squadleader
Songster
Thought y'all might enjoy this. Moving the Fortress back to my house where the pasture is better. Roped up the 50" wide anti-Dig Mats, was easier than I thought it was going to be. Had the Roll Back take off his side rails. His whole bed is 96" wide, the frame of the tractor is also 96" wide, sitting on a 2x8 skid, so with him removing his rails, it worked alright.
All things considered, I thought the cost of the roll back wrecker was pretty reasonable at $125.
Here's a look at the frame being constructed. 2 inch by 6 inch full dimension frame (salt treated and not planed down like most bought wood). A triangle is the strongest shape in building, so the 7 foot scaffold braces form a triangle in each corner. A set on the top and bottom of the frame. The top one is covered in pvc pipe, then wrapped in Gorilla Tape. Because of all this, the frame is amazingly rigid, one corner can be unsupported, and it won't even sag.
The tractor arriving at its new home. The front mats were the problem, since they extend out, but it worked out OK just bending them up and tying them off.
You can see the tractor isn't over width.
The cinder blocks are added to the corners of the mat, once it's placed.
You can see the 60 mil pvc plastic that wraps the skids on either side of the tractor. That helps a lot with sideway pulls when needed.
I kept the door open during the move to relieve air pressure in the tractor. You can kind of see where I tied off all the hanging items in the tractor to keep them from swinging too much.
You can see the strength of the frame here. He's actually balancing the entire tractor on a single point. The tractor is pretty heavy too, between 2,000 and 3,000 pounds at least.
Sliding it off.
Move complete!
I've just let the anti-dig mats back down. I was pleased with how little bend was in them. Two cinderblocks on each corner took care of that.
Normally I use a 7.5 gallon bucket with horizontal chicken nipples for water, that's good for over a week, but we've had crazy low temperatures and had to resort to the backup water system. A black Home Depot masonry tub 18"x24", sitting in the sun on the south end of the tractor. That usually only has to be filled once a day in the morning even with temperatures in the teens.
The backup water tub and about eight of our thirteen chickens huddled up in the 2'x3' larger Home Depot masonry tub that's their hanging dust box.
The chickens enjoying warm water at the backup water tub.
This tub feeder is great. Eight feeding stations, zero feed on the floor, and holds over 100 pounds of feed, so I usually only have to put feed in once a month.
Temperatures have finally gotten warmer and I've put the 7.5 gallon bucket with the chickens nipples back in the tractor.
Once a week I drag the tractor over one space, eight feet if sideways, which is most of the time, or 16 feet if coming forward. I have bolts on all four corners, so I can pull it forward like in this photo, or by moving the chain to connect along the side of the tractor, I can pull it sideways.
Boy they love cover and we have lots of hawks, so I park the utility trailer near the tractor. They free range all day. Mostly they've been coming over to the house and enjoying under the porches and decks, along with the yard.
I ran a five quarter by 6 inch deck board down the left side as a roosting bar 30 inches off the ground. I read mice can bother their toes while sleeping, so that allows them to rest their whole body over their claws.
In this photo you see how the entire tractor is flooded with sunlight. By having the entire south side open, and 24 inches all around the tractor open (covered in clear plastic roofing during the winter), as far as the chickens are concerned, all they see in any direction, other than north where the plywood wall is, is daylight. With twelve hens were getting nine eggs a day in the dead of winter, perhaps it's the amount of light in the tractor.
When we got down to minus 5 degrees last week, I wanted to give the chickens something to stand on besides the frozen ground. I filled one of the corners with a half a bale of straw, worked well. It even stayed put when I dragged the tractor today.
All things considered, I thought the cost of the roll back wrecker was pretty reasonable at $125.
Here's a look at the frame being constructed. 2 inch by 6 inch full dimension frame (salt treated and not planed down like most bought wood). A triangle is the strongest shape in building, so the 7 foot scaffold braces form a triangle in each corner. A set on the top and bottom of the frame. The top one is covered in pvc pipe, then wrapped in Gorilla Tape. Because of all this, the frame is amazingly rigid, one corner can be unsupported, and it won't even sag.
The tractor arriving at its new home. The front mats were the problem, since they extend out, but it worked out OK just bending them up and tying them off.
You can see the tractor isn't over width.
The cinder blocks are added to the corners of the mat, once it's placed.
You can see the 60 mil pvc plastic that wraps the skids on either side of the tractor. That helps a lot with sideway pulls when needed.
I kept the door open during the move to relieve air pressure in the tractor. You can kind of see where I tied off all the hanging items in the tractor to keep them from swinging too much.
You can see the strength of the frame here. He's actually balancing the entire tractor on a single point. The tractor is pretty heavy too, between 2,000 and 3,000 pounds at least.
Sliding it off.
Move complete!
I've just let the anti-dig mats back down. I was pleased with how little bend was in them. Two cinderblocks on each corner took care of that.
Normally I use a 7.5 gallon bucket with horizontal chicken nipples for water, that's good for over a week, but we've had crazy low temperatures and had to resort to the backup water system. A black Home Depot masonry tub 18"x24", sitting in the sun on the south end of the tractor. That usually only has to be filled once a day in the morning even with temperatures in the teens.
The backup water tub and about eight of our thirteen chickens huddled up in the 2'x3' larger Home Depot masonry tub that's their hanging dust box.
The chickens enjoying warm water at the backup water tub.
This tub feeder is great. Eight feeding stations, zero feed on the floor, and holds over 100 pounds of feed, so I usually only have to put feed in once a month.
Temperatures have finally gotten warmer and I've put the 7.5 gallon bucket with the chickens nipples back in the tractor.
Once a week I drag the tractor over one space, eight feet if sideways, which is most of the time, or 16 feet if coming forward. I have bolts on all four corners, so I can pull it forward like in this photo, or by moving the chain to connect along the side of the tractor, I can pull it sideways.
Boy they love cover and we have lots of hawks, so I park the utility trailer near the tractor. They free range all day. Mostly they've been coming over to the house and enjoying under the porches and decks, along with the yard.
I ran a five quarter by 6 inch deck board down the left side as a roosting bar 30 inches off the ground. I read mice can bother their toes while sleeping, so that allows them to rest their whole body over their claws.
In this photo you see how the entire tractor is flooded with sunlight. By having the entire south side open, and 24 inches all around the tractor open (covered in clear plastic roofing during the winter), as far as the chickens are concerned, all they see in any direction, other than north where the plywood wall is, is daylight. With twelve hens were getting nine eggs a day in the dead of winter, perhaps it's the amount of light in the tractor.
When we got down to minus 5 degrees last week, I wanted to give the chickens something to stand on besides the frozen ground. I filled one of the corners with a half a bale of straw, worked well. It even stayed put when I dragged the tractor today.
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