Help setting up walls and rafters of Mongolian ger

[etrenor]

Hello yurters,

We're setting up a 20' mongolian ger for the first time and are having a hard time getting all the hans (rafters) to stay in place, they keep slipping out of the holes in the central roof ring. We've tightened the tension rope around the outside of the lattice walls a few times and it doesn't seem to have done the trick.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

[Bob Rowlands]

I had the same problem the first time I erected my yurt.

I'll assume you are erecting the yurt on a flat surface and not on a slope. I'll also assume you have the door frame prioperly installed to the yurt wall. It helps to draw a rough circle on the ground or platform so you know about where the wall should be placed during erection.

To proceed, I've found the #1 easy way to keep rafters from falling out during assembly is to:

>make certain the top of the lattice wall is at the proper circumference before installing them into the ring<.

That circumference is the diameter of your yurt times 3.14- or pi. If your yurt is truly 20' in diameter the circumferential length is 62.83'.

I made my steel

tension cable

that correct length and installed it atop the lattice crosses BEFORE installing the rafters. You have to expand or contract the wall by shaking it up and down until the cable is set nice and flat with no sags.

If you don't have a steel

tension cable

, snug up the top of the wall with your rope or cloth wrap until the circumference is met. Do NOT try and snug it with rafters in place it's a bitch!

Again, I highly reccommend you measure the circumference at the top of the wall with a tape, cord, rope or whatever until the wall is 'at the correct circumference'. Tensioning the lattice wall at the correct circumference BEFORE rafter install assures that the rafters should not fall out, if the ring is at the correct height.

Once that is accomplished, set the roof ring atop a support at the proper height. If you don't know that height, guess. On a 20 foot yurt it is likely 2.5-3 feet above the wall height. If your rafters are installed with cordage loops, install the first four rafters at cardinal compass points, and loop rafter cords around their crosses. Then fill in the rest evenly all around, in opposing fashion. If you are on the money in circumference, the last rafters will perfectly tension the ring and wall. Voila! You got it done and the mother is perfect. lol

Good luck.

[Bob Rowlands]

As if that wasn't enough info, here's more. lol

If you are tensioning your yurt with rope, consider that rope stretches somewhat depending on size and what it is constructed of. I first tensioned my yurt with old retired 11mm climbing rope. Strong stuff, but it definitely stretches, especially when wet. You can under size the circumference a few inches when pre setting the length, if you are doing it that method.

If your rafters are equipped with a cordage loop at the wall end, as many Mongolian yurts are, keep in mind I'm not talking to the hundredth of an inch is exactly necessary or failure will ensue.

Once you've erected the yurt a couple times, you'll understand there is some flexibility in the design. Pre setting 'exact circumferece' assures a tight fit and proper set right from the git go, for the begineer.

Mongolians with looped rafters and a cloth tension wrap or a rope aren't using any bloody tape to set their yurts. Experience trumps a tape. I just know a tape works for me as a beginner with rafters falling out.

I'm real wordy if nothing else. Good luck.