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Cole_Robbie · September 28, 2018

I have a Clearspan 14x48 from Farmtek. Expensive, but very high quality. One winter storm brought about a foot of ice pellets. It smashed my top rail high tunnel, but the Clearspan was fine.

Keep in mind, those kits dont come with lumber for base and hip boards. Most do not come with doors or end walls.

I can build structures out of top rail for about 1/4th the price of the kits. I built a tall 20x50 for my stepdad for $2500 and nrcs gave him a $10k grant for it. It says on their web site that they dont allow do it yourself structures, but our county agent signed off on ours. Top rail structures handle the wind ok, but snow load bracing is more challenging.

September 28, 2018	#8
Cole_Robbie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Illinois, zone 6 Posts: 8,407	I have a Clearspan 14x48 from Farmtek. Expensive, but very high quality. One winter storm brought about a foot of ice pellets. It smashed my top rail high tunnel, but the Clearspan was fine. Keep in mind, those kits dont come with lumber for base and hip boards. Most do not come with doors or end walls. I can build structures out of top rail for about 1/4th the price of the kits. I built a tall 20x50 for my stepdad for $2500 and nrcs gave him a $10k grant for it. It says on their web site that they dont allow do it yourself structures, but our county agent signed off on ours. Top rail structures handle the wind ok, but snow load bracing is more challenging.