Redwood Incubators - Information, help, for sale and wanted

[Rainwolf]

I am a owner of a Sears Farm Master Incubator.


I wanted to start this thread to help people find them for sale, sell them, learn about them, restore them and any other questions people might have about the older wooden incubators made.

I have seen many online for sale and wanted to a place for those looking for them to be able to find them as well as a place for those selling them to post.

These Incubators were made with solid redwood (also known as sequoia or the giant redwoods)
Double walled and hold humidity and heat like nothing else can.
The most common for sale that I can tell are the:
Leahy
Brower
Farm Master
Montgomery
Favotire
Humidaire
and many many more.

Here is a example of one that is currently for sale.




So If you have access to a manual for a older redwood incubator, scan the manual and post please!
If you see one for sale but already have one or it is not local for you to buy post it please!
If your selling one please post!
If your restoring one I would love to see the process and photos!

Come on in, sit down awhile and chat around the table about the great redwood incubators!


Edited by Staff

 

[Rainwolf]

I know there are redwood incubator owners out there.... Where are you?
I have a copy of the Farm Master Manual.... Thanks dbcooper!

 

[momofspencer]

I have one for sale - if any one is interested - I know nothing about it only that this place at one time supplied all the eggs in this area and surrounding area.

 

[ftwchopper]

Thanks ftwchopper, here is the outside before I cleaned it. It's had some repairs done, modern screws on the front; looks like one side was coming apart and they put it back together. I'll probably unplug it later and clean out the inside real good and take some more pics then. It's missing the water pan, hygrometer and thermometer. I have one original rack with the manual egg turner bottom but it's missing the dowels that would have helped that. Another original rack modified with hatching baskets and an odd rack that is too narrow to fit on the cleats. I"m going to email the seller and see if that rack belongs in his other bator. This one belonged to his grandpa. It also needs a new door seal, so will look at the hardware store to see what I can find that will work. It also looks like the cleats have been moved from their original positions.

It looks just like the 400 egg farm master i have.Im sure its made by the same company.The dowels that cross the trays are made of steel and shouldnt be hard to find.The water pan is easily made by any large hvac company or sheet metel company.I just had two of them made out of galvanized metal for $30.It looks to be in beautiful shape ! congrats ! ....Also,i have a copy of the instruction manual that i got from a forum member.I would be happy to pass it along,if you need it...

 

[Allfowledup80]

I bought a Leahy 416 with everything original except the heating unit. I am seeking an original heater, I have tried to contact Sunny Creek in Minnesota, but no luck. Does anyone know if they are still in business or if there is any other place to get parts for Leahy incubators? Thanks

 

[bwalden]

I bought a Leahy 416 with everything original except the heating unit. I am seeking an original heater, I have tried to contact Sunny Creek in Minnesota, but no luck. Does anyone know if they are still in business or if there is any other place to get parts for Leahy incubators? Thanks

http://sunnycreekfarms.zxq.net/

 

[maryhysong]

I am in love with this big redwood bator! I had 10 BO eggs set in a styrobator to hatch today. I moved them over earlier in the week to the redwood as soon as it was stable. This morning I have 7 out and 3 working on it, looks like it could end up being 100% hatch!

As soon as they are done I"m moving over the rest of the eggs set for next weekend and giving the styrobator back to my friend. And I'm collecting eggs now for another set. This is too much fun!

 

[they'reHISchickens]

I'd like to add a warning label to these redwoods. If you fear chicken math, RUN from redwood incubators.
One week ago,DD and I started our test run with 8 dozen eggs ( 4 doz from each of us) which is more than enough to hatch.
tonight we added 4 dozen more-- because there was an empty tray and we had the eggs and we could.....you know ALL the excuses!
We also candled 3 of her cochin banty eggs. All were developing.
That's when she told me that some had been under broodies for 2 days until the broodies starting fighting and breaking eggs.
That's when i realized that you cannot *see* the pips and zips in a wooden box with a tiny front window.
So I ask the experienced users: How do you tell the progress of a hatch?
And apparently the eggs were not affected by the temperature dip to 93 on day 4. Temps have been holding steady since that day.
DH has become quite fascinated by this incubator and complains when I pull the levers to turn the eggs instead of letting him do it. He even fills out the chart.
Yes, these things should come with a warning label.

 

[Rainwolf]

I'd like to add a warning label to these redwoods. If you fear chicken math, RUN from redwood incubators.
One week ago,DD and I started our test run with 8 dozen eggs ( 4 doz from each of us) which is more than enough to hatch.
tonight we added 4 dozen more-- because there was an empty tray and we had the eggs and we could.....you know ALL the excuses!
We also candled 3 of her cochin banty eggs. All were developing.
That's when she told me that some had been under broodies for 2 days until the broodies starting fighting and breaking eggs.
That's when i realized that you cannot *see* the pips and zips in a wooden box with a tiny front window.
So I ask the experienced users: How do you tell the progress of a hatch?
And apparently the eggs were not affected by the temperature dip to 93 on day 4. Temps have been holding steady since that day.
DH has become quite fascinated by this incubator and complains when I pull the levers to turn the eggs instead of letting him do it. He even fills out the chart.
Yes, these things should come with a warning label.

 

Warning label is needed for sure! when I need to limit my hatch I pull out the bottom 2 trays and put in a clear Rubbermaid tub. I then put the hatch-lings in the tub at the bottom once they hatch. the one thing I LOVE about the redwoods is that no matter how many times you check/open the door it pops right back to the correct temp humidity almost instantly! I have noticed when you open the door a lot you will need to refill the water trays more often but hey that's a small price to pay for ultra stable incubator!

 

[they'reHISchickens]

I have to laugh at myself and the monster-bator. Remember we are testing this 1200 egg FarmMaster and now have 12 dozen eggs in its8 trays. We are somewhere around day 10.
Tonight I went to open the door latch to turn the eggs and the latch came off in my hands. ( Notice this does not happen to DH during the day. It happens to me at night.)
I can't yell for help: he's off somewhere watching HS basketball games. So I grabbed a handy stick to prop the door semi shut and hunted through the jars of screws we all have ( don't we?) until I found 4 larger screws and a screwdriver to replace the ones that fell into my hand along with the handle. Oh and the temp in the trays barely budged. These beasts do hold the temperatures.
I can't wait to see what happens next!