SWAP Dura-Bench Ultra Bench Clips | UV Resistant Nylon Snap-In Panel Clip, Sold Each

What the SWAP Dura-Bench Ultra Bench Clips Hold Together

The clip is a small heavy duty nylon piece moulded by Southwest Agri-Plastics, who also make the Dura-Bench Ultra top. It comes one clip at a time. It joins two Dura-Bench Ultra panels along their 4 ft sides. Each panel takes four nylon clips along the 4 ft edge. The 2 ft or 3 ft ends lock with a four tab system that inserts into the next panel. So a run of panels end to end needs no clips, and a run side by side needs four per joint. The clip snaps into the interlocking receivers moulded into the panel edge, by hand, with no tool. Once seated it holds the two edges level with each other. The bench surface stays flat where a tray or a pot straddles the seam. The nylon is UV resistant, which matters for a part that lives in a greenhouse under glass or polyethylene all year. It stands up to the wet of a nursery bench, to fertiliser, and to the hose. The panels themselves are polypropylene, 24 by 48 in at 4.5 lb or 36 by 48 in at 6.2 lb, with 1.1 by 2.1 in drainage openings. The clip is the one loose part in the system. It is the part that goes missing when a bench is broken down and rebuilt. It is also the part a grower reaches for when a panel is swapped out mid-season. SWAP packs it as DBU CLIP B, a hundred to a carton. One clip weighs next to nothing.

Fitting a Greenhouse Bench Panel Connector So the Bench Stays Flat

A greenhouse bench panel connector only does its work if every joint has its full set, so count before the bench goes up. Two panels side by side want four clips. A bench three panels wide wants eight, and a run that is three wide and ten long wants eighty. Add a handful of spares to the count, because a clip dropped through the frame onto a gravel floor is gone. Lay the panels on the frame first and push the tab ends together along the run. Square the whole row before any clip goes in. Work the clips in along a seam from one end to the other rather than in the middle first. A seam clipped from the centre out pulls the panels out of square and the last clip will not reach. Press each clip straight down until it clicks, and run a hand along the seam to feel for a step. A step means a clip is not fully home, and a tray dragged across it catches. Clips come off the same way, lifted straight up, and they go back on as many times as the bench is rebuilt. Keep the spares in a jar on the bench frame, not in the office. Rinse the seams when the panels are hosed down at the end of a crop so grit does not pack under the clips. Where a bench is moved often, the clips are the first thing to check on arrival. They are the last thing to check before plants go on.

Key Features

• Joins Dura-Bench Ultra panels: Along the 4 ft sides, four clips per panel.
• Snap in by hand: No tool, into the receivers moulded in the panel edge.
• Heavy duty nylon: UV resistant for a life under greenhouse cover.
• Keeps the seam flat: Two panel edges held level so trays and pots cross without catching.
• Reusable: Lifts off and goes back on each time the bench is rebuilt.
• Single clips: One clip per unit, for spares and part benches.

Technical Specifications