Assembling yurt alone...

[AbbieX]

First time trying to put up my yurt alone. 16' DIY. Any tips on getting the ring in place?? Thanks....Oh, I don't have any help.

[Bob Rowlands]

My solo technique is to set the ring on a temporary support so it rests level and stable at the correct height. I actually made a dedicated support to do just that. It looks like an old hat rack with a horizontal cross of 1x4s at the top that support ring. Just get that rig set in the center of the yur. t

However that support is long gone. Now I merely balance the ring atop an 8' step ladder. Tricky because it can tip.

My yurt wall is just over 5'. If your yurt wall is low, like 4', you can 'freehand' erect the ring with three rafters. Get the rafters appropriately stacked around the yurt in a vertical position so you can grab them as needed. Insert two into the ring in third section with the outside of the rafter on its lath cross. Install the third rafter into the ring, raise the third after and ring until you can set the third rafter on its lath cross. Never done it seen it done on:

camping yurts

you tube set up

[Bob Rowlands]

BTW Before I load rafters I set my cable in the top crosses to pre establish the proper circumference. Since the cable is sized to yurt circumference (3.14 times yurt diameter) dropping it the lath crosses atop the wall, and adjusting as necessary so the cable is tight, (without rafters on the wall) makes roof raising a snap instead of a PITA.

I had a hell of a time doing the first roof raising because the wall circumference was either too small or too large. Trying to adjust the size with some of the rafters up is a real mofo. Good luck. Be safe!

[Jafo]

The ring will be the hard part as it is generally quite heavy. If you can get your hands on some scaffolding, it will make the job go easier I would think.

[thebitmaster]

I second the "build a hoist" idea. I originally had a fancy Voltron-style tripod thing that I assembled out of six of my roof rafters. It had a pulley on top to fine tune the roof height.

You can see that Rube Goldberg craziness here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/257880...57630733596444

Later I made a simpler hat-rack style thing like the poster above. It just a flat plywood base, a long vertical piece to get the height, and a 2x4 cross-piece to hold the ring. You start with one rafter, then the one directly across from it. Then you do another two at 90 degrees from the first. By the time you have four or five, the ring will hang by itself and the hoist is not necessary. The biggest problem is that the sideways pressure from the first rafter tends to push the whole thing over. One way to counter this is to tie the first rafter to the ring and/or the wall so that it won't slip out. Some rings have built in tie points or pins for this, but you can also just put a rope around the wall, follow it up the rafter, then tie it around the ring and tie it all back together in a big loop. Then it won't slip out.

I've also hung the ring over a tree limb to get it to the right place long enough. Naturally the easiest thing is a helper on a ladder. If you're quick, they don't have to hold it very long. If you have a tall enough ladder, they might be able to put around their body instead of the much harder holding it over their head. It depends on the style, size, and weight of the ring.