Jerall Johnson Satalite disk racks

James A Lenz · Mon May 22, 2017 12:59 pm

I just have a question. Can anyone point me in the right direction to buy some of the satalite dishes like Mr. Jerrall Johnson uses for racks in Rainsville, Al. I have a small yard but my New Martin colony is growing so I need to find a way to have as many gourds as possible on one rack. My sweet wife doesn't share my level of passion for these amazing birds so I am only able to have 2 or three racks. If I had my way I would erect as many racks full of gourds as I could fit in my yard. Lol, it's crazy the love you can have for these birds.

Kyler · Mon May 22, 2017 1:11 pm

James,
We visited Jerral in Rainsville the first week of May. I also asked him where did he get all his Satilite Dishes. Well he told us that back then every house had one in there backyard. Then now many people just have them in there backyards and are not using them. So that is where he got all of his. I don't think you can buy them. Or I don't think any manufacturer even make them anymore.

Kyler,

James A Lenz · Mon May 22, 2017 3:17 pm

Kyler wrote:James,
We visited Jerral in Rainsville the first week of May. I also asked him where did he get all his Satilite Dishes. Well he told us that back then every house had one in there backyard. Then now many people just have them in there backyards and are not using them. So that is where he got all of his. I don't think you can buy them. Or I don't think any manufacturer even make them anymore.

Kyler,

I figured. I also talked to a friend that said those disk were probably 10 foot and would weigh a ton. I will just keep looking for a better solution.

Kyler · Mon May 22, 2017 3:41 pm

James,
Jerral said he has a mixture of them. He has 10 feet and 8 feet ones. He uses a 3/12 inch steel pole with pretty large cable and winch. So I think they would be pretty heavy. Hope you fine another solution.

Kyler,

jhcox · Mon May 22, 2017 4:18 pm

Hey James I was just at Mr Johnson's house this past week. He said he got all he is just driving around and asking people for them. He said most people are very willing to give them to you long as you take them down all the way to the ground . They're very hard to find anymore most people have already taking them to the scrap yard. I imagine if you were very handy with tools you could possibly make a much lighter version is this made out of PVC pipe these. The smaller sizes of PVC pipe are pretty flexible if you use enough crossmembers it should make it stable enough to hold the weight of a good number of gourds. if you're successful at it trying this with the PVC please let everybody know how It works out. And post some pictures of them on the forum. JHCox

flyin-lowe · Mon May 22, 2017 8:46 pm

10 plus years ago when I built my T14 I bought a 4 inch steel galvanized pipe. The pipe I bought was 20 foot and it was about $1.00 per foot. Fast forward 5 years ago I wanted to get another pipe to make a gourd rack, the price had gone up to $9.00 a foot and that was for Chinese steel, US was more then that. So my $20.00 pipe now cost a couple hundred. I ended up getting a AAA gourd rack, it was cheaper then what I could buy a pipe for and build my own rack. I haven't priced the AAA's lately.

William Bagwell · Mon May 22, 2017 8:47 pm

Especially hard to find today due to the spike in scrap metal prices a few years back. My son works at a scrap yard and says only a handful have come in in the past two years and all were 'mangled' as he described it. Still have hope he will find me one...

Ended up building mine with thin wall (EMT) conduit. Cut the 10' sticks down to 8' so if I ever need to add an owl guard cage it can be supported with full length conduit and leave a 1' gap all around.

James A Lenz · Tue May 23, 2017 6:31 am

William Bagwell wrote:Especially hard to find today due to the spike in scrap metal prices a few years back. My son works at a scrap yard and says only a handful have come in in the past two years and all were 'mangled' as he described it. Still have hope he will find me one...

Ended up building mine with thin wall (EMT) conduit. Cut the 10' sticks down to 8' so if I ever need to add an owl guard cage it can be supported with full length conduit and leave a 1' gap all around.

Thank you to all of you who offered your experiences and advice. I really enjoy talking with my fellow Martin fanatic friends. I currently have an old patio umbrella my Dad gave me years ago when I had martins at my previous residence. My Dad had martins when I was growing up just as his Dad had them when he was growing up so I guess I'm a third generation martin lover from the Lenz family tree. I have 11 T9s on the rack and one on a Shepard hook for the tree swallows my martins ran off recently. I have a Martin I have named crazy that won't let anything nest in my swallow gourd which is 35 feet from my rack on a 64 inch Sheppards hook. I don't worry about other song birds or swallows bothering my gourds as crazy bird will put them on the road if they even think about it. Lol. I live near Chuck Abare which is such a blessing to have such a wealth of knowledge to mentor me. My rack won't raise or lower but after this season I plan on trying to modify my pole so it will next season. My Martin population is growing quickly I have between 8 and 9 pair of birds I'm estimating. Crazy even brought in a girl friend just yesterday. I'm so thrilled. I just sit and watch them every chance I get. I get up on the weekends at daybreak and watch them till they leave to go eat. Chuck sold me a snake guard he produced so I installed it and it helps me sleep better at night. I never knew there was so many responsiblies to having martins but I do now and I will be up to speed next year. I am so thankful to have been blessed with so many martins my first year. I pray for the same success for all of my fellow newbie landlords. Martin on my good friends!