Redwood Incubator - Leahy Favorite ARTICLE with Pic

[HappyHatch'en]

Thanks for your kind words, but it really was the employee's of Leahy, Ms. Runge of the historical society in Higginsville that deserve all the credit. It was only my interest in learning more and felt others might be as interested in the "Cadillac of Incubators" as well.

 

[Junkmanme]

HappyHatch'en,

I enjoyed, TREMENDOUSLY, the history of this company and products. Although I am interested in chickens these days, I once was very interested in QUALITY older machinery. I have ALWAYS been interested in Business History!

THANK YOU for a VERY PLEASURABLE and informative read!

Perhaps, someday, I may find a way to make some of my observations as entertaining as you have done with yours!

THANKS!
-Junkmanme-

 

[kartking22]

I have been also intrigued in the inovations of the old ground powered implements of the past. Our forefathers never relied on equipment powered by fossile fuels. The older farm implements were all powered by the turning of a wheel. How Great to learn how things were so simple yet got the job done. We may need to resort to these methods again in the future if the fossile fuels run out which is mostly inevitable in the future.

 

[HappyHatch'en]

I can't believe no one hasn't started to build these incubator's...they had a high hatch rate, lasted two, three, four generations (and still counting). The components are still being used today.
Why fix something if it's not broken.....Plus this company was in business for 100 years and it was the Banker who closed it, even thou the incubator division was making money...so much for "greedy-smart" bankers.

 

[kartking22]

The price to produce these type of bators again would cost more than a hobbyist would pay. Most people today are hatching eggs as a hobby and the cost would cut into thier budget WAY too much for what they need. That's why they buy those cheap throw-away models. There isn't the need for a four generation incubator anymore. Farming is a dying business. The new generation refuse to do a hard days work on the farm when they can go to college and sit behind a desk all day and get paid for being there. There's no pride anymore in doing a day of hard labor. That's why small farms are going under and our younger generation are more obese than ever.
What ever happened to those old floor type brooders that only used electricity when heat was needed? Heat lamps seem to use way too much power for thier purpose.

 

[Junkmanme]

KartKing22,

Whatever happened to the oil-fired incubators, used before rural areas got electric co-ops (When LBJ was a new Congressman)?

Mebbe if we could all grow 'nuff corn to power a bio-diesel generator..........

Ah...never mind.......

-Junkmanme-

 

[dbcooper02]

My Leahy Favorite doesn't seem to be included in the model #'s in the first post. Tag calls it a 30E using 385 watts. It has a large lever on the right hand side that tilts all the trays at once. It isn't up and running yet as I haven't been able to find a proper fan blade for it. I picked it up at the local poultry auction for a hundred bucks. Any insights, or a lead on a fan blade would be much appreciated.
db

 

[Pine Acres Peeps]

I want an antique one sooooo bad, I want to use for chicks but also as a ornament for my house

I have found a Farm Master ten tray incubator it's huge, I am still working on getting someone out of it. It's just going to waste in a shed and they won't sell it to me.

 

[HappyHatch'en]

I can't believe making one would be that expensive, the wood being the most expensive item...Grainger would have a fan and blade and GQF has the rest of the components....some old refrigerators have large fans as well. I think it was ingenious how Leahy made the corners round inside to move the air better as well.
The product brochure that the historical society sent me was from the mid 60's and didn't include all the models they had made over the years. I do have some black/white pic's of units that had a hand turner like the one above and incubators that are huge with a turning mechanism, probably commercial grade (2,000 eggs +)
There is no doubt this company produced a quality incubator. My best guess would be the above incubator was made prior to 1950.

 

[walkswithdog]

Though mine is a Brower - or Humidaire made in partnership with Brower, I've had a good LOOK at the innards and OH YEAH, two layers of heart tongue and groove mature redwood alone would hurt a builder's budget and throw it clean out of the hobby market.

That quality redwood is VERY hard to find now and wouldn't be available in production sized amounts. A hobbyist could dig it up for a single project, just at significant cost... That redwood was COMMON in the 1800's and early 1900's but what is now available is significantly poorer quality wood with much more sap wood than heartwood. And heartwood is what lasts in a humid application like an incubator.

While the electrical element, the snap wafer and humidity pan wouldn't run much - it does add up. If you update to automatic humidity, or an electronic thermostat that price bumps up again.

Wood available today is NOT and cannot be the same grade they were using. If lesser quality wood then you either have to treat it, or use an interior layer of technical materials for insulation. Both of which add cost. Whether it's time or materials.

Treatment has to be considered carefully. VOC's are going to be an applicable concern where eggs are being incubated. Low VOC sealers tend to cost more and are less elastic(won't last as long in an incubation application) than the higher VOC spar varnishes. Spar varnishes would require quite a long in place drying time to have the VOc's drop to safe levels for incubation - time = more money.

They're great incubators if you can find them and rehabilitate them but replicating the quality with wood available today would be nearly impossible. You could make a look alike but then you'd be recreating the Dickey.