making a feather plucker..

[flatwalkn]

ya had me scared for a second,, I could see them,,

I will send a picture of the one I rebuilt..

originally it did not have bearings,, all it had was a rod stuck through a piece of pipe.. not even a bushing.. the sell these for around $400.oo new.. without a motor..


I added a 1 HP motor, bearing blocks, cast iron pulley, and a paint job.. I had it fitted for #40 sprocket and chain drive, but that did not work out..

the rubber plucker fingers are spread out a little too far so it does not run too smoothly over the chicken.. kind of thump bumps them too hard..

the factory built drum on this one is a little out of round, so there is quite a bit of vibration.. but it does work quite well despite of it..
after I find out how this one I am building works, I might redo this factory one and put a pvc drum on it..

On the second whiz bang I built, I did #50 sprocket and chain. It works just great,, but it is loud. I found out that #50 chain is overkill..

.


as always, click on the picture for a better viewing..

..........jiminwisc................

IM making a plucker too and I was wondering if you could tell me how far apart to place the fingers and rows? I can’t seem to find an answer...

 

[flatwalkn]

ya had me scared for a second,, I could see them,,

I will send a picture of the one I rebuilt..

originally it did not have bearings,, all it had was a rod stuck through a piece of pipe.. not even a bushing.. the sell these for around $400.oo new.. without a motor..


I added a 1 HP motor, bearing blocks, cast iron pulley, and a paint job.. I had it fitted for #40 sprocket and chain drive, but that did not work out..

the rubber plucker fingers are spread out a little too far so it does not run too smoothly over the chicken.. kind of thump bumps them too hard..

the factory built drum on this one is a little out of round, so there is quite a bit of vibration.. but it does work quite well despite of it..
after I find out how this one I am building works, I might redo this factory one and put a pvc drum on it..

On the second whiz bang I built, I did #50 sprocket and chain. It works just great,, but it is loud. I found out that #50 chain is overkill..

.


as always, click on the picture for a better viewing..

..........jiminwisc................

So did you determine how far apart to put your plucker fingers and rows so it will work good and not thump the bird around? Please advise...

 

[jvls1942]

hi,
I was gone for a couple of days, no puter time here..
OK, I did have the whiz bang book to go by.
the finger spacing is not etched in stone..

what I did was, I ran the first row of fingers in the side of the drum just so they cleared the outer rows of fingers in the plucker plate. then I ran another row of fingers 2 inches higher. I don't remember exactly how I spaced them apart, but I am thinking every four inches. then in the higher row I spaces them half way between the ones in the bottom row.
these fingers do not do much plucking, they more or less catch the chicken and keep it from just rolling along.
the fingers in the plucker plate :
the outer row is spaced just so that the tips are close to the tips of the bottom fingers in the drum. these are spaced about 2 inches apart. again, this row does not do a lot of plucking, it more or less prevents the chicken from sliding down along side of the fingers and just riding around getting nothing done.
the next row on the plucking plate is spaced 2 inches from the outer row. also 2 inches apart. and the next row in from that row is 2 inches in and 2 inch spaced.
and so on until you get to the center .
it takes about 125 fingers on the feather plate, I think.. or it might be 125 total fingers..

after I scald the chicken, I pull out a handful of the long wing feathers and the long tail feathers. You don't have to get them all, you don't even have to do that.
but I do.
then I cut the feet off at the knees.
You don't have to do that either, but I do.
If you don't, once in awhile a foot reaches down and wedges between the feather plate and the side of the drum. not too often, but it is irritating when it happens.

I used to have pictures of my builds. I will check and see. I don't think I deleted all of them..

how far along are you with your build ?

..........jiminwisc.......

 

[jvls1942]

this will give you some idea of what I did with the fingers in the drum.\
they are located about 2 inches apart both ways.
there are also four places on the drum where I stacked 3 or 4 vertically. one of these stacks is just visible near the right leg ..
I cannot locate a picture of a feather plate, though.
I did put a feather chute in the bottom of this plucker. it is located on the opposite side from the motor.

this one is the fifth one that I have made.
it is chain and sprocket drive.
I used a #50 chain. I think you could get by with a #35 chain.
......jiminwisc.....

 

[jvls1942]

I went out this morning and took a picture of the feather plate.

this is the feather plate fingers pointing up to the first row on the drum.
there is about an inch of clearance.

this is looking straight down at the feather plate.
note that the outermost row of fingers are tucked well inder the fingers in the drum.
seems like a waste of fingers, but those are the ones that keep the chicken from wedging against the sides.

this shows the 3/4 inch space between the feather plate and the drum.
also shows how the second row of fingers in the featherplate line up with the tips of the fingers in the drum.

