Looking for triangle tractor plans

[domromer]

We are about to build our first tractor and would like to build a traingle style tractor. The type were the chickens live in an inclosed space at the top of the triangle. Does anyone have simple plans for this type of housing? We are very new to building things and need it to be as simple as possible.

 

[siouxbee]

I've looked at tons of chicken coop plans, and found this in my explorations. Hope it helps. It wasn't big enough for my 12 girls, so I couldn't do it, but it was what I' would have done if I had less...


http://www.organicgardening.com/pdf/coop_plans.pdf

 

[Newchickenmom&kids]

We built one....I'm a single mother with two boys..13 and 11 and if we can do it (having no carpentry skills) you can! I didn't have any plans...I just used the pic on the Forsham website. They do have some specifications you can use but nothing detailed and if you're not familiar with metric..you'll have to convert the dimentions. Ours is not exactly the same....but pretty darn close!! We used 1x4's,firring strips, a 2x2 for roost, and a couple of small squares of plywood for the bottom of nest boxes. Here's pics and the link to Forsham:

http://www.forshamcottagearks.com/index.htm

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=3724

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=2991

Good Luck! If you have any questions would be happy to answer them!

 

[domromer]

Newchickenmom&kids :

We built one....I'm a single mother with two boys..13 and 11 and if we can do it (having no carpentry skills) you can! I didn't have any plans...I just used the pic on the Forsham website. They do have some specifications you can use but nothing detailed and if you're not familiar with metric..you'll have to convert the dimentions. Ours is not exactly the same....but pretty darn close!! We used 1x4's,firring strips, a 2x2 for roost, and a couple of small squares of plywood for the bottom of nest boxes. Here's pics and the link to Forsham:

http://www.forshamcottagearks.com/index.htm

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=3724

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=2991

Good Luck! If you have any questions would be happy to answer them!

I like your design. How did you attach the wood that is the side of the triangle where it attaches to the bottom of the frame? Did you cut thees at an angle?

Also what are the dimension of your tractor?

Do you know how much square ft of living space each chicken has in the enclosed area?


Shot with DC210 Zoom (V05.00) at 2007-06-25​

 

[Newchickenmom&kids]

Yes they were cut at an angle...but we just had to kind of wing it 'cause I have no miter box/saw and have no idea how to figure that anyway!

Also the whole thing was put together with wood screws and the hardware cloth we used U-nails.

As far as the dimensions......On the Forsham website the dimensions listed are: 2300 Length
1300 Width
1150 Height
I had no idea what units of measure that was in so guessed that millimeters may be close and used an online conversion website to convert those numbers (assuming they are millimeters) into feet which came out to approximately: 8 Ft Length
4 Ft Width
4 Ft Height *I rounded all these up

the 1x4 in the pic that has the handles cut into it is exactly 8 Ft as this is the length the 1x4's came. Then we just cut the others a decided lenght smaller (can't remember what but you can guess from the pic? Maybe 7' or 7 1/2' ?)

As far as the square feet of living space?? I had no clue...in case you can't tell I don't do math!! All I knew was that we were going to have 5-6 chickens in this...and just thought it should work!!

If I remember right...each nesting box is about a foot long so with approx 2 ft of nesting space..the roosting area lenght is around 5 ft. I was really worried about the "headroom" (I call it) in there...but my chickens when they roost always seemed to kind of squat down on the roost even when they were smaller.

The only thing I'm worried about now is whether or not the nesting area is big enough. I think it is big enough for them to lay eggs in but even with an inch or two of lip they tended to scratch out all of the straw or bedding and I'm worried about broken eggs when they do start laying. but I figure I can lower the bottom board of the nest some and attach it to the bottom of that 1x4 you see in the pic. Right now the bottom board is probably less than two inches down from the top of that 1x4 that makes the nest area...but we'll see. When they were little...to prevent them from sleeping in the nest boxes we tacked up a piece of card board to keep them out and force them to roost. They are within 2-3 weeks of laying age and so we will be opening them up soon and see how it goes.

If I was to make another one like this....I would make the nesting area a little bigger...which would be better done by making the heighth taller....I think I'd make it 4 1/2' tall instead of 4'. Also we originally had only one end that opened up...but eventually make the other end so it would open too. Oh yeah...on the bottom of those ends we used these things that are corner reinforcers...small ones...these were put on...two on each end so that it works to hold the bottom of the door in....I can get a pic of that if you'd like....it's hard to explain.

Sorry about the length of this...hope it's clear...if not...just ask away...let me know if you want a pic of the ends with the corner thingy!!!

 

[Newchickenmom&kids]

Thought I would measure it since I had never done so on the finished project....here are the dimensions:

 

[domromer]

Thanks for the measurements. I assume the chicks stay warm enough. Is the bottom of thier sleeping area enclosed?

 

[Newchickenmom&kids]

Roost area is all open. In the winter we will park the tractor next to a shed and tree for added shelter and cover with a tarp when it's really cold and can even run a heat lamp to it.

 

[AtRendeAcres]

this is movable cool

do you pick it up or did you put wheels on?

 

[Newchickenmom&kids]

We just pick it up...it's not hard at all!