A Community and Forum For Aquaponic Gardeners
Cutting That IBC Cage
I have noticed a lot of people cutting their IBC cages in such a way as to leave jagged posts sticking up and I can't understand why. I always cut mine so as to leave a nice rail on top. Ck out these pics and next time I am cutting one I will take pics or if I have the patience, a video.
This of course is the top. Now I'll find a cut view.
What I do here is cut the post just above the rail at an angle so it leaves a nice rail again. They end up at 2 ddifferent heights but that works out fine as I stagger them up and down and run the plumbing under and over every other rail. I have only used the round conduit cages for GBs so far and the square I use full size for FTs. This next pic shows the height difference between them:
Hope this helps if you are about to start that cut
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by TCLynx on
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Jim, that works if you are only using one half of the IBCs, what do you do with the other half of the cage?
Or are you simply cutting the other half of the IBC down and throwing away that 6-8" piece of plastic from the middle in order to have a rail at the top on both sides?
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Permalink Reply by Phil Slaton on
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There are about 4 different IBC cage designs by 4 different mfgs. The best way that I have found to cut any of them is with a Sawsall.
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Permalink Reply by Bradly on
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The reason I left about 3" sticking up on all my grow beds is so that I can insert short pieces (24"-30" long) of 1/2" rebar vertically to form the main support of my future trellis/supports.
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Sawsal, angle grinder, zipsaw. Hack saw even.
I've cut them with the pieces sticking up because I needed something over which to fold the old scrap liners to protect the plastic inserts from the sun as best I could. Having the old liner scraps folded over them protects us from getting scratched and leaving them tall allowed us to support and protect the plastic.
Bradly, I like your thinking there!!!!! Cool trellis supports built right in.
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Permalink Reply by Jim Fisk on
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Yup. Scrap left over.
TCLynx said:Jim, that works if you are only using one half of the IBCs, what do you do with the other half of the cage?
Or are you simply cutting the other half of the IBC down and throwing away that 6-8" piece of plastic from the middle in order to have a rail at the top on both sides?
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Cool, all good reasons. Orig I was going to leave some for trellis but I got cut on one and they went. I am lucky to have those great trellis's from my wife's expensive art in the park display
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Yup I use a Delta dem sawzall. It gates so violent I finally broke off the shoe support so I must weld it. Takes about 1 min with that saw. Someone else to lift and avoid the binding up would have saved it.
TCLynx said:Sawsal, angle grinder, zipsaw. Hack saw even.
I've cut them with the pieces sticking up because I needed something over which to fold the old scrap liners to protect the plastic inserts from the sun as best I could. Having the old liner scraps folded over them protects us from getting scratched and leaving them tall allowed us to support and protect the plastic.
Bradly, I like your thinking there!!!!! Cool trellis supports built right in.
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Yep, if you do leave sharp bits sticking up, it is really wise to do something to pad them so people don't get cut.
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The sharp points - I have seen people put smaller PVC caps on them. put short sections of small diameter PVC on them and I have seen continuous split hose installed over them. There is a 1,000 ways to do about everything.
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Permalink Reply by Matt T. on
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I scratched my head for a few days trying to figure a way to keep the rail, yet still support the fish tank (bottom half) to the top. Ended up with the posts sticking up. I use rubber caps to keep the sharpe endges covered. I also use foam pipe insulation to trim the top, and hold the foil insulation closed at the tops in order to prevent the space in between the tank and foil from becoming a chimmeny, letting warm air escape. That type of insulation recommends an air gap between it and the tank. I do like the way yours looks better though.
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For some reason early on I decided to go with a large system figuring that the food prices were going up and all that so I wanted full size FTs and 2 GBs per tank. The platforms I built made the height just right for the rails. My only hesitation to cutting them all off is the conduit trellis potential. If my wife's art display had lined up with them at least 2 would have stayed on the rear.
Another nice thing with my method is that I can place planks on them without hesitation for working on GH covers off ladders and such. I drill holes and screw down the cages to the deck planking. All very earthquake proof
Here's another shot showing the screwed down bottom rail as well:
Matt T. said:I scratched my head for a few days trying to figure a way to keep the rail, yet still support the fish tank (bottom half) to the top. Ended up with the posts sticking up. I use rubber caps to keep the sharpe endges covered. I also use foam pipe insulation to trim the top, and hold the foil insulation closed at the tops in order to prevent the space in between the tank and foil from becoming a chimmeny, letting warm air escape. That type of insulation recommends an air gap between it and the tank. I do like the way yours looks better though.
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Permalink Reply by RupertofOZ on
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Here ya go guys and gals... how to build an IBC system... (without jagged edges).. from start to finish...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=WYFM...
(sorry, couldn't get it to imbed)
And you can find the video.. and the free 187 page interactive PDF manual here...
(downloadable, but currently being put up online)
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