UPDATED with new pictures OLD INCUBATOR???

[Davaroo]

Quote:
The trays were either canvas or a tight mesh like burlap, stretched on the slide in frame. I dont have pictures I can show, but Ive seen them in old books.
Egg turning was accomplished by sliding out the tray and doing the job by hand. Often a "cooling period" accompanied this turning cycle, with the trays left out of the incubator for 15 minutes or so. This simulated the hen getting off the eggs from time to time.
I have seen roller trays which mounted two rollers on either side with a fabric "belt" between them instead of a stretched piece of fabric. The turning handle was mounted on one of the rollers and the whole affair incorporated dividers so the eggs were lined up in rows. In use, you inserted the handle through the door into the roller and rolled the belt under the eggs. The dividers kept the eggs in place as they rotated on the belt moving beneath them.

 

[Slywoody]

Thrilled for you, jumping on this one. You'll have a blast getting it up and running.

Of course, pics are must now.

 

[Madcap621]

My grandfather had an old kerosene 'bator/brooder. It had 2 trays, made like a frame with 1" x 2"s. the top one had a bottom or 1/4" hardware cloth with a cut-out in the center about 3" x 6". The second [lower] tray was the brooder tray - the bottom is a sheet of very dense cardboard - or maybe masonite. Eggs were placed on the wire of the upper screen,which was pulled out for hand turning. When the chicks hatched the fell [sooner or later] thru' the hole in the screen to the brooder tray. There's a lift-up door in the top with double glass for viewing and access, the lamp was on a stand at the side, as is a copper stack with a lid that is attached to what I now know is a wafer thermostat, which somehow triggered the lid to lift or close. Really neat. Probably made in the 20s or 30s. I gave it to my sister when I ran out of room,she gave it to another sister when she ran out of room. NOW I'm trying to grt it back!

 

[okiehen]

Way to go what a find, can't wait to see how it turns out.

 

[bahamas]

similar to this one


http://iowacity.craigslist.org/atq/1617893840.html

 

[Davaroo]

Quote:
Man I wish that sort of thing would turn up on our C-L!

 

[Davaroo]

Quote:
Yeah I forgot about the "falling to the brooder section below," part. I need to go back and review my notes. Thanks!

 

[babsbag]

After looking this thing over from top to bottom and side to side DH and I decided that since there were screws in the top it was meant to come apart...so we took the top off.

We like to do things like that, see what makes it tick. So here are some pictures of what we found and DH is pretty sure that he knows how it worked. There is no brand on this thing anywhere and we are thinking that maybe it was homemade. On the front of it you can see where there was one of the metal numbers, the kind they use for addresses, at one time. This was number "6" so I am thinking that maybe this was from a hatchery.

Here are some pictures of the inside

You can see the pipe that runs around the inside. I did not expect to find that this was a water heated incubator. (I really had no idea what I was going to find) The pipes are not quite level, which allows the water to circulate without having to have any kind of pump. The pipes that come off the water jacket that is around the burner are also at different heights, for the same reason. DH tells me this will help mix the water just because of the difference in temp of the water, like air I guess, hot water rises and cold water sinks.(physics was never my strong point)

The tray in the middle is for holding water for the humidity I would assume. The tube with the filler on the top is for adding water to the system. There is a drain underneath the incubator so you can drain it all when you are done for the season. The stack that is right behind the water tray is the vent for the kerosene burner, and behind that is another little tube that we don't know for sure what it does. DH was thinking that maybe it had a thermometer in it at one time so you could check the temp of the water. Not really sure on that one. Nowhere did I see any kind of thermostat, something that will be changed.

This is for draining the water from the humidity tray. There is a tube in the lid that you use to fill the tray. You can see it in the first pictures that I posted.

Another picture of the unknown tube

This is the underside of the incubator where the kerosene burner would attach. There are 2 eye hooks in the wood. It looks like the burner might have been hung from these. Again, we are not sure. There were no other parts to it to be found.

There were still pieces of eggs shells in this thing. The top and bottom are lined with some kind of fiber board and painted. I don't know if that was for added insulation or for ease of cleaning, or both. l thought about putting tile in the bottom of it, good heat sink, but I couldn't do that until I get it in the final resting place as it would weigh a ton. Or I might just set them in there and then remove them to clean them. Not sure, just tossing around ideas. The front windows are "double pane". Definately before their time on that idea.

So now the question is, do I try and use the hot water system to heat it? I wouldn't use kerosene, I would go electric, or propane. We talked about converting a small hot water heater from an RV and using propane. We also talked about using some type of heat tape on the pipes, if that could get hot enough. There is a vent on one end that has a damper on it. It was be easy to put a fan it it. And of course, I want a thermostat on it. But if I hatch too late in the year, and keep it in my milking barn, I may not have to heat it, I might have to cool it.

We get days here that are over 100 for weeks at time.

All in all it is a pretty simple design. When I think of 100 degrees and 40% humidity and a redwood box it reminds me of a sauna. I wonder if the redwood helps the humidity, once the wood has absorbed some of the moisture. It might be a bit tricky to adjust at first, being that the wood is so old and dry. But I like a challenge.

This will be a work in progress to be sure. I am not sure how much I want to try and "fix" when it comes to the actuall wood cabinet. Most of the wood is solid. The legs are a little worn, a few little pieces missing out of them, and I don't know if I should just lightly sand them and oil them, or would a real craftsman make new ones? And I would like to remove the windows and clean them inside and out, but I don't want to break the wood that is holding them in as I would like to reuse it. I want to try and keep it as original as possible. I am going to try and polish the latches and the hinges, but I might just buy new brass ones if I can find the same style.

I do have to make trays for it, I am wondering if it was the brooder as well. There is a quite of bit of space in there for just one level of trays.

All insight, ideas, and suggestions are more than welcome and very appreciated.

 

[babsbag]

Quote:
Yeah I forgot about the "falling to the brooder section below," part. I need to go back and review my notes. Thanks!

If you have any pictures I would love to seem them.

The bottom and the underside of the lid of mine is also dense cardboard, or fiberboard. It reminds me of the tiles they used for sound deadening in my Dad's radio station when I was a kid.

In the one your grandfather had, did the kerosene heat water? Is that common in these old ones?

 

[Slywoody]

WOW!!! Very interesting. I would never have guessed it was run with heated water. What a great project. I like the idea of running it with a small hot water heater, electric or propane. I would guess electric would be easier to control, more efficient and cleaner. Not too sure on the heat tape idea as i have never used it.
I think you are right about the redwood helping with the humidity, although you may have to run it awhile to get the wood " soaked up so to speak" kind of like an old wooden boat to get it to float and not leak, as the wood would swell up. Am i making any sense here??

Please keep us updated on this great restoration.