2 New Hoop Bender Designs

Last summer I made a bender to fit inside of our raised beds, which is 42". So many have asked for a 4' hoop bender that I asked the R&D department to design one. I will share this bender with you, as well as bend a hoop, to show you how it works..
I will also share our 6' hoop bender design, which we use to make the hoops for our mobile chicken cage. This same bender can be used to bend 6' hoops for a garden bed. Bending 1/2" metal conduit is a fun and inexpensive way to make permanent hoops that will last for decades, unlike those made from PVC pipe.

[@user-er2zf1ie3k]

Thanks so much for sharing this info. When we share we all win

[@backwoodbasics9383]

Glad you commented. I had forgotten about that video. Hopefully, I'll get back into making more soon. We had a big move from country to city living, so are making some adjustments.

[@Thomas-wn7cl]

Great video. Just what I was looking for. Thanks

[@flyty2134]

Thank you for making your video very informative God bless you and yours.

[@michelleinthemeadow]

Mark, thanks so much for the information. I'm excited to create my own bender. This is better than trying to make that curve with a pipe bender.

[@backwoodbasics9383]

Yes, Michelle, the hand-held conduit benders are good for bending a steep angle or 2, but not for creating a uniform arc. With the purchased ones over $100 now, my benders, made from scrap plywood, are a real bargain.

[@michelleinthemeadow]

@@backwoodbasics9383 For sure. Excited to build mine.

[@auntiesam8489]

Thank you for sharing & demonstrating how this is best accomplished. Stay well.

[@backwoodbasics9383]

Much appreciated. Thanks.

[@JG-eu1te]

Thanks for the bender designs you shared. I made the 4' hoop bender and it worked great!

[@backwoodbasics9383]

Super good to hear. Thanks for sharing.

[@teri960]

Exactly what I was looking for! Little late to the video but better late than never... lol

[@backwoodbasics9383]

I hope it works for you Teri.

[@CelticRootsFarm]

We are really kicking ourselves for not finishing our greenhouse last season. It is definitely going to slow our growing season this year now. I like your smaller hoop design though. We will have to keep that in mind for this season. Thanks.

[@AmySnively]

I appreciate your information and I just subscribed. I don’t mind the sound of the wind, but the elevator music is super distracting. (I ended up muting and just tried to follow along with your demonstration and that worked fine.)

[@SuperSeabreeze1]

Great video, I have a small fruit tree garden and needed plans for a 6' loop . This will work awesome ,thanks from Iowa 👍

[@backwoodbasics9383]

Good deal. Legs can be added to the hoops, using couplers, to give them more height. I may build some mini hoop houses to go over our beds by adding 5' legs.

[@johndeggendorf7826]

Thanks! Very useful & clear. Structures look professional.

[@backwoodbasics9383]

Thanks John. I'm trying to finish a sailboat that I started in May, so I am taking a bit of a break from other projects. Hope to be back on-track soon.

[@atubeviewer4942]

The plywood wasnt routered out where the pipe lays on the wood? The round pipe goes on a flat arch?

[@bartsexton1652]

Great video and thanks for the info.I’ve started two chicken tractors and I’m using pvc on them . But if I do another one would love to try this method.

[@swather1]

Good morning Mark - great instructional video on raised bed hoops. I am going to build your design raised beds with these hoops. Also I would like to build a 12' x 20' hoop house and would love to see a video from you on the specific design and how you bent the larger pipe. Same principle I know, so can figure it out, but a short video would be good. Thank you for your videos.

[@backwoodbasics9383]

Thank you! I have a bender for bending chain link fence top rail tubing. I have built 3 12'x24' hoop houses by bending my own hoops (bows). Without building another hoop house, I can at least do a video on much of the process.

[@bartsexton1652]

Yes . I would love to build a greenhouse my self.

[@eagleteam2004]

I too would appreciate some info and guidance!

