Creating my "Over the Top" Deer Blind

[EddieWalker]

Nothing. My timer in my feeder stoped working, and I just got in a new one. I've been buy cheapy timers and this time, I order "The Timer" which is supposed to be a good one. Guess we'll see. The hogs are all over right now. I had them tear up the grass ten feet from where I park my truck two nights ago. They are also back to tearing up the grass at my front gate. There are tracks all around the blind, in the wheat and around the feeder. There's no corn on the ground, so they are just walking around.

I've seen one deer, and that was a doe. There are no deer tracks in my food plots when I looked this morning. I have wheat, turnips, clover and rye grass growing.

There's still a few more weeks left of deer season, but without even seeing any deer tracks, I'm not expecting things to change too much.

Eddie

 

[txdon]

You know the deer can hear when you munch on chips. You may want to stock some quiet snacks.

 

[EddieWalker]

No way. Tell me you'r just joking!!!!!! My Dorito's don't make an noise. hahahha

Eddie

 

[Steve C]

I was hoping to have some pictures of the pad all leveled of and ready for drilling holes for the posts.

First issue that I had to deal with was a small mistake that I made a few weeks ago. I was pushing some dirt with the dozer and trying to get done before dark with very little fuel in the tank. I pushed it too far and ran out. So for kicks, I got to blead my fuel lines in order to get it started.

Then I drove it over to where my deer blind is going to be and started pushing dirt. I was having fun and enjoying myself.

After just a few pushes, I changed directions to work in my drainage area, and while in the bottom of the drainage ditch, something went "BANG!" I turned off the engine and found that the fan had broke off of it's mount and taken out part of the shroud.

As you can see in the pics, I need a new fan.

Today, I learned that Case no longer makes or supplies my fan. There are several different tractors that used the same engine, but it appears that each had a differen sized fan. If they had one, it costs $1,050 because it's reversable. If we can find a standard pushing fan that will fit, the cost around $280. The base is another $250 and the shroud is $450.

After two visits, much conversing with the parts guys, mechanics and anybody else that came by, we're stuck.

I've been searching the net and might have found a used one from a salvage yard in Florida. We'll see what happens tomorrow when I talk to them again.

If not, and none of the other models are able to adapt to my dozer, I've thought about searching for an electric one. The opening in front of the shroud is 26.5 inches. Of course, finding a pushing electric fan that big is probably easier said then done.

Until I find these parts, everything else is on hold.

Eddie

Try camping world.

I have one in a box somewhere that I bought for my diesel pusher motor home. I think it was around $125. I bought it because the standard fan put a large load on the motor. With the diesel pusher the only time you realy need a fan is when you are stopped or in city traffic. Going down the highway the suction behind the 12 foot tall motorhome draws plenty of air through the radiator.

My motorhome uses the same radiator as the 7.3 ford diesel pick up trucks. It is a big sucker and so is the fan.

 

[EddieWalker]

Thanks for the tip. Then engine in the dozer is a Cummins, but even though it's a very common engine, there are a hunderd different configurations of it. Unfortunately, my fan system is very unique, which is why it was so expensive.

Eddie

 

[Steve C]

Thanks for the tip. Then engine in the dozer is a Cummins, but even though it's a very common engine, there are a hunderd different configurations of it. Unfortunately, my fan system is very unique, which is why it was so expensive.

Eddie

The engine in my motorhome is a Cummins 5.9
The fan is just a D.C. motor with a blade attached.( And a thermostatic switch) You can reverse the flow by just reversing the electrical connections. I am sure that we could get you up and running in an hour or two if I was near by. Think outside the box, you just need to blow air through the radiator

 

[Steve C]

Thanks for the tip. Then engine in the dozer is a Cummins, but even though it's a very common engine, there are a hunderd different configurations of it. Unfortunately, my fan system is very unique, which is why it was so expensive.

Eddie

Oh wait! I think I led you astray! Your machine is not worth saving, the cost of repairs is just to high, perhaps I should drive down there and relieve you of the burden. It should be worth a couple hundred per ton?

Well if you don't want to tackle the fix, I have a truck and trailer

I suspect that the electric fan from camper world will do what you need to have done. Or I could dig mine out of the box and sell it to you.

 

[czechsonofagun]

I've seen one deer, and that was a doe. There are no deer tracks in my food plots when I looked this morning. I have wheat, turnips, clover and rye grass growing.

There's still a few more weeks left of deer season, but without even seeing any deer tracks, I'm not expecting things to change too much.

Eddie

With so many pigs in your area, the deer population must take real beating. I know wild boars in Europe are known of snacking on fawns and feral hogs won't be much different.

 

[EddieWalker]

Well if you don't want to tackle the fix, I have a truck and trailer

I suspect that the electric fan from camper world will do what you need to have done. Or I could dig mine out of the box and sell it to you.

I might be confused. Did you miss the part where I got the parts and got it up and running again? I'm under the impression that you were offering a suggest to repair or replace the fan if it broke again.

If so, I did consider an electric fan, but came up short in trying to find one that cold move a similar volume of air as the original fan. Unlike a vehicle on the road, cooling the dozer requires a massive amount of air to be pushed through the fan without any aid of moving along down the road. Because of the amount of dust in the air while pushing dirt, the fan has to push the air from the engine compartment, forward, out the front of the dozer. I can see the dust being blown off the dozer blade from all the air that's being moved. My radiator is massive. I've been arond RV's all my life. It's not even close in comparison. Not only am I cooling water for the engine, but I'm also cooling 30 gallons of hydraluic fluid from three hydraulic pumps. Two tracks and the blade.

Since Case no longer makes a replacement blade for my dozer, the guys in the parts department worked at finding something tha would work. While they did that, I contacted several salvage yards, and got lucky. I was able to buy the parts used, and finish leveling off the dirt to build the deer blind. I've since put on several hundred hours working it in other areas of my land. The guys at Case did come up with a fan that they thought would work off of a wheel loader. Since I found one, we never went any farther on that.

Eddie

 

[EddieWalker]

With so many pigs in your area, the deer population must take real beating. I know wild boars in Europe are known of snacking on fawns and feral hogs won't be much different.

I've started thinking that you are right. I still might not have the right stuff planted for them, but I also find it hard to believe that they just don't like what I'm growing. The hogs are loud, aggressive and prone to sudden movement. All things that the deer don't like.

I've resisted trapping them because I really don't want to deal with it. There are ads in the papers from guys who say they will come onto your land to trap and remove the hogs for free. I'm debating doing this. I'd like to have more deer arond here, but given a choice, hog meat is much tastier then deer meat. We can also hunt hogs year round.

It's a tough choice.

Eddie