The Abare Rack, a great rack, arms that radiate from the center making it easy to hang any gourd. The Gemini Rack...great rack, but a little difficult to erect two-point dangle gourds except for the Troyer Horizontal which has a hanger that is made for it.
My idea of a great rack, think wagon wheel, think aluminum like the Gemini with a flat bar outer ring, think eight aluminum flat-bar spokes radiating out from the wagon wheel's hub, think either a square hub for a square tubing pole or round hub for a round pole, think two tier connected with vertical flat bar connecting the two hubs at the hub or maybe even three tier and if three tier think 3" galvanized schedule 40 pole otherwise same tubing as Gemini uses.
Now, think get your martin start, think go a couple years to at or near full occupation. The next year rehang the gourds to the inner radial arms reversed so they point inward toward the pole and so that no part of the gourd protrudes out past the wagon wheel ring. The next year or the same year, if you are pushy or impatient, that describes every one of us, right, hang an owl guard fence on those wagon wheel rings that are just waiting there for their real ourpose: To make it easy to hang an owl guard fence. Then you don't really need tunnels or you could have been using the PMCA's excluder SG all along which don't have tunnels.
How about it, Brad, and you other folks who weld aluminum?
Now where in the heck is Emil...come back Shane...Shane...uh...I mean Emil....come back Emil...
Next Great Rack...And I Ain't Talking Marilyn's
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Brad Biddle
- Posts: 523
- Joined: Wed Feb 17, 2016 6:22 pm
- Location: Marshall County AL
Sounds a whole lot like the one I just made, except I only used 4 spokes per tier since I don’t use horizontals. I’m not set up to mass produce them though. I think it would need a 4” pole if you intend to hang more than 24 gourds on it.
Martin landlord since 2003. Currently offering 162 plastic gourds with tunnels, all with Conley II entrances with the Lewis modification. I have 24 Supergourds and the rest are Troyer Horizontals.
Making my own comment here:
No...won't work! Will have too much infighting between males with those gourds all pointed inward. They have to point outward, but could be set back a bit toward the center from the edge of the hawk and owl resistant wire grid that is wrapped around the hoops of the wheel so the martins can have relatively free movement inside the wire grid, in which case I would still want my tunnels. Would the wire grid be such that you would allow a martin to go thru it but small enough to prevent a hawk or owl? Probably, have to think on that one for a while.
No...won't work! Will have too much infighting between males with those gourds all pointed inward. They have to point outward, but could be set back a bit toward the center from the edge of the hawk and owl resistant wire grid that is wrapped around the hoops of the wheel so the martins can have relatively free movement inside the wire grid, in which case I would still want my tunnels. Would the wire grid be such that you would allow a martin to go thru it but small enough to prevent a hawk or owl? Probably, have to think on that one for a while.