Improvement on my EMT trellis framework

[aclum]

Hi,

I've been setting up some new EMT conduit trellis for beans, squash, and cukes and came up with an improved method. In the past, I've pounded 40" 3/4" conduit into the ground, determined the final height of my trellis and cut 1/2" conduit for the uprights and cut my crossbar to size. After sliding the uprights into place in the larger conduit sleeves, I'd fit things together at the top (final height) with PVC elbows and then tape the elbows in place on the EMT. (One could use 1/2" conduit elbows, but they're more expensive and I usually don't have them lying around - whereas I generally have a lot of PVC fittings). It required alot of stretching, using a stepstool, and having to go back and forth to keep the conduits from popping out of the elbows as I worked on different sections. As I generally work by myself and from a wheelchair (occasionally standing), it was all a bit of a production.

For this batch of trellises, I couldn't find enough plain PVC elbows, only thread/socket elbows. I happened to find a bag of thread end 1/2" EMT compression fitting in the garage a couple of weeks ago and realized I could use these with the threaded elbows. Turns out they work great and make a nice tight fit. For the non-threaded end- that would fit onto the uprights, I just created a pressure fitting by wrapping about 10 winds of PVC electrical tape around the top end of the upright.

Since the EMT comes in 10' sections, I cut these in half to get 5' uprights.

To assemble, I pounded the 3/4" conduit into the ground, slipped the 1/2" uprights with taped tops into the 3/4" conduit, set the crossbar with the PVC elbows on top of the uprights, and tapped them in place around the tape to get a tight fit. At 5' tall, none of this required a ladder. To get a taller trellis, I slid the conduit uprights up to the desired final height (about 6' or 6-1/2') and secured it in place with hose-clamps affixed to the 1/2'" conduit to keep it from sliding back down.

Anne