New Martin house..

[Vern1]

Greetings,
OK, I used the L35 to dig the hole for the ground socket and then used the bucket to help lift the pole up and into the socket - couldn't have done the job without it!





Ground socket is 5' long with 4' in the ground surrounded by 14 sacks of sacrete. Mast is 2 3/8" upset tubing 24' long. Took a couple of days to fab the pole and sliding house mount and a couple of evenings to dig hole, install socket and then install pole. Entire gourd rack slides up and down the pole via the boat winch to do nest checks and remove sparrows.

I guess I shoulda put up a pic with the Kubota in it huh.....?

[milkman]

That really looks good, couple of months before the scouts come through here, be sure and put some pics up when they get settled in. I sure like the sound of them in the evening and like to watch them at work.

[ToadHill]

I've had a purple martin house up for the last 10 years and have never seen a martin in it. It does fill up every year with tree swallows.

[Vern1]

Greetings,
The reason you haven't seen a single martin is because of the other birds taking over your housing.
If you are serious about martins, get on some Purple Martin websites and learn how to manage them.
Starlings and English House Sparrows are two of the most common enemies of Purple Martins and folks who manage their houses aggressively try to control them.
Since both of those are non-native species (think fire ants) you can control them anyway you can and do it legally.

[fishpick]

Vern1 - where did you get the house setup - i gather you built the pole...

[Vern1]

Greetings,
These are Natureline Gourds from BestNest - you can find the same gourds in many places but I have had absolutely the best service from these folks.

Yeah, built the post/winch/slider assy in the shop.
Used the L35 to dig the hole and then help erect the post in the ground socket.
The pole is made from 2 3/8" upset oilfield tubing and the rest is mild steel and coated with gloss silver polyurethene.
Now I am just waiting for the Martins to return.