By popular demand from a few people on the NYE hatchalong thread, here is my automatic egg turner.
First off, I can't take credit for the original idea as I got it off of youtube. Anyway, here it is.
1. measure your incubator's interior and subtract 2" from the length (mine was 17 x 17, so I figured on 15 x 17)
2. Cut 1 x 2" boards to the proper length, subtracting the width of the 1 x 2 from two of the boards (so: 2 boards 17" long, and 2 boards 14 1/4 " long)
3. Use screws or nails to form the boards into a box, like mine.
4. Measure how wide your eggs are going to be and make marks at that distance + 1/4" all the way across your board
5. cut some skinny dowel rods (I used 1/4" I think) to the length of your egg turner.
6. Use a drill to put holes through your turner, and insert the dowel rods
(Note here: I actually put two rows of eggs in without separating them as I can fit more eggs in that way)
7. Cut two small lengths of 1x2", two to three inches should do just fine.
8. screw the 1x2s the bottom of your turner, like this:
9. Cut two lengths of screen molding, or something similar, to the same length as your egg turner.
10. Leaving a gap between the two, screw the molding down on top of the 1x2 spacers.
Congratulations! you now have a manual egg turner that will save you time!
11. For the motor: You can buy a replacement auto egg turner on ebay for about $9 or so
Once you get it, there are two options for how to mount it.
Option 1: Cut two small pieces of 1/4" plywood and two small chunks of 1x2. Use the 1x2 pieces as braces to form the 1x2 into an L shape and nail/screw into place. Mount the motor to this and attach to the side of your incubator.
12: You can use another piece of 1/4" plywood to form a small arm for the turner.
(note here: my turner motor has a D shaped shaft. I used a dremel to cut a hole the same shape so that the motor actually turners the arm around)
13: Attach your arm to the motor, and place a bolt or a long screw through the turner arm. The bolt is then placed in the gap you left in your molding strips (see pic above)
14: Plug in your motor and give it a test run. (let it run for 1/2 hour or so and come back to make sure it is moving
11B: You noticed that my motor is mounted on aluminum strips instead of wood. My father made this mount. Just get some aluminum corner strips like the ones you see above. Use dremel/cutting tool to cut it to the correct length. Flatten out the ends by cutting through one side of the corner braces and using some arm muscle/some pliers. Drill a hole through the two pieces of aluminum and attach your motor mount.
12b: I used an old bracket from a door for my turner arm. I just made a D shaped hole in the solid metal part, slid it onto the motor, and used a safety pin to keep it in place. I then bent the arm down some and stuck a bolt through the extra screw hole.
Here's the original youtube video I got this idea from.
Happy hatching!!!!!!!!!
First off, I can't take credit for the original idea as I got it off of youtube. Anyway, here it is.
1. measure your incubator's interior and subtract 2" from the length (mine was 17 x 17, so I figured on 15 x 17)
2. Cut 1 x 2" boards to the proper length, subtracting the width of the 1 x 2 from two of the boards (so: 2 boards 17" long, and 2 boards 14 1/4 " long)
3. Use screws or nails to form the boards into a box, like mine.
4. Measure how wide your eggs are going to be and make marks at that distance + 1/4" all the way across your board
5. cut some skinny dowel rods (I used 1/4" I think) to the length of your egg turner.
6. Use a drill to put holes through your turner, and insert the dowel rods
(Note here: I actually put two rows of eggs in without separating them as I can fit more eggs in that way)
7. Cut two small lengths of 1x2", two to three inches should do just fine.
8. screw the 1x2s the bottom of your turner, like this:
9. Cut two lengths of screen molding, or something similar, to the same length as your egg turner.
10. Leaving a gap between the two, screw the molding down on top of the 1x2 spacers.
Congratulations! you now have a manual egg turner that will save you time!
11. For the motor: You can buy a replacement auto egg turner on ebay for about $9 or so
Once you get it, there are two options for how to mount it.
Option 1: Cut two small pieces of 1/4" plywood and two small chunks of 1x2. Use the 1x2 pieces as braces to form the 1x2 into an L shape and nail/screw into place. Mount the motor to this and attach to the side of your incubator.
12: You can use another piece of 1/4" plywood to form a small arm for the turner.
(note here: my turner motor has a D shaped shaft. I used a dremel to cut a hole the same shape so that the motor actually turners the arm around)
13: Attach your arm to the motor, and place a bolt or a long screw through the turner arm. The bolt is then placed in the gap you left in your molding strips (see pic above)
14: Plug in your motor and give it a test run. (let it run for 1/2 hour or so and come back to make sure it is moving
11B: You noticed that my motor is mounted on aluminum strips instead of wood. My father made this mount. Just get some aluminum corner strips like the ones you see above. Use dremel/cutting tool to cut it to the correct length. Flatten out the ends by cutting through one side of the corner braces and using some arm muscle/some pliers. Drill a hole through the two pieces of aluminum and attach your motor mount.
12b: I used an old bracket from a door for my turner arm. I just made a D shaped hole in the solid metal part, slid it onto the motor, and used a safety pin to keep it in place. I then bent the arm down some and stuck a bolt through the extra screw hole.
Here's the original youtube video I got this idea from.
Happy hatching!!!!!!!!!
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