Wednesday, April 04, 2007

coherent Econo-Chicken Tractor plans

Materials:
3 2"X4"X10' Pressure treated boards
4 L shaped galvanized metal plates for making a square butt joint
deck screws
8 10' schedule 40 1/2" diameter PVC pipe
1 4' Schedule 10 1/2" diameter PVC pipe
3 1/2" 90 degree elbow joints
12 1/2" conduit clamps
3 2' X 25' green PVC coated chix wire
300 8" outdoor rated zip ties
2 very large blue camping tarps( scavanged from my camping set up)
bungee cords to hold on tarp
1/2" 90degree elbow joint for door latch

make rectangular frame with 2X4's, Deck screws and L shaped plates
mark 2' intervals on outside of frame for PVC ribbing.
screw on conduit clamps at marked intervals.
insert PVC into conduit clamps, bend to make hoop shape , tighten conduit after pipe is inserted.
After all 6 ribs are formed zip tie top spine down the lenght of the ribs at top.
Attach chix wire to frame. I attached it at each rib point rather than going the lenght of the frame. Make Sense? I used zip ties. A lot of zipties.
make door. Attach elbow joints to 4' section of pipe. Bent 10' section into Elbow joints. Cover with chix wire. I attached this horizontally so there was a very small gap at the top for the latch. attach door to frame on one size using zip ties. Place an elbow joint on the end of the top spine, close door and turn joint up to form a latch. secure door at bottom with a bungee.
Wrap rectangle of tarp around back of tractor, bungee on. Drape rectangle of tarp over top of tractor bungee on.
hang heat lamp inside with chain over top spine. tie excess cord up, feed outdoor rated extension cord thru chix wire at gap in the 2 tarps. Place tractor in desired spot.
This is light enough that Kevin & I could pick it up from the bottom and carry it over to the garden and I could drag it back & forth by myself. We shall see how it stands up to the wind. I have 4 screw in dog stale out posts and some chain if I need to anchor the bugger down in high wind.
I have already posted the pix in previous entries so I wont repeat myself here.

1 comment:

priscilla said...

Thanks for the post. It's very informative and encouraging!