Expanding Rooms size in old Trio

Dave Reynolds · Wed Mar 11, 2015 7:03 pm

Hello Everyone ----- I have a question for you all. I have taken an old Trio (12 Compartment) house apart today, so I can make the rooms bigger. I get the idea of one door open and having the martins turn left or right which ever way you want them to turn, and plugging the other room. My question is what sizes hole should I cut into the interior wall? A 2 and 1/8 inch hole, 2 and 1/4 inch hole or a 3 inch hole? Going to run to Lowes in a day or too and get a hole saw for my drill. Just wondering the best size to cut.

Thanks in advance,,,, Dave

birdbrat · Wed Mar 11, 2015 7:40 pm

I did that quite a few years ago when I rebuild a couple old S and K boxes. I made the inside holes (between compartments) as large as I could without compromising the structure of the box. My concern with smaller holes was that the martins may get hung up inside where I couldn't see them. The birds really liked those boxes but when I started designing my own I put them into storage. If it was me I'd go with the larger inside holes on you Trio. Just my opinion. Others may have reasons for the smaller holes.

avesrun · Wed Mar 11, 2015 8:07 pm

Dave go with the 3". Also recommend getting a drill bit extension in order to have proper reach.

4th Gen Martin Fan · Wed Mar 11, 2015 9:25 pm

Dave,
I use a 3" hole saw and some people even use a larger hole. Smaller than 3" is more likely to increase the chances of a wing entrapment.
I put the back edge of the hole about 1/2" from the back wall. That makes it harder for a predator to see into or reach into the nest compartment.
I make the bottom edge of the hole about 1" from the the floor of the compartment. Some people raise the bottom edge of the hole even higher to prevent small babies from rolling out of the nest into the entry way compartment.
If you want to see a master metal worker, then look at the pictures which avesrun recently posted on this Forum about his modification of a Trio house.
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h136/ ... alb8fh.jpg
I admire craftsmanship.
Mark.

apundt-TX · Wed Mar 11, 2015 9:54 pm

3 inch hole.

http://www.purplemartin.org/update/9%283%29trio.html

Dave Reynolds · Thu Mar 12, 2015 7:27 am

Everyone ----- Thanks for all the pictures and information. I like the looks of the 3 inch hole with the square bottom. It looks like I have got to get started, because their has been a report in Ohio already.

So thanks to everyone, and have a great year

Dave

DornCounty · Thu Mar 12, 2015 7:38 am

If you have the house completely torn down.. I would not even use a hole saw. Just cut a square opening. I would go the 3" but not much bigger. I would also stagger the opening so that something reaching it has to turn two corners to get to the nest.. if that makes sense. you will also have to do a straight through on each level. If you don't have it taken apart a 3" hole saw with bit extender will do the trick.. just be sure to sand all edges.

Do you feel the Trio Jedi force?

4th Gen Martin Fan · Thu Mar 12, 2015 8:26 am

Dave,
I agree that cutting a square hole will save you about $20 for the 3 in. bi-metal arbored hole saw. And cutting a square hole is safer on you. If you try to hold the dis-assembled aluminum part in your hand while cutting the hole and it get loose then you can really hurt yourself with the twirling piece of metal. But I suspect that you are wiser than I was. Thankfully I was wearing a leather glove.
Be smart like avesrun. He probably uses a drill press, clamps the dis-assembled part onto a wood block and drills his hole.

Anyway, the martins don't care. Square or round is great to them.
Mark.

Todd Wright · Thu Mar 12, 2015 3:59 pm

If I remember correctly you can order a blank door for those.

Dave Reynolds · Thu Mar 12, 2015 6:52 pm

Dorn, Mark and Todd --- Thanks guys --- For all of your help. I kind of figured a few of you have done this before. I did have the house completely torn down. So it was easier to drill a pilot hole in the walls and use my tin snips to cut out the 3 inch hole, with the bottom of the hole squared.. Took a pic. Going to post, hope it goes through..

Dave

Todd Wright · Thu Mar 12, 2015 7:38 pm

Looking good. If I remember correctly I used a lot of pop rivets when I converted mine it seemed to make it sturdier. Its the first house to get birds every year.

