[CrushnYuba]

I second the aircraft cable thing. I feel the rack and pinion thing is really for giant gutter connected greenhouses. Before I went automated it's what I did.
Here are some pictures of the stuff I use for automated black out as roll up sides.

This is the motor. The green and red knobs are how you adjust how many revolutions they make to roll up and down.



This is what I use to connect the motor to the guide rail for when I use then for roll up side vents. Goes on the guide rail just like a hand crank would


And this is a new controller I got from China. I haven't used it yet. I built my other "controllers". Thank God the instructions are in English. It has a remote which is pretty cool. Going to be interesting.

[queequeg152]

the problem with wire coiling is always going to be fucking coiling mechanism.

i mean if you just look at all the problems people have with car winches... the little spindle thats supposed to coil the wire properly is always an issue.

that and your traditional tube steel poly tunnel is not exactly amenable to large tensile forces acting across these end walls. yes a purlin would resist that force somewhat, but you still will have bending stress in the end wall hoops unless you use guy wires on the exterior to balance that force... but then you are just creating a compression force down the hoop legs.

i just built a high tensile 2 wire( 300 lb.ft ea.) guy wired trellis for my toms in my back yard... in my non cohesive clay filled... HIGHLY PLASTIC soil it was a huge PITA... i had to basically cement stabilise the post base with like a 16" diameter x 12" deep plug of cement stabilized (5% portland in decomposed granite) mix to prevent the post from sinking down into the clay since its supporting like 400 lbs + another 80+ lbs of toms on a skinny 4x4 post cross section.

my point being it would complicate any reasonably large poly tunnel greenhouse to a great extent.

im looking at yubas guide tube drive mechanism thing though... and again im forced to conclude that you could easily use a pair of those to drive an aluminum tube back and forth... you would just need limit switches to prevent over travel etc.

the tube would probably need guide rollers or roller bearings every 6- 8 feet, but im sure a toothed rack would as well.

you could prevent issues arising from the rube rolling torsionally by simply using a pin retained bushing that is allowed to rotate freely such that the canopy supported by these bushings could remain aligned downward supporting the weight of the canopy.... no different than a shower curtain or window curtain really...only that the rings holding the vinyl curtain would retained at a fixed point on the shaft with cotter pins... set screws or what ever else.

[rykus]

Killer thread bud! ThAnks for the info!

[CrushnYuba]

Just putting finishing touches on the 12x40. Caulked and spray foamed all the cracks. Added corner screens for the roll up sides so seal the ends.

Today we are going to get the 20x40 auto up and running for the year. I'll take a video of it opening and closing.

Next I'm going to get working on this 20x60 auto dep. My friend started to build it for me last year. I'm going to have to double check everything he did. Sometimes he rushes and makes mistakes. If the foundation stakes aren't square, I'm starting from scratch. The plants that are in the 12x40 veging will be flowered in the 20x60. The little one will feed the big one perpetually.

[einsteinlady]

Yuba

I've built my dep the way you do and use same motors, works great!

I am going to be building more this summer and was planning on reverse engineering the controller. I found all the parts but was wondering where you found yours, the one in Chinese?

[maxmurder]

how funny I find this thread after I buy my bows in Oregon and my auto dep motors locally.

I just started using kings mix too- have you used it before?

[CrushnYuba]

Einstein lady: I have a wiring diagram for building a controler. I'll see if I can find it. Pretty simple and cheap! The Chinese one I bought works well. You are going to have to try to find it online. I got it from a wholesaler and had to place a large order. 24v timer and relay set up might be the best bet. I might place another large order for friends if enough of them need them. Building your own can be real cheap and not complicated. I'll get back to you with a diagram.

Maxx murderer: I like the Kings mix allot. It's basically a soil less medium. Doesn't have much for nutrients. It's great for liquid feeding. I will feed with every water hydro style to push growth. You could amend it though and do it more traditional. The texture is fantastic. Holds just the right amount of water. Has enough coco in it so it doesn't have the surface tension problems that more peat based soils have. It's better then 707.

[dab7ten]

great thread. why do you use 200 pots and not raised beds. if you fill the raised beds with your medium seems like the plant would do better with no restrictions.

[CrushnYuba]

I don't use the 200s in greenhouses. Those 200 gallon pots were just some extra full season plants I threw out late last year. They will be gone once the greenhouse is complete. I'm doing 20 gallon bags of kings mix in it this next run. 20 gal bags give me a few advantages over beds. For one the idea with straight liquid feeding is to allow the roots to completely over take the pot and start to get A little root bound. I'm hoping to be able to liquid feed/water every day. The other reason is it will let me be more perpetual. I can veg in a smaller greenhouse and move the bags to the big greenhouse to flower. If I was doing beds I wouldn't be able to get as many cycles per season.

[MarcBalogh]

Can you provide where to buy parts like the motor.