How long does it take to set up this car shelter?
January 3, 2018 6:50 AM Subscribe
I'm thinking about buying a car shelter to use at a flea market. Does this make sense?
Do you have experience with a car shelter like this one?
I need a big tent to use at a weekly flea market. This one is the perfect size. If I can set it up in less than an hour it may be worth it. If it's going to take two or three hours probably not.
Please share your car shelter construction experience. Thanks!
Do you have experience with a car shelter like this one?
I need a big tent to use at a weekly flea market. This one is the perfect size. If I can set it up in less than an hour it may be worth it. If it's going to take two or three hours probably not.
Please share your car shelter construction experience. Thanks!
We used these at my summer camp, though the kind we had was more like this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Patio-10x20-Feet-Heavy-duty-Garage-Outdoor-White-Carport-Car-Shelter-Canopy-Tent-/311624208339
Some thoughts:
Our team of 6 people could set one up in 6 minutes, if we were timed and used it as a point of competition.
They aren't super compact when not set up - we kept ours in a 100 gallon drum.
They are very susceptible to wind. This is counterable for certain winds with cement bricks holding it down, but not for too high of speeds. If wind does take it, it bends the poles and the whole thing is garbage.
They are satisfying and good.
For your sakes and purposes, I might recommend instead two easy-up tents. That's what most people use at my local art fairs and they seem to know what they're doing.
posted by bbqturtle at 7:47 AM on January 3, 2018 [1 favorite]
Some thoughts:
Our team of 6 people could set one up in 6 minutes, if we were timed and used it as a point of competition.
They aren't super compact when not set up - we kept ours in a 100 gallon drum.
They are very susceptible to wind. This is counterable for certain winds with cement bricks holding it down, but not for too high of speeds. If wind does take it, it bends the poles and the whole thing is garbage.
They are satisfying and good.
For your sakes and purposes, I might recommend instead two easy-up tents. That's what most people use at my local art fairs and they seem to know what they're doing.
posted by bbqturtle at 7:47 AM on January 3, 2018 [1 favorite]
That is a huge tent. You'd need a team of at least 5 people to put it up.
I have a lot of experience putting up and tearing down 10x20 carports, which are similar in construction to this one (although this one uses snaps at the joints to hold the tubes together, which is interesting). One person can do most of the work to get a 10x20 up, and I assume the same is true with this, but you need more hands for the final lift, and if you don't have it in exactly the right spot, you'll need more hands again to move it.
My guess is that once you've had a fair amount of practice, you'd be able to get this up in an hour or so if you've got four extra sets of hands, there's no wind, etc, but getting to that point will take a while. You'll want to color-code the poles so you can tell what goes where at a glance—there will be several different pole lengths, and you'll need to know "is this a roof pole or a side pole?" without referring to the instructions.
This looks like the horizontal roof braces are bolted into place, which will slow down pitching and striking. This will absolutely need to be staked (as will any similar structure). Pitching this on a hard surface is kind of a non-starter (you might be able to fake it by tying each section to a 5-gallon bucket of concrete—but that's 12 5-gallon buckets of concrete to schlepp around). Driving and removing the stakes will be somewhat time-consuming (I factored that into my guess of 1 hour).
posted by adamrice at 8:03 AM on January 3, 2018 [4 favorites]
I have a lot of experience putting up and tearing down 10x20 carports, which are similar in construction to this one (although this one uses snaps at the joints to hold the tubes together, which is interesting). One person can do most of the work to get a 10x20 up, and I assume the same is true with this, but you need more hands for the final lift, and if you don't have it in exactly the right spot, you'll need more hands again to move it.
My guess is that once you've had a fair amount of practice, you'd be able to get this up in an hour or so if you've got four extra sets of hands, there's no wind, etc, but getting to that point will take a while. You'll want to color-code the poles so you can tell what goes where at a glance—there will be several different pole lengths, and you'll need to know "is this a roof pole or a side pole?" without referring to the instructions.
This looks like the horizontal roof braces are bolted into place, which will slow down pitching and striking. This will absolutely need to be staked (as will any similar structure). Pitching this on a hard surface is kind of a non-starter (you might be able to fake it by tying each section to a 5-gallon bucket of concrete—but that's 12 5-gallon buckets of concrete to schlepp around). Driving and removing the stakes will be somewhat time-consuming (I factored that into my guess of 1 hour).
posted by adamrice at 8:03 AM on January 3, 2018 [4 favorites]
Yes, that's a big multi-person project; it could be done in an hour with enough people involved. These generally aren't "transported folded up and unfolded in place" -- they consist of a bunch of pipes and bars and connectors and may even require tools to put the pieces together.
The booth across from us at one flea market assembles a 10' x 16' car tent from a pile of aluminum tubes, but they are literally barn-raising Amish and have a team of ten people.
When we need a bigger tent for flea markets, we take more than one of those folds-up-in-a-bag tents and lash them together; you end up with legs in the middle but it's easier for 1-2 people to manage.
posted by AzraelBrown at 11:47 AM on January 3, 2018 [2 favorites]
The booth across from us at one flea market assembles a 10' x 16' car tent from a pile of aluminum tubes, but they are literally barn-raising Amish and have a team of ten people.
When we need a bigger tent for flea markets, we take more than one of those folds-up-in-a-bag tents and lash them together; you end up with legs in the middle but it's easier for 1-2 people to manage.
posted by AzraelBrown at 11:47 AM on January 3, 2018 [2 favorites]
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We borrowed a neighbors large canopy (30x40?) and with 5-6 people, putting it up was pretty easy. I've also setup smaller ones (12x20?) with 2-3 people. With that help, it takes less than 15 minutes to get the tent up. It will take longer if you tie off every grommet, set up the drip lines (for rain) and/or have windows/curtains -- we didn't bother with that, we just wanted the shade.
How much space/coverage do you need ? Those single-piece popup ones you can buy at Dicks/sporting goods places are 1-person setup once you initial setup and figure it out (get the 12x12 -- the 10x10 is cheap, but it barely covers anything)
posted by k5.user at 7:04 AM on January 3, 2018 [2 favorites]