How to build a caterpillar tunnel
This will be our second year on the Hurricane Hill property. One of our goals this year was to work on season extension now that some infrastructure has been put into place. We decided that a caterpillar could be an economical solution to our challenges. We farm on leased land and don't want to make expensive investments in the property, especially ones that we can't take with us in the future. We finally experienced nice enough weather to put it up this week even despite the light snow cover.
MATERIALS: 1'' PVC, 20 foot lengths - 14 each
5/8'' Rebar, 30'' sections - 28 each
Large carabiners - 28 each
Small carabiners - 28 each
1'' woven strapping - 50 yards
Lashing straps - 2 each
2'' wood stakes or metal T posts - 2 each
4 mil greenhouse plastic - 24' x 150' - 1 each
#6 (3/16”) poly rope - 1000 ft
Sandbags - 30 each
The cost of our tunnel was just under $500 ($0.62/square foot)
The total length of our tunnel is 100' from tip to tip of the end points. We didn't want the end points to run longer then our 100' beds because it would block our harvest lanes, so our actual planting area is about 80' long by 10' wide. You can make your tunnel as long as you want, just add another hoop every 6'.