One of our duck tractors

[Rusty Fury III]

We have two duck tractors. Yes, they're a bit on the small side. Ooops, had no idea at the time what a 9-10lb duck looked like. Been a very, very long time (I was a kid) since I had a big duck.

To answer any questions, yes, I'm almost finished building out a 10'Wx24'Lx7'4"T duck barn. Photos of that next.

We have two duck tractors we use only as overnight predator protection inside our 50'Wx50'Lx 48"T Premier1 electric poultry netting. Thought I'd share pictures of one of the duck tractors. One measures 3'Wx8'Lx30"T, the other measures 4'Wx8'Lx30"T. The ducks are split up 6ea in one and 7ea in the other. Cleaned regularly!!

 

[Kiki]

Your tractors look great!

 

[Rusty Fury III]

Since my wife and I are also scrappers of just about anything electronic, mechanical, metal etc., we had/have a fair amount of stuff we could choose from to save building costs. All of the wood was purchased new, as were the wheels, nuts bolts, washers, screws, 1/2" all-thread and hardware cloth.

The aluminum used in the handles and mounts for the wheels were from a project a friend no longer had a need for. I cut, shaped, sanded and drilled them to accommodate the wheels and hard points for mounting as well as handles to raise and lower the wheels. The wheels are of the solid, never flat variety.

The black aluminum, right angle stops are actually the corner braces from a 72" rear projection TV screen. The vent or grill on the one side of the enclosed section of the tractor is from a 1970s era AM/FM Stereo Receiver. And the rails for the sliding door are from a scratch and dent GE Stainless Steel range hood my son brought up from a housing project. They were actually brand new going in a brand new home. But since they were scratched and dented, the builder had them removed and new ones installed.

I cut up the range hood, and did so in a manner as to allow me to preserve all of the flat sections. I then cut those and bent them on a brake to act as the top and bottom slides for the sliding door.

We found the center of gravity of each tractor, and installed the wheels in such a manner that when the wheels are lowered, my wife can move them with very little effort. And they are extremely heavy.

At the time the picture with the ducklings in it were taken, we had 6 Pekins and 8 Silver Appleyards. That was in April of 2019. Our flock has changed and I will post up pics of them when I have a moment.

Any other questions, let me know and I'll try to answer.

 

[Rusty Fury III]

Kiki,

Thank you!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Great looking tractor!