Scott City Musings: Walk around the problem

It’s been about 10 years since we bought our first two high tunnel kits. The kits were both 24 feet wide and 48 feet long with the sides being five feet tall before they began to form the arch for the roof. The tunnels are about 12 feet tall in the middle. Along both sides, we placed a post every 6 feet, which were 5 feet tall and which we cemented in the ground. They are there to stay. The arc is constructed using three pieces, which are designed to sit on the opposing side posts. After adding cross bracing, the structure is really sound. The arches and sides are of tubular steel that’s about 2.75 inches in diameter.

Once the side posts are cemented in and you have put the three pieces of the arch or rafters together, it’s time to lift up the arch and set it on the two opposing side posts. Sounds easy, but it’s really not. We found out it’s a lot easier to have a flat surface about 1x2 feet around the top of the posts. One can lift up the arch and set it on the two flat surfaces and then slide it onto the top of the two posts.

So after working my way around the problem and doing some thinking, I built a two-piece platform that fit around the post, was clamped to the post so it wouldn’t slip and was easy to disconnect to go to the next post. Took a bit of thinking and planning and time to build the platform. The little platform worked!

Both of these tunnels had sides that we could roll up with them being 5 feet tall and 48 feet long, but there was no system or plans on how to tie the sides up once they were rolled up. The instructions simply said to tie up the sides. Not a good idea! There had to be a better way of hooking the sides up rather than just tying them up. So after doing some thinking, I came up with a pretty simple plan. I welded a short 3- to 4-inch piece of 3/4 pipe to the handles which we used to roll up the sides. Then I bent a 2-foot piece of 3/8 cold rolled steel rod with a slight bent on one end and an eye on the other. Now all one had to do was roll up the side, slide the bent end of the rod in the 3-inch piece of pipe and voilà, problem solved. Solution was simple.

I wonder how many times we could come up with a solution if we’d focus on a solution rather than throw up our hands in defeat or just do it like we’ve always done it. Just the other day, I was pulling all the drip irrigation lines, which we then roll up so we can dispose of it. These pieces are from 70 to 100 feet long. My new idea was to simply put two pegs on the opposite sides of our side by side and simply wrap the drip line around them. Plumb simple and quick.

Our world as we know it makes me wonder if we’ve lost the ability or the desire to problem-solve issues we bump into. Doing a search on the internet is great, but where is the MacGyver spirit to figure something out ourselves, to improvise and come up with a solution that is brand new? If there ever was a class that we desperately need, it’s one on rational thinking, creative thinking, problem-solving or just drafting and planning.

Our grandson was in a robotics class at school and of all the classes he talked about it was the most impressive and interesting. The task was to build a robot to battle other robots built by other teams. The goal was to end up with the last operable robot. I like that. This made the students think and plan and build.

Creative thinking and problem-solving should be the No. 1 goal in our classrooms rather than some of the questionable subjects being taught.

Just me,

Rennie

Phillips began life as a cowboy, then husband and father, carpenter, a minister, gardener and writer. He may be reached at phillipsrb@hotmail.com.