How to Make the Ultimate Chicken Plucker
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- Опубліковано 8 вер 2024
- Full build, parts list, and first use all in this video.
Thank you @Southern Engineering for pioneering this design!
Features:
- single on/off switch operates rinse ring & motor
- two hose accessory hookups
- quick connect hose fittings
- 10’ hose with spray nozzle
- large wheels for easy mobility
- 30’ power cord
- 1 hp farm duty 1800 rpm motor
- all metal construction
- super durable polyethylene barrel
- thick aluminum feather plate
- fully painted chassis and manifold
- tensioned metal frame tube secures barrel with authority
- stainless steel fasteners and aluminum pop rivets
- best ergonomics of any plucker I’ve used/studied
- very easy to clean
After looking at commercially available units, and having used one last year, it became clear that there is room to build a better plucker. The features, mobility, and lightning fast set up as well as super short clean up time is what sets this apart from other designs. So far it worked brilliantly on pheasant. This year I will try it on quail, duck, chicken, goose, and turkey. Cheers!
#wiltziusplucker
Hi Sam, thanks for the shout-out; it's much appreciated. I would have commented sooner, but I had a stroke a few years ago and have only recently regained the use of my hands ( my daughter has been responding when she is was the time) . Great job, much impressed.
Thanks again...
A good design deserves to be made more than once. Best of luck with your recovery.
@@samuelwiltzius I can click well, but typing is still a challenge... Thanks again, nice work...
Great video. It's very helpful. I was wondering if you could sent me a pdf of your parts list?
Sorry for the delay, been thinking about it and don’t have a good way to post the pdf anywhere. I tried to make it so screen captures could be taken if someone wanted a part list.
Thank you so much for expanding this build. Again, you really raised the bar on this and the improvements you made were spot on. Hopefully, i have everything I need to do as well. The first time you started the motor, you said it was running backwards. What difference does it make what direction it spins?
It only matters for the four fingers on the underside of the feather plate. They need to spin in the direction that makes them act like an outward spiral to push the feathers outward to the perimeter of the barrel. If you are building one, the circle cutting jig and router with spiral up cut bit was key to my success. My biggest challenge was trying to get the top metal hoop circular - Southern Engineering nailed that where I had to use a pipe bending tool and struggled.
Wow.. looking better then a commercial unit makes me wonder if it was truly a diy savings
You forgot a protective shroud around the motor belt haha
Great video. I’m gonna make me one.
Very cool project. For this price I would buy a ready to use solution and try to upgrade with some of your cool features, like the magnetic valve. One thing I wanted to mention: Don't drill cable and put it into the wago clamps, but use cable lugs and put the cable with the lugs into the wago clamps.
Thanks for the tip! - I’ve been tinning the ends of stranded wire on newer projects. When I started I pitched the idea of “I can build it better for $600” to my wife… went a bit over budget. The big selling point was actually the mobility and that I can fix anything on it and it will last a lifetime.
@@samuelwiltzius Not sure about regulations in the US / how far such regulations effect you as a private person. In Germany it's not allowed to tin the ends, because this increases / changes cross-section of the copper wire. For private projects it's probably only an issue in case of an insurance issue.
Definitely. You build so many cool extras that are not needed for the machine itself to pluck chickens / birds, but that make life easier and once you have or had them, you don't miss them anymore. Of course you always could manually switch on the water or carry the whole plucker away after it's used, but your extras make it so much comfortable. If I could weld I would also build the cool version of a plucker. But I'm not sure if it's at all possible to buy this kind of metal plate you put the fingers into as a product. Germany is more a country of people that better like others to butcher their animals they eat, except some, so such products are not so good available.
@@wonka6848 Fascinating - Thanks of sharing a bit about Germany. The US varies alot place to place, but where I live we take pride in doing stuff ourselves (like cutting a tree down and making a bookshelf or kitchen table from it, or raising animals for meat or eggs).
I'm pretty picky about wiring in a house or garage but in some projects I end up using stranded wire because some parts are prewired and I'm trying to get it as good as I reasonably can. I do love problem solving and making an unpleasant task enjoyable is one of the most satisfying things.
@@samuelwiltzius Sure. Probably it's in most cases the over-secure don't risk anything way of Germany. :D
That's why I like watching US UA-cam channels. One the one hand I love the huge "gardens" in the homestead videos but also the way people do their thing. If I would ask one of my friends to help me butchering chickens they would probably say "why don't you go to the super market" :D
Hopefully you don't see it as critics, I like what I saw in the plucker videos and have to check several more. Drilling wire ends and putting them into wago clamps made me close to crazy last year, because valves of my irrigation sometimes worked and sometimes didn't, because there were any problems with the connection. That's also why I know, that you should use these cable lugs and are not allowed in Germany to tin them. I'm not an electrician at all, but a victim of the clamps. :D
What is the diameter of the aluminum plate.
Awesome build! The parts list is pretty hard to see though. Anyway to get a closer look?
Thanks / and sorry; I haven’t posted the list anywhere else - I tried to upload in a high enough quality to make it possible to take screen captures on tablet or computer.
Thank you sir!!
Doing pretty well
Where did you find the polycarbonate sheet?
I got it here amzn.to/3Ups2r1
Do you think a dc treadmill motor and speed controller would work? The pulley size wouldn't matter as much then as I could just adjust the rpm. And I can get my hands on that for free vs. buying an ac farm grade motor.
Probably. If the motor has enough power I don’t see why not.
What is the white materiel you used to mount the bearing to? And how thick? Thanks
I used 24” x 24” HDPE sheet that was 1/2” thick. 3/4” would be easier to screw into but 1/2” is plenty strong.
Great build! I'm in the process of building this now. at 3:41 to 4:28. what diameter did you cut the HDPE? And it looks like you were able to set it in the 2nd "rib", is that correct?
It was super tight until it hit the rib - I snuck up on the fit taking more than one cut, deliberately cutting oversized the first go around. Because of that I never actually measured.
@samuelwiltzius . yeah, that's what I ended up doing. It took some time, but it was definitely worth it. It's almost finished.
Did you slot the 1" drive shaft for the large pully? If so how did you do it?
I have an uncle. He is a top form machinist with a Bridgeport. It’s far better to buy a fully slotted shaft for a few bucks more since the shaft will likely be hardened and a pain to machine.
Great work where is the part list I can't find it. Thank you
The last several minutes of the video has all the details.
What was that thing above the motor in line with the pvc lines??
The solenoid for the rinse ring water? If it has brass fittings that’s it.
Where did you get your circle cutting jig? I've been looking for it, but can't find one online. Thanks
M-Power MK3 Multi-Function Router Base.
@@samuelwiltzius thank you
👍
Wow! Sir, you're very genius bro. Can I order 1 for $1300? If so, please reply.
What hp motor did you use?
1hp farm duty from Harbor freight. It’s turning the feather plate 315 RPM with lots of power.
Where did you find your on/off switch?
I found it at Menards - it's a sump pump float switch.
just curious, how did you have in this plucker?
About $900 in parts.
How did this work with turkeys ?
Turkey's work fine - they are like big chickens when it comes to feathers. The largest bird so far has been 10-12 pounds and I haven't found the limit yet. Geese have been the largest bird plucked so far (our turkey breeds far haven't been very large).
Are you ready to make me a chicken plucker yet?! 😂
Not yet. So much to do as is and so little time!