My New Setup Pictures - Trellis Pulley System

[the75]

I finally got around to making my hops trellis. I bought a pulley from Home Depot with a few fittings, some nylon rope, & an eye bolt. I threw the eye bolt in my roof, connected the pulley, & used an old camping pole to hold up a couple "V" shaped rope forms. To connect them to the ground, I bought two large dog teathering stakes at the 99 cent store. My hops can now grow up to 15 feet & when I'm ready to harvest, I lower one rope & everything drops to my feet. I hate heights & with this system, I only have to climb once.

 

[cram]

Looks good! Just be sure that the bines can't get to the rope that allows it to be lowered. If they climb that, then you'll be out of luck in trying to get it to drop.

I'm wondering if there was a reason you didn't go all the way to the peak of your house--it looks like you could add 5-6' of climbing distance that way. Maybe that's something to think about for next year if you find that they're getting to the top quicker than you'd like. For sake of comparison, I have a one story place, so the peak isn't quite as tall as yours it seems, but I have an eight foot pole extending up from the peak and the Chinook hops planted there get to the top and beyond rather effortlessly. I'll try to post a picture so you can see another method of stringing them up in a way that makes lowering them possible, in case you mix it up next year...

Good luck on the grow--it seems like things have finally hit their stride after a slow start in Socal.

 

[the75]

Looks good! Just be sure that the bines can't get to the rope that allows it to be lowered. If they climb that, then you'll be out of luck in trying to get it to drop.

I'm wondering if there was a reason you didn't go all the way to the peak of your house--it looks like you could add 5-6' of climbing distance that way. Maybe that's something to think about for next year if you find that they're getting to the top quicker than you'd like. For sake of comparison, I have a one story place, so the peak isn't quite as tall as yours it seems, but I have an eight foot pole extending up from the peak and the Chinook hops planted there get to the top and beyond rather effortlessly. I'll try to post a picture so you can see another method of stringing them up in a way that makes lowering them possible, in case you mix it up next year...

Good luck on the grow--it seems like things have finally hit their stride after a slow start in Socal.

Good info! This is the first year I've planted these & from what I've heard, there wont be vigorous growth in the first season. Next year, i'll make it go all the way up when I reset the ropes.

 

[wrench]

You may also want to go with a rougher rope for the hops to climb next year. Nylon rope may be smooth enough that when the bines get very heavy, or in high winds, they will slide down. Sisal, jute and coir are all natural cords that have a rough surface the bines can really grab onto.

I'm glad to see someone posting photos of a pulley system, though. I see tons of complicated trellis setups with (seemingly) no thought given to how they're going to harvest. My current system is very similar to yours, except it's anchored to a tree limb instead of the house and has more hop hills with a longer "spreader bar". Come harvest, I lower it ~3' at a time, pick whatever is around eye-level, then lower some more. No ladders, no bending, no stretching.

 

[ennis2000000000]

I also built my trellis this year with pulleys and sisal rope to lower my bines down three diffrent varieties centennial Willamette and Chinook starting slow bit kinda getting going most are about a foot tall now

 

[lanceroni_123]

I need to do something like this. I end up cutting the vines to harvest them.