over the past 5 years. They have held up incredible well and we have been more than satisfied with the quality, ease, and durability. They give us a year round growing season and have increased our yield significantly. They keep improving the system without making it more complicated to put up. It’s an easy 2 person job. Shipping is quick and we are big fans of this company!

2 people found this helpful

Great tunnel but order uncalrity

4 out of 5 stars

Hernan C.10 months agoVerified buyer

The Cat pill. Is great and super awesome material but we were upset with the lack of clarity there was when we ordered the tunnel. We added the lift kit because it wasnt very clear to us if this came with it or not. We also got wiggle wire we did not want and we were not aware it came with it. We review the materials before purchasing and did not notice any of this items being included. All we wanted was to get the simplest for of this tunnel. Im aware this could have been an issue at our end not understanding what was included and thats why im giving it 4 stars bc its a great tunnel kit but we struggled with the clarity of what came along with it.

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