Swivel Jacks!

[DigitalEd]

Hey all,
I had come up with a creative solution for moving a box style tractor around a pasture. My tractor has a wire mesh screen floor allowing the poop to fall through (well, mostly anyways) so I could not build wheels under the coop since the draft would freeze the chickens in winter. It had to sit on the ground.


(The wonderful screen floor)

I found some training wheels at a garage sale and tried those first. Worked great in the concrete floor of the garage but would never work on grass or in a uneven ground pasture.

So, what to do? I somehow ran across the idea of swivel jacks and problem solved! They crank up and down about 12 inches so I can clear the most uneven spots. The wheels spin 360 degrees so moving it is pretty easy. Since we've started letting the birds run free, it's even easier since they aren't in the coop when I move it. (You'd be surprised the extra weight they add.)

I do wish I had a set the didn't let the wheels spin. I'd then put 2 that do on one end and 2 that don't on the other and push it around like a shopping cart.

Here's a front view of the box tractor.

 

[cabincrazyone]

Those swivel jacks are a great idea. It looks like you've solved your problem.

Just for the sake of conversation and not being something that you need .... another consideration for the use of wheels is the size (diameter) of the wheels themselves. The larger the wheel the easier it rolls over rough ground ... and the more they are in the way. It's sort of a double edged sword. I've always thought that if I build a tractor, wheels the size of those on wheelbarrows would be just about right. I mean old solid steel ones, not pneumatic tires that go flat. I've seen a chicken tractor on BYC with bicycle wheels. That's even better if the set-up is engineered so they're not in the way (being so big).

Again, you're come up with a great solution. There's almost no effort to raising and lowering your design.