View Single Post
Old February 21, 2011   #22
rnewste
Tomatovillian™
 
rnewste's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Campbell, CA
Posts: 4,064
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by les matzek View Post
ray
two evanley spaced bolts on euther side would give much more support
there would very little sageing if the bolts where about 1 inch up from
the bottom of the earthtainer with the potting mix, regards.

les
Sorry Les, but I disagree with your changing the location of the 2 bolts to the bottom of the EarthTainer for 2 reasons.

First, the 2 bolts play a minor role in supporting the inner container piece. It is really the Aeration Bench support assembly that holds up the inner container. Here is a photo of 2 EarthTainers, one with no upper bolts (top), and with the 2 bolts in the top portion 2 inches from the rim (bottom):



As is clearly demonstrated with 175 pounds of water held in each, the one with the 2 upper bolts restrains the sidewalls from bowing out.

Second, the new feature of the EarthTainer III design is that the "container-within-a-container" now functions like a thermos bottle whereby the sidewalls have an air gap between much of the internal surface area. Moving the 2 bolts to the bottom area would both distort the shape of the two containers then being pulled together, as well as remove the desired air gap.

Keeping the 2 bolts near the top of the design is where they are best located:



After the EarthTainer I, then the EarthTainer II, I have really studied the design, construction material selection, and other metrics to develop a system that is near optimal.

Raybo
rnewste is offline   Reply With Quote