Don't use PVC for your Garden Hoops
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- Опубликовано: 27 авг 2024
- Bending metal conduit is easy and inexpensive. Make your own garden row cover or caterpillar tunnel hoops, using this handy bender. PVC tubing is the go-to choice for many, because it is cheap and easy to bend. But it also degrades in the sun, is not sturdy, and ends up all-too-soon in the landfill. Metal 1/2" conduit is just as cheap, very sturdy, easy to store hanging on a wall, and will last forever. If not, it is recyclable.
Find out just how easy it is to make these sturdy hoops.
Had my doubts about building the bender but it worked like a charm. Thanks BackWood Basics for sharing your knowledge. We installed our hoops and covered our garden beds quickly yesterday as a spring snow storm was forecast for our province. Sadly, the forecast was borne out but our plants are covered.
Good to hear, Scott (not about the snow). I now make what I call Bed Caps. There is an awfully long video on how I make them that I made a week or 2 ago, in case you're interested.
Thanks for the feedback John. Yes, pvc is very workable, and I have used it many times. But it degrades in the sun, is not strong, and most of mine ended up in the landfill. Metal is just about as cheap to buy, lasts forever, is super strong, and it has value as scrap metal when it is no longer needed. The hoops can also hang on a wall in the off-season.
BackWood
Basics y
Thank you for your respectful reply, totally unlike the reply from "who scary". At the time, I was searching for "how to build a cheap garden hoop" because my funds were low. Your video was one that came up in my search. I had already viewed quite a few concerning PVC and had made my choice. Then I saw your video, and it threw me off, and being short on time and money, it made me more bias for the PVC approach. I apologize for coming across to strong. I had nothing to prove. Perhaps in the future I may convert to medal, if I do I know where to look. Peace!
The only conduit I can find has some sort of coating in it. Is this safe to use? Description on website says.. Interior coating provides a smooth raceway for faster wire pulling
Patented Flo-Coat triple layer O.D. protection
High grade, durable and ductile steel for long lfe
@@happyautumn3938 Never heard of such a product. It sounds expensive. I would stick with the cheapest, thinnest galvanized EMT (electrical metallic tubing) at the building supply store.
@@backwoodbasics9383 thank you! I found a electrical supply store, he was great! Got plain conduit for less than lowes. Now on to make the jig! Did you mark the poles to know where to start the bend?
Our beds are 4'x8' measured to the outside of the cap. So about 42.5" on the inside for a width.
Thanks for sharing this! I’ve been using galvanised fencing top wire off-cuts as a temporary solution, but it flexes too much. I was thinking of using PVC piping - as a permaculturist it goes against the grain - and came across your website and link to RUclips. It will be a good winter project for North Yorkshire, UK.
This gave me the idea to use metal conduit for my project instead of PVC pipe. It seems conduit is cheaper than PVC right now as well! The big difference is, mine is for a cover for my boat instead of a green house. I think i'm going to go with a lean-to style, so one side will be 3 feet wall, the other wall will be 7 foot to prevent snow from building up. Thanks for this idea!
♥THIS was AWESOME!!!! Thank you for sharing this video. This will last much longer than pvcs.
This video would be easier to find (and probably viewed more) if you mention something about DIY pipe bender which is what the video is actually about. Super helpful video its just not titled accurately imo. In doing research, your method in building the DIY bender is preferable to others but their videos are much easier to find based on search intent.
Thank you for the thoughtful feedback. We appreciate it!
Thank you for your video. It saved me some money and hopefully my garden goes well this spring. The arches came out really nice.
Made our own electrical conduit bender a few years ago, but since then, 1/2 inch electrical conduit pipe has gone up to $24 Canadian plus 15%tax for a half inch pipe! The schedule 40 PVC 3/4 inch pipe is still only $10 CAD +15% tax each. Unfortunately, we can no longer afford the metal electrical conduit pipe. All of our low tunnels will now be made with schedule 40 PVC! We made a couple of them on our raised beds and they are actually very sturdy, and have stood the test of time over the past two years. Still, we would have preferred to continue with the metal piping, but it’s no longer financially feasible.
i'm going to try rebar
@@JohnJohn-bc4nh Rebar is a lot harder to bend smoothly. I know cause I used to be a concrete form work carpenter. You'd be better off if you went to a rebar fab shop, I'm sure you can find one, and give them the requirement you want and get a price for them to fab the hoops. That will save you a lot of aggravation and maybe some skin! (I have lots of scars from rebar). But, you do what you want. This is what I would do. The cost of the material would be a part of the price the shop gives you.
This is genius! Thank you!
PVC electrical conduit is UV resistant and rated for outdoor use in direct sunlight. It'll be printed on the pipe if UV resistant. But most of it is.
I have lots of it on the outside walls of our buildings, and it works fine as conduit. I also built a quail hut for our son using it, and after a couple of years it turned whitish, snapped into sharp shards, and the whole works had to be cut up and hauled to the landfill. This is what I try to avoid by using galvanized metal.
It must not have been UV resistant. Water line will last that long. UV conduit should last for many years and I see it do so all the time in my line of work as a control systems engineer.
@@beebop9808the issue is the bending in a hoop house applies constant stress on one side of the PVC and is not how it is designed to be installed.. any PVC will degrade and crack eventually when bent at these angles once all the plasticizers evaporate away in the heat and cooling cycles of the sun and seasons.
Electrical conduit is bent and molded everyday, both indoor and outdoor. It wouldn't be worth much if it couldn't be. Most installations making it 20 years or more before degradation becomes a problem. It's not the same as water and drain pipe. There's a reason it cost more.
@@beebop9808 I agree it can be bent thermally with a hot air gun or heating blanket so it's now a new shape - how it's done for electrical - but that's not what people do when they use PVC pipe or conduit for hoop houses, it's bent in a tight diameter circle with no heat so it's always under stress.
So you're using 1/2" EMT 10' pipes, right? And your beds are 42"? I think this information might be useful to the people watching. Thanks for the details of the process. I'm definitely going to try it. Like you, I'd like to minimize my use of plastic. There's way too much plastic out there. And you're right that gentle bending will not damage the galvanized steel coating.
Yes Kris, 42" on the inside, and 1/2" EMT (Metal conduit). I have made other benders for different widths. There is a bender for the 6' wide chicken cage, a hooped arbor, and for my bed caps, that cover our raised beds. All should be available on the Backwood Basics channel.
Brilliant idea. So thoroughly explained, and thx for editing out the most boring parts. You did a great job at building it, but I'm prob too lazy lol. I'm trying to use hula hoops... lol But appreciate the ideas and explanation. Yours will be much superior to mine.
Thanks Lynn. Good luck.
Great video btw. love it. is a great idea.
Glad I saw this. I was going to do this with PVC but, the idea of the conduit is perfect. And like you say in the vid, it will last forever. Now, what to use instead of plastic sheeting?
Bob Chekoudjian in summer most gardener use sun green shade cloth, not plastic sheets because it is too hot. Winter we don’t use raising bed . We use green house
I am curious why you don't want to use plastic sheeting? I have heard pvc will degrade greenhouse sheeting, but I haven't heard anything about the metal tubing
Thanks for this - very helpful!
Excellent
Thank u!
Thanks for the information. I didn't catch what diameter bend you are making.
The only thing that I think is important is the turtle
NICE JOB MAN
Thank you.
Easier way is c2 ÷8m+m÷2. Gives you the radius
Loved this, thank you! What would your measurements be for making hoops for a 2' wide bed? Would it be the same, but with a 12" wide piece of plywood vs. 24"? Thanks much!
Thanks Anne. No, a 2' wide bed would need a much steeper angled bender. Might even be too much bend for conduit. To get the dimensions for a bender, bend something flexible (like poly tubing) to the arc you want, and clamp it to a work surface. Slide plywood under the tubing at the top, and draw the arc on the inside of it. In fact, for a 2' bed, black poly water line, or pex tubing, might be all you need. Good luck.
@@backwoodbasics9383 Wow, thanks so much for the warp speed reply and great ideas!
good thing
Brilliant!
I don't have a trailer, picnic table or any other wood surface to attach this to. Is there a way to attach it to the ground?
Barring a sturdy horizontal surface, the bender can be secured to a vertical surface. It just must be at a height and angle to allow for free movement of the tubing. It just means more attention to keeping it straight as the hoop is being formed. The nice thing about 1/2" tubing is that it can be easily re-shaped, if the hoop is a bit out of alignment. Good luck.
Would you ever do a cross support between the hoops. I've got 4'x16' beds and would feel better if there was some support between the hoops. Maybe just a long piece of conduit tied off with wire or rope?
A ridge would be a good idea. 1/2" conduit, joined using a 1/2" coupler, would probably be the cheapest and simplest, just cable-tied to the hoops, using black, UV resistant cable ties. Easily removed and dismantled. I used a 2x4 as a ridge to tie the hoops together on my mobile chicken cage. But that has endwalls that the 2x4s connected to. With wood it is easy to screw in 1/2" two hole straps as connectors.
@@backwoodbasics9383 Thanks for the info and quick reply. I just watched the vid about attaching the cover material and saw the connectors. I'll be doing some shopping this weekend. Cheers!
What is the relationship between the dimensions you used for the bender jig and the diameter of the hoops? Is there a formula to relate the two, or did you find it by trial and error? I need to build a bender that will give me an 80 inch radius.
