Building a gourd rack/split from 24 gourd rack thread

[Guest]

I have been doing a lot of thinking, that in the near future as my colony grows about having a 24 or 18 gourd rack. Having such a big area to put many racks in my yard, it would seem better to spread out theses racks to give the Martins more flying room around the colony. It may be cheaper to have a 24 or even a 36 racks than a bunch of 18 or 24 gourds racks but do not like a winch. They are a little noisy & much slower to raise & lower than by rope & pulley. As far as the gourd racks go, I build my own, "Chuck Abare style" & are real cheap to build. I mention in one of my post I used a plastic sink drain pipe onto the rack. It slides up & down the pole with ease & practially on noise at all. It is very light weight, no strain to raise with a two pulley system. I tried mine out today & very well pleased with its operation. I have a 12 PMCA rack with a two pulley system & it is much better than it. I know I will use wire to hang my gourds but the wind is not nearly as bad as yours Steve in Louisiana. I may not like them hanging by wire until have have some experience with it but deal with that when it comes to past. My arms hangs out around 2 feet from the disks. I sanded them very smooth & know the Martins will like the feel of it when they land. I did not realize how easy it was to build these kind of racks until I decided last week to tackle one, I did not have any plans, only by looking at the pictures of the Chuck Abare rack. I am not very good at wood work but do have to say my rack turned out super great. I looked at the prices of some of the racks on the net, too expensive for me to handle. I bet my rack can stand up with most winds anywere & have less than $25 in it not counting the pole.

Ron

[This thread was split from Steve Kroenke's thread on new gourd system, some comments in this thread include references to the other thread. Splitting the threads puts all the comments about building a gourd rack in one continuous thread, which we thought would be easier to follow. Louise/PMCA]

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

Ronnie, I have made several of the racks like you describe, I also like them and they are cheap for me to build. I use 1/2inch EMT tubing for arms, and slide my gourd right onto the arms. My gourds have 3/4in pvc pipe for hanging and thats a good fit on the 1/2inch EMT.

Here is a photo of how I start my disks, they are extremely strong, and yet they are not very heavy. The boards allow sturdy fastening for the EMT

[Steve Kroenke]

Hey Ronnie,

In the past, I built my various gourd racks, including tradtional crossbar and circular wagon wheel designs. I enjoyed it and may start again. I never had any plans and just jumped into it based on an idea or from looking at a picture of an existing gourd rack! Though I have never been "mechanically inclined", many folks can do a pretty good job of building martin housing using a common sense approach. The martins always did well in my houses. I still remember some of the martin houses and gourd racks I built as a teenager or young man in his 20s. And most were done without power tools! I worked hard using those hand saws and drills!

But the commercial stuff is nice, too and it can get expensive! For folks who can't build their own or don't have the tools/time/space, there are some excellent gourd rack systems on the market to consider.

Thanks for sharing your experience and success with building gourd rack systems.

Steve

[Guest]

Emil, thanks for the reply! I am not familiar with the EMT you are talking about. Could you might please send me a photo of the EMT attached to your rack. I hope someday to have just a speck of smarts about Martins & the work you Emil, Steve & others have building houses, racks & the whole nine yards, then I might be okay. I like you disks plates Emil in your photo. Seems like it is for a square pole & looks mighty strong as well.

Ron

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

Ronnie, I will post a photo tomorrow. The EMT tubing is used in electrical wiring of commercial buildings (building codes require the electrical wire to be enclosed inside the steel tubing), it comes in 10ft lengths, is easy to cut, and its rather lightweight. The 1/2in EMT tubing works good with the 3/4in pvc pipe that I put thru the neck of the gourd, its a good fit.

To hold the EMT on the disc, I use the EMT straps that the electricians use to hold the EMT to the wall. I put 2 straps per arm, one strap may hold it but 2 straps is much more steady. The EMT straps come in packages of 5 or 10 at Home Depot & Lowes.

Since I use 2 boards thickness, I use wood screws that are 1-5/8in long, and they hold very good. You can predrill the holes before you use the screws but I don't think its necessary.

[Guest]

My Lord Emil, I wire up my girls house & used this EMT under the island bar when I put a few oulets on both sides. dummy me did not know it was called that. I got it at Lowe's. Put it in my home a few years back in my island bars as well. I even got some left over out in the garage!

Thanks so much Larry from Kentuck. I appreciate the info. Do you know any Ash down your way? My mother was an Ash & most all here people came from Olive Hill, Kentucky. One of her uncles lived in Bullitt county. I believe I ran into a suranme "Melcher" in my genealogy work some years ago. I lost most of it in a house fire. Again, thanks so much. Steve, you must be an expert on making gourd racks. houses & all whole much of other stuff. When I read your articles, I get plumb lost for awhile, Great articles though & keep up the great work!! You are for sure one of few that I look to for advice. I know there are many others but have not found them yet. Sure are a lot on this forum with so good information & seems like I will not have to look anywhere else. Thank goodness for that!!