I hope some of this helps.

......jiminwisc.......

 

[flatwalkn]

hi,
I was gone for a couple of days, no puter time here..
OK, I did have the whiz bang book to go by.
the finger spacing is not etched in stone..

what I did was, I ran the first row of fingers in the side of the drum just so they cleared the outer rows of fingers in the plucker plate. then I ran another row of fingers 2 inches higher. I don't remember exactly how I spaced them apart, but I am thinking every four inches. then in the higher row I spaces them half way between the ones in the bottom row.
these fingers do not do much plucking, they more or less catch the chicken and keep it from just rolling along.
the fingers in the plucker plate :
the outer row is spaced just so that the tips are close to the tips of the bottom fingers in the drum. these are spaced about 2 inches apart. again, this row does not do a lot of plucking, it more or less prevents the chicken from sliding down along side of the fingers and just riding around getting nothing done.
the next row on the plucking plate is spaced 2 inches from the outer row. also 2 inches apart. and the next row in from that row is 2 inches in and 2 inch spaced.
and so on until you get to the center .
it takes about 125 fingers on the feather plate, I think.. or it might be 125 total fingers..

after I scald the chicken, I pull out a handful of the long wing feathers and the long tail feathers. You don't have to get them all, you don't even have to do that.
but I do.
then I cut the feet off at the knees.
You don't have to do that either, but I do.
If you don't, once in awhile a foot reaches down and wedges between the feather plate and the side of the drum. not too often, but it is irritating when it happens.

I used to have pictures of my builds. I will check and see. I don't think I deleted all of them..

how far along are you with your build ?

..........jiminwisc.......

 

[flatwalkn]

Thank you so much jiminwisc for all the info. I knew you were the person who could help when I saw how many you had built. I have been looking for the specific spacing online for long time (a lot of people are) but didn’t want to buy the book just for that. This is my first. I have the drum, plate, stand, motor, gfi wiring/switch, bearing shaft, and bearings (2) assembled. I have to unassemble it to drill the holes and insert the fingers in the drum. Then get a belt, put the pulleys on, tighten the mount the motor, and build a feather chute. I bought a 10” pulley at tsc and from what I’m reading I need to order a bigger one. But I’m trying to find one to scavenge first or figure out how to use a bike rim (Lol). I thought about using an old bike sprocket. I also need to find out how bad the belt is going to slip when everything gets wet. Thank you so very much!!! I’ll send pics when I’m done

 

[flatwalkn]

Oh I forgot to say the only parts I bought (so far) were the pillar bearings, belt, pulleys, misc screws/bolts, and the gfi switch/cord.

 

[jvls1942]

I do not get water on my drive sprockets.
I left the bottom on the drum intact and just brought the shaft through a hole in the center.
then I cut a hole similar to a lawn mower discharge in the side away from the motor.

all the feathers and water are discharged through that small oblong hole. I catch the feathers in a plastic milk crate. the water drains right through..
you can get by with a step down pulley system. I do this with sprocket and chains.
not too difficult to make. I gear my motors from 1725 RPM down to 192 RPM at the feather plate.
I use two shafts and 4 bearing blocks and 4 sprockets .
doing it this way, I do not get any binding of the bearings when I put tension on the drive chain.
to get down to even near that speed with a 2 inch drive pulley, you need at least a 16 inch driven pulley.. they are expensive..
a bicycle rim seems like a good idea.
.........jiminwisc......

 

[flatwalkn]

I do not get water on my drive sprockets.
I left the bottom on the drum intact and just brought the shaft through a hole in the center.
then I cut a hole similar to a lawn mower discharge in the side away from the motor.

all the feathers and water are discharged through that small oblong hole. I catch the feathers in a plastic milk crate. the water drains right through..
you can get by with a step down pulley system. I do this with sprocket and chains.
not too difficult to make. I gear my motors from 1725 RPM down to 192 RPM at the feather plate.
I use two shafts and 4 bearing blocks and 4 sprockets .
doing it this way, I do not get any binding of the bearings when I put tension on the drive chain.
to get down to even near that speed with a 2 inch drive pulley, you need at least a 16 inch driven pulley.. they are expensive..
a bicycle rim seems like a good idea.
.........jiminwisc......

Thanks again, I’m home now too and eager to get started again in the next couple of days. Oh, I forgot to mention I bought the plucker fingers. More to follow...