[@bobs5596]

i have a conduit tubing bender used by electricians. i know it is for tighter bends. however i can do a tight bend 45 degrees on the first leg, a 90 degree bent at the top, and another 45 degree coming down the opposite leg. all i would have to do is measure and mark the places i want to bend. the profile would look like a house instead of a hoop house. just thinking out loud here. i should do it and see it there is any problems. but i wonder why i have never seen this configuration. also rebar fits tight in the inside of the conduit, that would be a good way to anchor the conduit instead of losing height by sticking it down in the ground.

[@backwoodbasics9383]

All good ideas Bob. I too have such a bender, and used it to bend 45 degree angles for a bike trailer hitch. Whatever works. Hoops are simple, strong, and offer the most internal space.

[@ligeaferraro5821]

I really appreciate your bender measurements and process. I built 3' wide beds because I'm arching cattle panels over the walkway between the beds as trellis for vine vegetables and my reach into the bed from the walkway will be limited. I want hoops over the beds as well so I can use row cover to extend the season in the bed. Any thoughts on the measurements for a 3' hoop bender? Thanks so much!!

[@backwoodbasics9383]

It is too cold here now to attempt to heat the workshop, but I would spring clamp some flexible tubing onto a work surface at the hoop width that you want. Then center a piece of plywood under the tubing and scribe the arc. That should get you close to the bender you need. It may take a bit of tweaking, and the starting point for the bend will need to be determined, but eventually you will get the hoops you want. Just write the starting distance for the bend on the bender, as well as the finished width (like "start at 28" and 3' hoop"). Thanks for the input! Mark

[@mariasand6415]

Your very smart.

[@backwoodbasics9383]

Gosh, thanks Maria. I'll be sure to let my wife know.

[@slrs3908]

It's more like the Global power of suggestion.

[@arronl3398]

Great video and wish I saw it yesterday, I just bent up tubes but your ways alot better, any idea how I could make a ten foot hoop bender, gotta make hoop house next.. thanks

[@backwoodbasics9383]

Thanks Joe. I made a bender for a 12' hoop house. I will share it, once things settle down, and I have the time to do it. If you need a 10' bender, use a flexible material (plastic tubing works well) to form the radius needed on a large, flat, level surface. Lay a piece of wood under the center of the arc, and sweep the radius with a pencil. This should give you the approximate dimensions you need to build a bender.

[@sergiogutierrez4062]

Bello Sir. Wbat is the diameter used used on the two big greenhouses? Thanks. You are a good coach.

[@backwoodbasics9383]

Thanks Sergio. The hoop house dimensions are 12'x24', with about 8 feet of height in the center. I have plans for a bender to bend the hoops, and hope to present them in a video, if spring ever comes to noirthern Minnesota.

[@biggrantlewis]

Awesome

[@backwoodbasics9383]

Thanks Grant.

[@benjaminkuhn2878]

Could you just cut the tubing along the 8 1/2 inch line, and plug in a part of tube in the middle, or would it not support?

[@JTWebMan]

Could you not draw the ark with just a nailed in string and then a pencil tied onto it at half the length of the width you want the hoop? You will have to have a table or board big enough to cover the length of the string and then you can just anchor the bending board center and then just make sure it is most even on both sides.

[@sashablejec8180]

Thank you for powering through the wind, I've read that there IS in fact more and scientists think it may only get worse... global winding indeed! We love this idea, but have already built taller beds (similar construction, metal with wood ledge) that are only 38" wide internally. Do you have any suggestions on how to adapt the math behind your original 4' bender to make a 10" smaller hoop? Thank you!

[@williammoore2259]

Need to make a 4ft wide x 6 ft height hoop for raise bed

[@backwoodbasics9383]

I would use my 4' bender, and add legs to the finished hoops by using 1/2" set screw couplers. I am doing the same thing for a new arbor design. I will have a video on it soon-once the wind stops howling.

