Potato Clamp Questions (Google Hit Number One!)

[farmerdrea]

Hiya -- firstly wanted to say thanks for the great description on building a potato clamp, and when I googled "potato clamp" this morning, selfsufficientish.com was the first hit! Good on ya!

Anyway, has anyone here had first hand experience with a clamp, and can they really be rodent-proof? We have MONSTER rats here, and they seem to be able to get into just about anything (whether by chewing or digging or ??). Last year was our 3rd winter in this old house, and the rats had finally chewed through the floorboards in the pantry cupboards (much to our disgust and the dogs' delight - live toys!!!). We've lined the floor with metal so that stops them there, but we're worried they'll go for our winter stores in the old sheds, so were thinking about a clamp for the potato crop, which is nearly 300kgs this year!!! Also, how do you keep the weather out of a clamp?

Cheers
Andrea
NZ