Help needed with wall tent frame material.

[Sleep Robber]

Hey gang, I was given an older Pioneer 14'x16' wall tent by a friend of mine, I have all the brackets for it but need to find some hollow round bar material for the frame itself. I'm looking to go the cheapest route possible and although the brackets are made of aluminum I'm thinking galvanized is the best bang for the buck ?? Not sure what lengths they are sold in {8 footers maybe ??}, but I was told the longest poles for the tent are just shy of 8 feet. I will have to do some cutting to make them the proper lengths with the others being just shy of 7' and so on.

Any ideas or leads would be greatly appreciated.

thanks,

SR

[bcsteve]

Electrical conduit is what most people, myself included, uses.

[trailmastersky]

electrical conduit called "emt" comes in ten foot lengths, can be purchased at Wesco, gescan, nedco. we use 1" emt for our 10 by 20 wall tent, works like a dream.

[.30-06 camsavbc]

Emt would be way better as the galvanized pipe comes in 21 ft lengths and is very heavy compared to emt conduit from the electrical wholesales.

[longstonec]

I have (I think) the same tent. It came with its own "system"
It does not have an internal frame... rather a sorta complicated to set up centre pole made from 2 sections of black iron pipe with 3 support legs. (ends and middle) And then about every 2 feet on the outside a 3' section of 10mm rebar with a 1" metal "spike" welded on which sticks through the sown in grommets. the trick is to stand the centre ridge up with all three legs aaand then stretch the material outwith the rebar inserted every couple of feet and stake out lines without any of the parts falling out. once its up it works fantastic!!! but is a struggle for one man, not to bad for two or three. this method cuts down alot on the internal frame material needed though as its only 5 sections of pipe. two for the top and three legs plus10-14 short rebar bits.
All fits in my Tacoma pretty well.

[Sleep Robber]

^^ I don't think it's the same one, mine is a 14x16x5 and it has the basic 3 truss frame, I just need the poles.

Thanks for the replies you guys, I've looked online and so far I'm under the $200 range for the "emt" material needed, much appreciated !!

[Tuffcity]

I used chain link fence top bar for mine. Depends on the diameter of your angles too.

[SHACK]

Aluminium is the way to go , all in for a 14x16 was about 235.00 last tent I got them for. Do I even need to talk about the wieght difference? Lol
not to mention all cut to length, with no waste. Metal supermarkets is where I got it.

[northof49]

With the aluminum what did you use for the joints

[Darksith]

Chain fence bar is simply emt...why is this thread still going?

[Darksith]

Goto home depot

[sakohunter]

I have a Wall tent of a similar size and one thing to be considered is that with snow load you should have no more than 48" centers for the roof truss. I built my frame out of 1.5" aluminum tubing and the joints were 1" sched 40 aluminum pipe. The Id's and Od's work perfect. Good luck with your project.

5049

[Good2bCanadian]

Here's some pole weight info from the Northwest Shelters 12x14 with 5 ft porch I purchased.

The tent and bag weigh 62lbs and the poles and bag come in at 80lbs.

Its a 3 rafter tent, with the spacing inside the tent being 7ft.

The poles are 1.5" aluminum tubing I think and they are cut in half with a slip together sleeve system allowing the 7 footers to be 3.5 ft long.

I considered a 80lb duffel bag to be fairly heavy song purchased another bag to split the pole weight in half between a pair of bags.

Hope this helps others determine there pole material choice.

So with my custom built stove and tent, I come in just a hair over 200 lbs total.

Cheers

[Good2bCanadian]

Regarding my 7ft roof truss span. Was told to carry a couple long ratchet straps to strap up as extra trusses in case of heavy snow load.

Dont know how well this will work, but it's what I'm gonna try.

[Sleep Robber]

Ended up going with aluminum poles to match the aluminum brackets that originally came with the tent. Total cost was $125 plus tax {through a buddy} for the material and it is definitely strong enough.

Good thing is that there was no waste at all as the aluminum poles came in 20' lengths. This way I got an 8', a 7' and a 5' out of one pipe.........6 pipes later and I was done but bought one more so I have a spare in each length.

[sakohunter]

Regarding my 7ft roof truss span. Was told to carry a couple long ratchet straps to strap up as extra trusses in case of heavy snow load.

Dont know how well this will work, but it's what I'm gonna try.

I never heard about the Ratchet strap as an extra truss neat idea. Sounds like your tent set up is really close to how mine sets up. Do you extend off the entrance for the cook shack part or just set up a seperate cook shack. In the picture above you can see how the frame just keeps building off the tent for another 12 feet for the cook shack. Enjoy your warm tent this hunting season. Good luck

[Darksith]

I have a Wall tent of a similar size and one thing to be considered is that with snow load you should have no more than 48" centers for the roof truss. I built my frame out of 1.5" aluminum tubing and the joints were 1" sched 40 aluminum pipe. The Id's and Od's work perfect. Good luck with your project.

5049
good post, except Im not sure why you guys are using aluminum...sched 40 will be heavier than EMT fyi, like 40% heavier approx

[Good2bCanadian]

I never heard about the Ratchet strap as an extra truss neat idea. Sounds like your tent set up is really close to how mine sets up. Do you extend off the entrance for the cook shack part or just set up a seperate cook shack. In the picture above you can see how the frame just keeps building off the tent for another 12 feet for the cook shack. Enjoy your warm tent this hunting season. Good luck

The porch is built into the tent.

http://i1180.photobucket.com/albums/x415/mikesmith7/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsb58fdfc7.jpg (http://s1180.photobucket.com/user/mikesmith7/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsb58fdfc7.jpg.html)

I used aluminum because that's what came with my kit.

Im surprised to hear that EMT is lighter and stronger than an aluminum option.

[Good2bCanadian]

http://i1180.photobucket.com/albums/x415/mikesmith7/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps963b9b81.jpg (http://s1180.photobucket.com/user/mikesmith7/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps963b9b81.jpg.html)
http://i1180.photobucket.com/albums/x415/mikesmith7/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps49a810b8.jpg (http://s1180.photobucket.com/user/mikesmith7/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps49a810b8.jpg.html)