Feedback on GQF1502 Sportsman incubator

[callduck2010]

Hello,

I'm new to this forum and site.

We recently purchased 2 pair of show quality call ducks(Charlie Hodum) at the National Chicken Show in Columbus Ohio a few weeks ago. After talking to a number of people and a good friend, Tim Johnson (been in the chicken business for many years) recommended a GQF 1502 or 1550 Sportsman incubator. Where would you recommend buying a good used or new at?
I've been looking on craigslist and ebay. I know cleanliness on used is a big issue.
Any feedback would be great, thanks for your time.

 

[destinduck]

If new straight from GQF . Also if just for a coupla prs a brinsea or hovabator would save you a ton of money.

 

[Mrs. Turbo]

if you only have a couple pairs of call ducks you could just use silkies to hatch the eggs for you....higher hatch rate than the incubator. Also a lot of call duck breeders use the old redwood incubators and hatch the eggs on their side and not in the egg turner.

 

[callduck2010]

Thanks for the info..I know my husband would like to raise quail (he used to 30 yrs ago) again in additioan to more call ducks so a larger incubator would be suffice.

 

[Omniskies]

I have the 1500 and the 1502. They're not bad, but considering how much I spent on them brand new, I had hoped that they would have put more care into the construction. The incubators _feel_ cheap, and while I've seen past models working for years without breaking down, I'm still unsure as to how long these will last.

They definitely hatch well, but I'm not sure that I would buy any more of them. I want to try the Dicky incubators next. The pictures make them look a bit more solid and they are less expensive.

 

[callduck2010]

I will certainly check Dickey incubators out..thanks for the tip

 

[duckluck]

Here's the link to a site you might want to check out:

http://sunnycreekfarms.zxq.net

I am webmistress for Don's site. I can tell you that Don often has some used GQF in stock, but I have both GQFs and Humidaires and I much prefer the Humidaires for Calls. Most of my whites are Hodum line whites that I bought from Charley. I personally feel that it was difficlut to get to the bottom of the problem I was having with one of these GQF machines but Don is available 24/7/365 days a year to help you with incubator problems. You just can't get that kind of service anywhere anymore, and he stocks a lot of parts and manuals for incubators as well. He's a one-man show but has been at it a long time and I have gotten some very good advice from him and he's great to have in your court if you have an incubator problem in the middle of the night or on a holiday. His stock rotates constantly so it's best to call him and find out exactly what he has right now. He does specialize in Humidaires and Petersimes.

For the record, I have a Humidaire Model 50 drum, a Humidaire Model 21H hatcher and two GQF model 1266s. The 1266 has worked for hatching Call eggs but the Humidaires are easier to control humidity on once you have the hang of them, IMO. I have found these two GQF machines to be rather touchy in regards to temp, and the first one I got was notorious for going crazy in a storm...this is usually a sign that something needs replaced, in my case it was the thermostat. The two things I like best on the GQFs are that one has a full see-through door, which you won't get on a Humidaire, and the vents are numerous and easy to adjust, something I think the Humidaires are a bit stingy on. The downside of that though is that here the GQFs also can dry down quicker and more suddenly, so it has been my experience.

The GQF 1266 is an easy machine to come by rather inexpensively. They were used a lot by the ostrich people and there are a lot of them on the market used due to so few people now being into the ostriches. You may need to buy parts/accessories to properly fit them for smaller eggs, depending on what was done with them. Forego paying more for autoturners because you'll be wanting to turn Call eggs by hand. I have autoturners on three of these machines and I don't touch them anymore. If you get really into the hatching, you'll probably want to add one machine for hatching, as it does make the job MUCH easier in the long run. In my own experience, the Humidaires are easier to clean even though the GQF has better surfaces for doing so...you have a lot more room to clean with and not so many crevices in the Humidaires.

Hope this helps! Happy hatching!

 

[bel]

I have a pair of 10 year old GQFs (a hatcher and an incubator) they are nice units and the newer thermostats are supposed to be better (I'm supposed to go upgrade ours with a new thermostat but put it off because the old ones work well.) You just have to get used to adjusting the temp with knobs and the humidity levels using the trays. The new water trays are twice as big as the old ones, we ordered one not knowing this and had to get out some older ones because humidity was way too high. The smaller tray had to be refilled a lot so adding one of their water buckets that automatically refills the tray was well worth it.

But for a pair I would get a nice digital table top unit instead. I'm using a king suro 20 right now, they are so much easier to regulate and it has an automatic humidity pump, it makes life a lot easier and adjusts even for our drafty 100 year old house which doesn't currently have a heater. It holds 20 duck eggs (regular size) 24 LF chicken eggs, or for quail it holds 60 eggs (I put 50 coturnix eggs in ours, it definately had room to spare)

 

[duckluck]

Yep, the two GQFs I have here are 15+ years old. The thermostat gave good service until it went wacky. I have a new one in that unit now but the other still needs work. That's this winter's project. Thought about buying the water buckets but, when you are hand-turning Call eggs anyway, it would have been a waste to buy them...I just add water when I'm in there anyhow.

 

[jrobertson]

Quote:
I love the dickey incubators. Mine holds temp PERFECT. absolutely no fluctuation. Very well built and by hand at that. it has a very heavy duty construction. I've seen many gqfs and they all look "cheaper". I'm not saying i wouldn't own one if i found it at a good price but i am saying if i had to buy another one new, it would definately be a dickey. JMO. I know someone who owns one of each and they claim the dickey holds temps better than the gqf 1502 as well. also, according to gqfs website, the digital sportsman 1502 costs almost 100 dollars more than an all digital dickey with 3 turning and 1 hatching. just some food for thought.