No formula. I didn't pay that much attention in geometry class. I spring clamp some flexible tubing on a flat surface at the radius I want. I then slip some plywood under it, and trace the arc. I find the dimensions at stations, so I can reproduce it. I cut it out, and bend a pipe. If it is what I want, I use it. Otherwise I will modify it a bit to get what I want. It's usually very close.
@@backwoodbasics9383 Just made your jig to bend some tubing. Works great. However, my beds were not exactly 4 feet wide. I think I understand how you made your jig, but could I encourage you to make another video on your process so we can see how to make jigs for 2 foot, 3 foot, 5 foot, etc.. beds? Maybe call your video "DIY Jig for Tube Bending for Hoops on Raised Beds." I found your video by luck, but it was just what I needed to start. Thank you for sharing your project.
This is exactly what I was hinting for, thank you! How long is your pipe that you bend?
Metal conduit comes in 10' lengths, so they are 10 feet. Thanks for the interest Sarah.
BackWood Basics in the UK they’re sold a bit shorter - 9 and a bit feet I think so just wanted to check! Thank you 😊
How did you come up with 2 feet verticals on each end evenly? Or... if I want to vary the final height of the hoop, how do I measure the starting length so I don't waste materials?
The length of the straight vertical portion is determined by the arc of the bend, and the desired height of the hoop. For this hoop. I measured up 2 feet from each end of the tubing, and marked it. I then started and ended the bend at those marks. It may require a bit of tweaking on each end, just past the bender, to get vertical legs. I think I showed how to do that. For shorter hoops, like the ones for my bed caps, I started with 8' lengths, and I believe the bend started and ended up 18". That, of course, wastes 2 feet of conduit (but it used to be $3 for 10 feet).
@@backwoodbasics9383 Thank you for the response, Sir.
I couldn't find bendable/flexible material to help me connecting the dots and make gentle curve on my jig but, I found an easier way to do it without assistant.
In making your 42" hoop, I divided the diameter: 21" and put a screw on one end of a 36 inch long 1x2 and drill a hole that fits my marker 21" from the screw. I put the marker on the highest point of the curve (8") and using carpenter square, I set the 1x2 perpendicular to the base of the curve or the edge of the 24" and screwed it to another piece of plywood that I butted against the jig ply, so now I could swing the marker end left or right to sweep through the other dots to make the curve.
I also find a calculator on Google that tells me the circumference of a 42" diam circle. If I divided that number by 2 and subtracted the 2nd number from the 10 ft I would get the left over length of the EMT and divided that again by 2 to measure from either ends of the EMT. I'll see how accurate that calculation will be.
My last challenge now is to find a surface where I can affix the jig because on your videos when you're doing it on your picnic table, the table moved. Even your trailer at one time also moved. There's no wooden fence, shed wall or trailer and I cannot attach the jig to the house's sides/walls or husband's truck bed 🤔
do you have the measurements for a hoop house? For PVC you use 20 foot peices to make a 12 foot wide which gives roughly 6 to 6.5 foot head clearance. just wondering the arc needed for a bender
Our hoop house (we had 2 until last season) is 12'x24', with close to 8' headroom in the center. I made the hoops from galvanized chain link fence top rail. They have a swaged end, which fits into the other end, making 2 of them 20' long. Benders are available from Johnny's, but I made my own. What makes my design different from most is the end wall design, which makes attaching the plastic simple. If I don't run out of summer, I hope to make a video on how to bend the pipes, and how I make the end walls. Stay tuned....
@@backwoodbasics9383 Oh yes, please. I have been going through all your videos trying to find one where you showed how to build your hot house. I may not be able to find the pipe with belled end at that dimension, is there an alternative? Thank you.
Assuming those are 10' lengths of conduit, how tall are the hoops once installed? Thanks! In our area, metal 1/2 conduit is going for $11/10', and PVC is $8. I'd rather spend a bit more on something that will outlive me. Also plan to cover with fencing like you did in another video to protect crops from animals and provide support to row cover.
Back then I could get 10' lengths of 1/2" metal conduit on sale for $3. Now, they are about $5.50 each, which is still a good deal for hoops that will last for decades. I believe they were 3'-4' high, depending on how far they were set into the ground. The bed caps used conduit cut down to 8', and were then about 3' high. I am sold on bed caps here. They make gardening worry-free for us. Row cover can then be easily draped over them, as needed.
What would be the measurements for a 3 ft wide bed?
