Pallet wood "hoop"houses and rafters and shade...

Who here has experience with wood rafters in a greenhouse?

To avoid expenses and plastic, I would like to make wood frames that can be covered in greenhouse poly.

I plan on using some sort of mesh under the plastic, as purlins/battening  , to keep water from pooling.
It should cast little  in the way of shadows.

I am concerned that the deck boards I'll use as rafters will cast a lot of shadow compared to an equivalent hoop.
Ripping the lumber to give it a smaller cross-section is more work than I really want to do.

The deckboards I'm designing with/for are 5/8" x 3.5" x 6 feet long.

William Bronson wrote:Who here has experience with wood rafters in a greenhouse?

To avoid expenses and plastic, I would like to make wood frames that can be covered in greenhouse poly.

I plan on using some sort of mesh under the plastic, as purlins/battening  , to keep water from pooling.
It should cast little  in the way of shadows.

I am concerned that the deck boards I'll use as rafters will cast a lot of shadow compared to an equivalent hoop.
Ripping the lumber to give it a smaller cross-section is more work than I really want to do.

The deckboards I'm designing with/for are 5/8" x 3.5" x 6 feet long.

Not what you asked, but have you considered using cattle panels for the hoop part, and use your deck boards for building the supports on the ends (and middle if it's longer)?  I use wood for the frame on the ground and for my bracing/doors/supports, but the cattle panels are the main structure.  That would allow you to do away with the purlins entirely.  Just a thought.

I like it!
I'm always down for "Alternative Victory Conditions".
That's kind of why I am looking into hoophouse alternatives in the first place.

Cattle and hog panels are not commonly available here, but concrete remesh is.
I don't know that it's anywhere as strong as cattle panels .
I would have to buy them, and I don't like that so much, heehee!


I have a pollarded mulberry tree with lots of branches that are thicker than my thumb yet still flexible.
I've used them as fence pickets in the past, but they are longer now.
I think two of them could form a good sized arch.
Time to drop in on the "Greenhouse made of branches" thread!

William, don't tell Mike his wasn't the first name that popped into your head...Mike's passive solar greenhouse build

Paul Robinson's YouTube channel or Geo-Dome website has some neat ideas about structures (mostly domes). His pyramid greenhouse is neat, and his segmented designs don't require long/large pieces of lumber. Lots of sawing though...

Tractor Supply is a source for livestock panels, looks like there's a few in the suburbs of Cincinnati, maybe 15 -20 miles out.

I'm off on other directions , but the construction of the hoops in this video absolutely thrilled me, so I had to share: