Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[wyoDreamer]

@jvls1942 Good to hear that Frankie is doing her job! Hopefully you were awake when she started to protect you from the big, bad cooler. lol
Good luck with the water line project. Working with PEX takes a little getting used to, but it goes pretty quick once you get the hang of it. DH suggests that you leave a little piece of copper on the ends to attach your fixtures to.

 

[jvls1942]

this is the most recent one I built..
Note the smaller wheels.. and the blue drum,,
this frame has no metal fasteners.. all dadoes and dowels.
there are 4 screws around the top perimeter of the tub
one thing that I would like to add are handles so I can push it around like a dolly..
..

 

[jvls1942]

@jvls1942 Good to hear that Frankie is doing her job! Hopefully you were awake when she started to protect you from the big, bad cooler. lol
Good luck with the water line project. Working with PEX takes a little getting used to, but it goes pretty quick once you get the hang of it. DH suggests that you leave a little piece of copper on the ends to attach your fixtures to.

I worked with PEX a few times .. my plan is to leave the valves with a piece of copper for now.. I will change out the valves if and when they need replacing..
the budget can't take such a hit like that right now..
I am also leaving the two lines to the kitchen , at the far end of the house as is,, they pass over the family room in the basement ,, the ceiling is stapled tiles.. I have a plan for replacing those two lines in the future without removing the tiles, but it will be a job in itself,, something I don't want to tackle right now..

I went to town , so Frankie's barking did not bother me,, but it did wake the kids up.. If they are too lazy to go investigate, let them suffer, eh? It was after noon when I got back home..

.......jiminwisc.......

 

[wyoDreamer]

That is a nice looking plucker, Jim. You did a great job on it. If I had a better job, I would consider buying it - I am going to be raising some meaties next summer and may raise some extra for family members also. So a plucker would be a great asset to have.

And handles would be a nice upgrade.

 

[jvls1942]

That is a nice looking plucker, Jim. You did a great job on it. If I had a better job, I would consider buying it - I am going to be raising some meaties next summer and may raise some extra for family members also. So a plucker would be a great asset to have.

And handles would be a nice upgrade.

..thanks for the pat on the back..
If I did not have a plucker, I would not raise meat birds, I think ...
I am always looking for ways to cut the cost of materials ..
on the first two I did quite well, I found bearings and shafts at a scrap yard, I only regret that I did not buy the whole pile of them,,
but at that time I had no intentions of building one after another.

 

[Kildare49]

Yep looks like the one I use.

Yours has a big plus......you put it on wheels!

Really have to add those to the one I use.

I like the depth....keeps feathers in drum and into drop tray ( I attach large garbage bag with a few holes to drain water ).

 

[jvls1942]

Yep looks like the one I use.

Yours has a big plus......you put it on wheels!

Really have to add those to the one I use.

I like the depth....keeps feathers in drum and into drop tray ( I attach large garbage bag with a few holes to drain water ).

does the one you use have no bottom in the tub ? then the feathers drop out all the way around the spinning plate ?

I leave the bottom in mine, and make a discharge hole sort of like on a lawn mower.. I put it on the opposite side of the motor,
I blast the feathers right onto the ground, or sometimes right into the tractor bucket.. depending on how many chickens we are doing..

I don't have any problem with feathers flying out of the top..

I would like to make a miniature one some day,, like for doing quail and really small chickens, like cornish game hens,,

 

[jvls1942]

..

this is looking inside the drum,, you can see the "feather chute" hole and how the drive shaft comes up in the center of the drum bottom..

I put 4 plucker fingers pointing down on the feather plate to sweep the feathers to the hole.. it works like a charm..

On u tube I noticed people spraying the chickens as they tumble, I do not do that..

I do not have any problem with feathers building up while I am plucking..

with the discharge chute, I do not have any feathers or water landing on the drive chains.. this is a big plus if someone is using pulleys and a V-belt.. you hear a lot of complaints of wet belts slipping with the bottomless drums..

 

[Celtic Chick]

@chickendreams24 here are my 4 boys











And here is my nosey guy looking for a treat:

 

[Cindlady]

Hi All!

Pretty boys CC.

Jim... Nice pics... hope Adam gets mine done!

Nothing new.... Night all!