Photos of moving the Flying Fortress Tractor 3 miles

[squadleader]

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.

 

[squadleader]

Thanks!
I hadn't heard there could be a problem with that, but I did use 3 inch elbows (pretty big), and someone could always use 4 inch elbows if they were concerned about that issue. Our rooster seems pretty big, and has been using the feeder since August, so it hasn't been any issue at all for him.

From a practical standpoint, I've never seen a feeder that offers all the benefits it has. Clear plastic, so I can see my feed level. 8 stations, so almost everyone can feed at once, and that gives a picked on chicken more of a chance (we have one). Holding over a hundred pounds of feed is a great feature too, once a month loading. Hanging off the floor also keeps mice from getting at the feed. The water only needs a once a week fill, and I'm putting a Pullet Door Automatic Door next week, so if we wanted to go out of town, it'll be a breeze for my neighbor to just look in on them and collect the eggs.

That's another thing I found on this forum, the roll out nesting box. I got mine from HenGear.com, but you can build one yourself if you want. Up to 20 hens use just one box 24 inches wide (I've got 12 using it). The eggs are so clean, no straw to mess with, and no egg eating. Here's a couple of photos of mine.

I knew nothing about chickens last May when my son got interested in chickens. I learned everything I know about the subject from the fine folks on this forum, they've been a tremendous resource!

 

[N F C]

Good job on the build and the move!

 

[squadleader]

Well New York is a high tax state, a lot of New Yorkers like Virginia. Lower taxes, warmer, but still has four seasons, and not a long drive to see relatives back home.

We call them bounce backs. Lots move to Florida and find it too hot and humid in the summer, and too far from relatives. Many bounce back to Virginia as a happy medium. I also like our rivers, which we have lots of, are great for swimming and boating. Once you go south of North Carolina, all their fresh water lakes and rivers usually have alligators in them, and really aren't suitable for swimming or other water activities. Just like that poor toddler killed in one of the lakes within sight of Cinderella's Castle at Disney World. I had my children at the same resort, on the same beach, and wondered why they had a sign saying no swimming. I was so naive I thought their might be a bacteria or something in the water. Then one night we took a tour in a horse drawn wagon and I asked the guide what that weird chirping sound was, and he told me that was the baby alligators calling their mothers. That was at least 15 years ago, so Disney was well aware of that danger and was running a very active trapping campaign all those years trying to keep the gators under control.

So by all means, come to Virginia! No Gators!

 

[Ruralhideaway]

Nice tractor coop! I like the thought you've put into keeping the interior furnishings ready to be dragged by hanging it all up.

Just a note of caution in case you haven't heard this. Lots of roosters can't use that type of feeder due to scraping their combs and wattles, some have actually starved to death.

 

[lazy gardener]

Absolutely awesome build and review of your set up. Truly one of the more impressive construction details I've seen on BYC. Makes me want to build again!

 

[squadleader]

Apparently it's a pretty common agricultural product, I'm not sure what farmers usually use it for. I found mine at a local feed an seed, although I also found it on Amazon. I'm guessing Tractor Supply would have it too, but I can't remember if I saw any there.

I've found though, that buying the larger commercial size bag of an odd item, can be about as cheap as a small convenience bag marketed to homeowners.

Whether it's oyster shells, sulphur, or even cracked corn for scratch.

It's funny, as I was working in the tractor, finishing up things after the chickens moved in, I kept getting the feeling of something tiny crawling on me, which a shower cured.

Probably psychosomatic, but after adding sulphur to the dust box, I never got that feeling again when working in the tractor.

I've been developing and selling rural land for about 30 years, and have spent an incredible amount of time walking land. You develop a heightened sense of feel over the years (I've had hundreds of tick bites), and I can feel even a seed tick crawling on me now, so I'm inclined to believe I was feeling those mites or lice from the chickens, maybe not though.

 

[squadleader]

Most people feel just like you. When I was in the field more, when I was younger, I got so many tick bites, lots everyday sometimes, that it doesn't even phase me anymore, same with snakes.

Here in Virginia, unless you're turning over stuff, like logs or stored things in a field, 90 percent of the snakes I saw were only in the month of May, probably mating I guess. One property on the James River was so bad, I was walking through the woods showing it, and looked over at some bushes and there were several snakes chasing each other up off the ground, through branches of the bushes! One of the weirdest things I've ever seen. Only ever saw that behavior in snakes that one time. Scared my customer so bad, I just took them back to their care, there was no way I was going to be able to sell them that piece of land.

I even had a snake come crawling down the middle of the hall leading to the kitchen of a new house we had just built, while I was cooking breakfast on Sunday morning. I killed it with my wife's favorite frying pan (broke it too), that happened to be in my hand. There was no way I was going to let that snake get away and live in the house with my little kids.

So I almost laugh when people ask me if there are any snakes on a property I'm showing, because I don't care where you live, there probably are!

 

[Ruralhideaway]

I think those feeders are so cool! And I'm sure they are fine most of the time, just something to watch for. I've considered making one to allow the hens only access to layer feed. But too many roos eat from them comfortably.

So many good ideas well executed!

 

[Ruralhideaway]

My guys like their dust bath. It's a blend of peat moss, sand, and pine horse bedding pellets. Not sure if the resulting sawdust from the pellets does much but it did dry up the damp sand and peat. There's always at least 2 or 3 in there all day long.