4th Gen Martin Fan · Thu Mar 12, 2015 9:40 pm

Dave,
I remember Anthony Neira made a good point on these Trio Musselman houses.
If you remove the through rods which run through the middle of the house and replace them with individual bolts, then it makes more room in some of the compartments.
Of course, Anthony is not referring to the through rods that the doors hang on.
I have incorporated this idea into my Trio Musselman or Nature House, Inc. M12K houses. It is easy and makes sense. It also removes a remote chance of nestling injuries in these middle through rods.

Anthony,
Can you remember the post which explains your point?
Mark.

Craig Dyer · Sat Mar 14, 2015 10:58 am

I appreciate the workmanship you guys put into this project...looks great!

I took a little different approach. When I enlarged the compartments in my Grandpa Trio, the last thing I wanted to do was take the house apart (too many hours the previous season assembling it). So I used a right angle drive Dremel. I first drilled a pilot hole. Then used a spiral cutting drill bit to cut the 3" (approx.) hole. Granted the holes are not perfect circles, but hey the martins don't care. Used a file to remove the sharp edges and burrs.

Craig Dyer · Sat Mar 14, 2015 11:27 am

To clarify, I only used the right angle Dremel to cut the holes in the side by side adjacent compartments. I used a 2" inch hole drill bit with a long reach to drill the holes in the back to back compartments.

Matt F. · Sat Mar 14, 2015 12:06 pm

Great work Dave!

avesrun · Sat Mar 14, 2015 12:30 pm

Looks great Dave! Hope you're able to get that baby up in the air soon! Wish I had known about the rod trio master 4th gen is referring to before i got my trios put back together but oh well. I'll hit that next time 'round! I've been crazy busy at the state park where I work and haven't been able to follow forum as closely as Id like. Good luck on finishing out the trio!
Tim

Dave Reynolds · Sat Mar 14, 2015 1:19 pm

4th Gen Martin Fan -- Thanks for the information on the through rod. When I cut the bottom of the 3" hole, the trough rod was really close to the hole. So I just used some heavy duct tape to hold the trough rod to the bottom of the hole. I don't think it will trip the entering Martin. Looks clean to me.

Craig -- Thanks for your information on cutting the holes. I used my tin snips instead of the Dremel, because the house was completely torn down. It made it easy to work with.

Matt --- Thanks for the comments..

Avesrun --- I'm going to remove the through rod next year after the season is over. I was kind of in a hurry to finish the job because, I'm taking the finished house to my Local Golf Course where I play. The manager there said "that he would let me put the house up on the course". So I'm going nuts to get every thing I need to install the house, like the pole, concrete. I'm so excited to see my house on the Golf Course. I'll be walking by the house every Monday morning when my golf league starts. And looking forward to nest checks. And having a colony away from my home.

Thanks everyone, Dave

avesrun · Sat Mar 14, 2015 1:52 pm

Nice Dave! We've got similar situations in that I have a house up on a quarry lake less than 2 miles from my home. It doubles your chances of becoming a landlord! Are you putting the golf course house near a pond?

Anthony Neira · Sat Mar 14, 2015 2:00 pm

Great job Dave, like Mark noted, I replaced the lower through Rod with nut & bolts because I was paranoid about any of the martins getting their legs or anything else stuck. Of course my openings are facing one side so all my middle walls/ doors are cut opened. Some landlords just Cut the sides & tops of the middle door & fold it over the lower Rod. Funny how people can take a metal box & do wonders with it!

even bake pies!

Mark, Thanks for the kind words ! Again Dave, your in good company with everyone in this post & in the forum, Your One Stop, Martin Spot!

Dave Reynolds · Sat Mar 14, 2015 2:54 pm

Avesrun --- Yes there are five or six fairly large ponds on the course, plus the Little Hocking River cuts back and forth through the course. There is a lot of good places for housing. There are a few houses on the course, but are in bad need of repairs. At one place there is a pole in the air but the house was rotten and falling off the pole. The manager says he wants to replace all the old houses and ask if I would help. My answer was yes. So I'm looking forward to helping him and the Martins, one house at a time. But I have got to get a least one good house up and work from there..

Anthony -- Thanks for the support .... You are right this is the place to be..

Dave