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Geodesic Dome

Zip Tie Domes

Geodesic Dome Kits that are Easy to Build!

Customer Reviews of our Geodesic Dome Kits

Zip Tie Domes

Geodesic Chicken Coop
Geodesic Dome Kits that are Easy to Build!

Customer Reviews of our Geodesic Dome Kits

Zip Tie Domes

Customer Reviews of our Geodesic Dome Kits

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Marc Kuehl - Customer Review of our 16' Geodesic Chicken Coop Kits

After Surviving an 80 mph Wind Storm in Texas

 

 

 

Thank you for emailing.  

Yes I'd love a t shirt. I wear an adult large.  

We own 2 domes. I use one to raise 120 Hubbard birds each month. The other I use to house 20 layers. My kids and I have great fun putting them together.  

I have suggested my friends use your dome as I am and I believe next week my friend Tim Everett will be calling you for one.  

Here are a few construction and finished dome pictures.

Marc Kuehl
Waco TX

 

 

Hi John

Last week as I told you, we had a storm that produced winds clocked at 80mph.

My 2, 13 foot domes both weighted down with over 100 pounds hanging from the ceiling and walls, flew 40-60 feet. As you can see from the pictures we have a lot of area under tarp. I have a 15x15 over the top. I've also hung a 10x 10 from the wall on the inside to give a barrier for the side facing the Texas setting sun. This created quite a parachute for those winds.

I've been thinking this week how to avoid this from happening again. This time I only lost 1 bird. Next time I may not be as fortunate.

I will say that although I had a crumpled dome, within a few minutes by plugging back in the braces and replacing broken zip ties, both domes were intact and ready for chickens to move back in.

I believe part of my problem and the reason I have some broken hubs, is because the weights hung from the dome created a force coupled with the wind that caused the dome to crush and lose its integrity. My 4 hubs that broke 2 red, 2 blue were all at the door side where I had cut the cross bar to make entry more simple.

At Home Depot I found what I hope is a solution. You mentioned tying the dome down but since I move them daily I didn't see it possible until yesterday. I purchased 3 corkscrew anchors and 3 "figure 9" carabiners with 150# cord for each dome. I now can easily secure the dome and the remove the anchors tomorrow when I move the birds to fresh grass. The corkscrew design and quick secure design of the carabiners make securing the dome more simple than carrying buckets of sand and hanging them from the dome.

Thank you for your offer to replace the hubs. I don't mind paying for them since I believe the removal of the cross bar at the door may have contributed to the damage. I need 2 red and 2 blue hubs.

Marc Kuehl
Waco TX

Note from John Hurt:
Marc, thanks for the wonderful pictures. We provide free hub replacements to our customers for any reason, even storm damage. We will send your free replacement hubs out today by UPS. Thank you for being our customer.


The dome is very well covered for protection against rain and the hot Texas sun,
which makes it act like a parachute in high winds.

How to Purchase This 16' Geodesic Chicken Coop Kit

 


Marc's solution for high winds is to use ground anchors.

If you tie the covering directly to your ground anchors, and not to the dome,
only the covering and the anchors will blow away, and not the dome itself.

And when one or two of the anchors comes loose, the covering may no longer act
like a parachute, but will just flap in the wind.

We use a very small covering, like 5' x 5', which gives enough shade for the summer,
but does not collect a lot of wind.

In the winter, we cover the dome with plastic and tie the plastic directly to concrete blocks
with twine that will break in a high wind.

Call us if you have questions. (931) 858-6892

John Hurt

 

 

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