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Instructions for
Building Mainframe Structures

A good way to join connectors to poles is to line the connector up straight in the end of the pole and tap it home with a rubber mallet. You can “screw/push” the connector home by hand but this will wear the ribs on the connector more, thus loosening the fit.

Lay out the laterals on the ground and/or measure carefully in order to establish the relative positions of the vertical poles, remembering that the connectors add to the length of the lateral poles. If your cage is a big one, use string as a builder does to get the lines straight. Mark the poles you intend to push into the ground at the distance from the bottom end you want level with the soil. Put the relevant connector in the top of each pole before pushing the bottom into the ground. Use a dibber, about half an inch in diameter, to pilot the hole and try to get the latter vertical. Once the uprights are in position, fix the laterals. Better not to expect a connector to take the full unsupported weight of a long pole from one end as the connectors are not designed to support long cantilevers. Get someone to support the loose end for you or use a crutch of some kind if working alone. When the structure is complete, compact the soil around the base of the poles. Check the levels by eye and knock any high poles a little further in until all match for height.

Do make sure vertical 8 ft poles are not less than 18 inches into the ground when building a walk-in fruit cage, the greater the ground penetration, the greater the strength. Shorter poles obviously need less ground penetration. Do not use 8ft poles as roof laterals on walk-in fruit cages for structural reasons. 8ft poles can be used on lower cages as the uprights are stiffer but 6fts are still better.

Do not build the roof section of your cage first and then attempt to pick it up and fix it on the uprights. Similarly, do not attempt to pick up a long structure over a pond by yourself from one end. The key to moving any MainFrame structure in one piece is to get plenty of helpers. As mentioned above, the connectors will break if mis-used. If you do break off a connector inside a pole, just knock another connector into the pole on top of the broken piece which will push out of the way inside the pole. If you wish to break up your MainFrame structure to use the components elsewhere or move the existing frame, hold one pole and tap on another with a rubber mallet to knock out the connector. Replace any worn connectors.

It may be useful to know that Mainframe poles can be held by the clips designed to hold 15mm copper piping. Also the poles will fit tight into a hole drilled with a 16mm bit. However, if the hole is not drilled exactly plumb, the pole sticking out of it will not be plumb either. You can fashion a door using 2ft poles, T Pieces and 90 Degree Bends. Double pipe clips will serve as hinges. A two dimensional structure is clearly going to be less rigid than a three dimensional build.

SAFETY ISSUES
Do remember the poles and connectors are designed to support nets and the like, not children or indeed adults. The net clips might cause choking if swallowed. Avoid the temptation to keep the next clip for use in your mouth! Keep loose clips away from small children and puppies.