old hatchrite incubator

[suzeeg]

This is the large Hatchrite I have. (had) Once plugged in and turned on the fans came on, the lights came on, and the roller controls work. Temp and humidity control did not work. They came on but could not adjust. So I installed a wafer thermostat and wired one of the heaters to the fans and then to the thermostat.I hatched three different time in it and it worked wonderfully. Just two big for my little operation. I am looking for some more rollers.If anyone knows where I can get some let me know. Thanks

tt​

 

[mitch324]

I just bought a smaller version of this incubator. Mine as two shelfs.

No extra rollers sorry.

 

[suzeeg]

I would love to find a smaller version. I think these incubators are the bomb. I just sold this big one for $1200.00 . I built one for myself that works just fine and does not take up as much room or skyrocket my electric bill.

 

[skydvrz]

If anyone needs documentation/users manual for a Hatchrite Incubator, you can find it here:

http://idk.serveftp.net/hatchrite/manual/

While this information covers an CP-50, it is likely useful for other models.

Best regards,

Kevin G. McCoy

 

[breelogreen]

so I was reading this post and know it very old but I thought I'd take a long shot as well. I actually have a Hatchrite I am trying to sell. it is a wonderful unit and is still in great condition. wonder if you or anyone you know may be interested?

 

[suzeeg]

Hey there, I sent you a private message. I would like to know more about the unit you have for sale. Thanks, SuzeeG

 

[Opals21]

Hi, could you estimate how many hen eggs would a 6 shelf Hatchrite incubator hold, please, and how heavy approx is the one 6'6ft high by 4'6 wide x 3'6 deep is, please. THANKYOU.

 

[skydvrz]

Opals21,

It depends on the roller gap - the space between the blue rubber rollers.

On mine, I can get about 150 eggs on one shelf.

Caveat: The shelves were originally designed for Ostrich and Emu eggs so the gap was set quite wide at the factory - probably 2-3 inches. With chicken eggs you need a gap of about 3/4". This means you need more rollers than the factory shipped if you want to max it out with chicken eggs (and not end up with an omelet on the bottom of the Hatchrite).

You may need to cannibalize a shelf or two, to fill in the remaining shelves with rollers. I took a bunch of rollers removed from my second shelf and installed them in the top shelf. I use the shelf with all the rollers removed as a hatcher. Add some wooden dividers and some 1" x 1" galvanized cage wire to keep the newly hatched chicks and ducklings from hopping out.

So, If you have enough rollers you can do 150 eggs per shelf. If you are lucky, the person that owned the thing before you added enough rollers for a 3/4" gap. Otherwise it will take a bunch of wrench turning (and not much rocket science) to put things right. Check your roller belts when you are taking the rollers out. It is a lot easier to replace them all at once than it is to do them onesy-twozies when they break. Pretty much all of my belts were cracked/broken when I bought the thing a couple years ago.

Weight? Think small pickup truck. Mine is a two shelf model and it took 3+ people to get it up into my trailer. Also consider the size of the door opening in the room you plan on keeping one of these. I had about 1/4" clearance on my basement door. It was a royal pain getting it in there - I had to partially disassemble it to make it fit through the doorway. Its kind of a "ship in a bottle" affair now.

 

[Opals21]

skydvr,
Thankyou.
Is it too complex to take apart?
4 people could not put it on a trailer, so I am thinking a truck with an hydrolic lifter to get it on a trailer and at the destination (700kms).The disassemble idea
is appealing to get it in to the room. I hope the terminology is ok as I am in Australia.
cheers

 

[skydvrz]

Is it too complex to take apart?

No, not really. Use a 1/4 Inch nutdriver if you need to take the case apart to get it through a doorway. The case screws are all the same size, so don't worry about mixing them up.

If you need to adjust the rollers: The rollers are held in by hex nuts - use an appropriate nutdriver (I forget the size) and get someone to help you. I did it solo and it took forever. It might help if you used a motorized screwdriver tool with a nutdriver socket installed. Don't over-torque. Use a carpenters square to make the rollers all parallel.

Do you really need a forklift / liftgate? Wow - that is heavy! Don't forget you have to get it back *out* of the trailer at the other end of your journey