James I think I would just use the bender for the bed caps, not tweak the tubing past the bender at all, and pull the ends together by hand, to get to about 3 feet at the base. It should be close enough. Here is one of my videos on how to make and use that bender. Hope it helps. ruclips.net/video/I2XU0BTc3OM/видео.html
@@backwoodbasics9383 thanks
if the conduit is Hot Dipped Galvanised will this coating crack when bent , what conduit are you using ? thanks Bob
I use thin walled 1/2" EMT. These are gentle bends, and there is no cracking or rusting. The only deterioration, over time, would be the ends, if they are pushed into the ground. Electricians use conduit benders to bend it up to 90 degrees, with no issues.
@@backwoodbasics9383 Thank you
I should have paid better attention in math class 😅 mine are 6x3 foot beds 🧐
We have one bed that is 3'x12', It is easier to reach across a 3 foot bed from one side. I must have a bender somewher that will work for 3' beds. If not, I should design one.
Great tecnique ! But what type of metal is that of conduit, if I may ask?
It is galvanized steel tubing, used for electrical conduit. It is called EMT, which, I believe, stands for electrical metallic tube.
Its a nice Tip but PVC pipes are like 10 times cheapert.
Back when that video was made, both were about the same price. I imagine that is still the case today. Unless you're talking about black poly tubing, which is nowhere near rigid enough for me. I have some more recent videos on how to make benders for wider or narrower hoops. Metal is strong, and lasts for decades. Whatever you choose, good luck gardening!
how many degrees are you bending the pipe each time?
That is a question that greatly exceeds my geometry skills. I do, however, have a more recent video on how to make a bender for our new bed caps, which may be of interest: ruclips.net/video/I2XU0BTc3OM/видео.html
The video title is, "Don't use PVC for your Garden Hoops". No matter what works, someone will always come along and try to tell you something than is better. Well, let me tell you what you should have named this video, "An alternative to PVC Garden hoops that will cost more and take longer to build".
PVC sucks. It's too flimsy.
@@lesliehollands2689 Use more "T" and "x" with rebar, makes it very strong!
No!
@@lesliehollands2689 I use 1/2 inch PVC with T's and X's, and rebar to strengthen them with no problems for the last 3 years
PVC could be stable enough to sustain heavy winds especially for mini tunnels- easy. As Jonny mentioned pvc is faster and cheaper. Unless you are building a bomb shelter pvc should be stable enough.
Any advice for doing this on a larger scale
How wide are your raised beds?
They are 4'x8', measured to the outside of the top cap. There should still be a video on the Backwood Basics channel showing how I make them. Also an instruction manual available on backwoodbasics.com
Are they 4’ from vertical to vertical?
They can be spread a bit to be a full 4 feet wide. Just spread them and tweak the vertical ends a bit more, so they are vertical at 4 feet.The bender was designed so they fit inside of the beds, which would be more like 42".
How do you keep grass from growing into your raised beds?
I remove the sod before setting the raised beds. We then cover the beds with 2-3" of chopped leaves. We keep the beds covered with chopped leaves throughout the growing season. There is very little, if any ,weeding. I did a video on installing our raised beds a few months ago. Our gardens run on chopped leaves, and earthworms.
are your beds four foot wide?
They are 4 feet to the outside of the top cap. Inside width is about 41 inches.
@@backwoodbasics9383 do you by any chance have the measurements to make a hoop that is 48 inches wide?
Do you think this will work in a 5 foot wide bed.
The hoops can be stood on upside down and spread out, while pulling the ends together, to widen them. I have been getting feedback about making a bender for hoops that are 4' on the outside. I intend to do that. Just have not had the time.
5 x 12" = 60" - 1" for conduit width = 59" / 2 (radius) = 29.5". Make a 29.5" compass with a nail and string and trace the measurement on a board and just cut it, etc. Same process, different measurement. Easier to probably custom make a bender template for your size then bending though. My two cents!
@@dmazz1580 Using your method, would you need a 5 foot wide jig for a 5 foot wide bed (less 1 inch)? I don't have a problem with the pipe bending, but I do like having smaller jigs. BackWood Basics seems to have figured out how to make a 2 foot wide jig for a 4 foot wide bed. Anyway, interested in your idea as I have raised beds of various widths and am looking for a way to make jigs for those beds.
@@gtaus1 the template isn't going to be the full width of the bed since you bend it in increments until the two legs are parallel. Like how Backwood Basics has it, the sides are/can be cut flat. You just need to calculate the curvature with a string & nail compass. Good luck!
@@YouKnowItMang Thanks.
How is buying all this steel and building a jig (in imperial no less), better than going to your local tip (recycling centre) and just using pvc pipe and stakes!?!?
PVC leeches toxic chemicals in garden
He's explained that the pvc didn't last. He elaborated in the comments that it literally broke in sharp shards and had to be dismantled. Plus less plastic causing pollution the better. Less pollution in the garden....so much better.