[@malcolmsplace]

Hello there. I'm attempting to build a raised bed cover using gal conduit pretty much the same as yours. I'm having a problem with my hoops not staying bent, they are just too springy. Can you please tell me what the wall thickness gauge is for the conduit you are using. Great videos, regards Malcolm

[@backwoodbasics9383]

That's a puzzler Malcolm. I use the inexpensive 1/2" thin walled EMT conduit. It is now about $6 for a 10' length. Wheatland is the brand name. It has some memory, so will spring back a bit, once bent. But not too much. It certainly holds its shape, once bent using my bender. Good luck with your project.

[@harveyashworth6071]

I want to build a hoop house using 3/4 EMT. Think your bender will Handel it with minor modifications.

[@barryjacoby8494]

Do you use 8 or 10 foot length for the 4 foot hoop. Know you use 8 foot for the 42 inch one.

[@backwoodbasics9383]

I don't recall, exactly. It's been awhile. I would guess they were cut to 8 feet. It depends on how tall of a hoop is desired. We have moved to Duluth, MN, so our gardening will now be on a city lot. I plan to build raised beds with bed caps in the spring. More bending, and (hopefully) more videos to come.

[@barryjacoby8494]

I just revisited your arch trellis video where you used the 4 foot hoop and you mentioned that the 4x2 wire that you used was 10 foot. Think I'll go with 10 foot. Thanks for your videos and look forward to more in the future. Thanks for your reply.

[@skillitjohnson]

Do you have the dimensions for a 3 foot hoop bender?

[@backwoodbasics9383]

We are in the process of moving, so my benders are in storage (somewhere). I did not have one for a 3' bed, but you might try adding 3/4" to the heights of the 4' bender. The edges remain at 3 and 1/4", the 6" vertical lines become 6 and 3/4", and the center becomes 7 and 3/4". The bender width remains 2' long. I do not have the tools now to make a prototype and try it out, but this should get you close enough to a 3' hoop. I would use 8' lengths of tubing, and start and end the bends at about 18".

[@bmjjjja]

Would these templates work on top rail for fencing that is 1 3/8?

[@backwoodbasics9383]

These benders have too steep of an arc to bend something as heavy as that. I built a bender for top rail, to make hoop houses. It is cut from 2x6. The bender needs to be 1&1/2" thick to bend top rail.

[@bmjjjja]

@@backwoodbasics9383 Thank you. Do you also have a template for an 8ft wide?

[@d.rabbitwhite]

I can't really see the angle that well, that occurs when the longer end of the conduit comes towards the end of the bender. Is it roughly 30˚ from that bender end closest to you, until the last bend?

[@d.rabbitwhite]

I'll add I was asking about the 4' bender.

[@backwoodbasics9383]

I hope I understand the question. When the mark on the pipe is at the end of the bender (opposite the strap), pull the mark to the end of the bender, then tweak the pipe (using an extension for leverage, if necessary), just past the end of the bender, to give the hoop vertical legs. Take the hoop out of the bender, and repeat this for the end that had gone through the strap first. The method is the same for all of my bender designs.

[@d.rabbitwhite]

@@backwoodbasics9383 Apologies - I didn't see this reply. I thought I had checked back, but maybe I confused the other video about the 42 inch arch. I understand the last bit about tweaking for the parallel. I was trying to gauge the bit such as at 8:22. the angle measure between bender and not tweaking it down at the end, just before moving pipe to next bend position. I can't believe it has been a year. I have had difficulty locating fair priced EMT, Thinking it a covid induced shortage, and put off redoing my mini greenhouse which I built shoddily from thrown away Ikea bed slats and a thermal pool cover that is essentially super thick bubble wrap. The winds this last year have done a number, though, so I can't put it off any longer. This is one of the most useful of videos out there for making one's own bender. Much appreciated.

[@user-pd3gq5dh4k]

Hello, can you communicate via Facebook for explanation?