Ron

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

Ronnie, here is a photo of the EMT (electrical metal tubing) attached to the racks. I have 3 disks. None of the gourds are directly above each other, so they stay clean of poop during the season. The top row arms are 28in long, the second row are 30in long, the bottom row is 32in long, and then each level is attached at 15degrees over from the above level. There are 8 arms on each level for 24 arm gourd rack

[Guest]

Yes Steve, you are so right! I am glad to see the photo of Emil's rack. Thanks Emil for posting it. Looks very impressive & learned another ideal thanks to you. I agree there is no better place to learn about Martins than from the ordinary backyard landlord. I am just getting started & hope with my below average smarts can help someone, someday, to make things easier for Martin landlords. As we all know the owe a lot to Jamie Hill & his PMCA web site. Without this forum it would be a little less knowledge. Looking forward for more articles from you Steve, Emil & many other in the near future. I cannot thank you all enough!!

Ron

By the way Emil, about how much that gourd rack weighs?

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

Ronnie, I never thought much about the weight, maybe 15 - 20 lbs at most

[sg45]

Ronnie or Emil

Will one of both of you put a picture of the finished gourd rack (up close if possible) using the disk rack? We are always interested in finding a cheaper way to make our own gourd racks.

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

Does this help

[sg45]

Thanks Emil. That really helped a lot. I just have two more questions.
1. What type of wood are the disks made out of?
2. Is that an aluminum pole you are using with the disks in the picture?

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

sg45, the wood is treated 1x6 rough cut lumber, I let it dry good and then used exterior yellow glue and 1-5/8in wood screws. The wood screws are made for treated lumber.

The pole is 2x4 treated, 1x4 treated in the center, & another 2x4 treated, all screwed together. It happened to stay straight.

After you make the discs, and after you add the all-thread, I slip the assembly on the pole to make sure that it fits real good and slides easily. I also attached a "hazer" to roll on the pole at the top on one side and at the bottom on the other side. The assembly hangs on one side so it tends to lean a little bit, and the hazers keep it straight and it rolls on them so that it does not rub the pole much.

See the hazer on the top photo. It is made by taking 2 short pieces of 2x2 about 5in long. Then drill a hole 1/2way thru the 2x2 and put about a 6in piece of EMT into the two holes. Then add a 4in piece of 3/4in pvc in the center for the assembly to roll against the pvc. fasten the hazer to the top disc, and one to the bottom disc. These hazers really make the assembly slide easily. Since the hazer can be attached to any desired place, the assembly does not need to fit real tightly, the hazer is used to space it properly

[Guest]

SG45, as soon as I can get some pictures of the rack I will post it but can assure you that it is not impressive as Emil's rack. Since I live here in southern West Virginia the winds are not near as bad in Texas or other places of the country. My rack weighs about 7 to 10 lbs I would guess. I make it out of 1/4" plywood for the discs & pine shelveing for the arms. I used Thompson's water sealant with honey gold stain. Put two coats on. I tested its strength & confident it is strong enough. My arms start out at 2" & taper off to about a 3/4" & is about 24" long. If I ever decide to build one as big as Emil's, I would strongly consider his concept.

Ron

[Guest]

SG45, as soon as I can get some pictures of the rack I will post it but can assure you that it is not impressive as Emil's rack. Since I live here in southern West Virginia the winds are not near as bad in Texas or other places of the country. My rack weighs about 7 to 10 lbs I would guess. I make it out of 1/4" plywood for the discs & pine shelveing for the arms. I used Thompson's water sealant with honey gold stain. Put two coats on. I tested its strength & confident it is strong enough. My arms start out at 2" & taper off to about a 3/4" & is about 24" long. If I ever decide to build one as big as Emil's, I would strongly consider his concept.

Ron

[Guest]

Emil,, You put them on a 4x4.. How long is the 4x4 and how do you have it in the ground?? Johnny

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

Johnny, I have a 2x4,1x4,2x4, these 3 are nailed & screwed together. be sure to put the grains opposite to each other on the 2x4 if you do it this way. It is 16ft long. It is above ground completely

The pole is mounted onto a 3x3 angle iron, I don't know the weight but its about 1/4in thick. The piece of angle iron is 7ft long, 3ft into the ground and 4 ft above ground. The 3ft is cemented into the ground. I put 3 holes in one side of the angle iron, and then there are 3 bolts thru the pole & angle iron, with washers and nuts. Its all very sturdy, doesn't bend at all that I can see when the wind blows.

you could use the angle iron idea on any pole, just bolt or clamp it to the angle iron, and it will be sturdy.