Chicken Tractor for Tractors

[EddieWalker]

Just to complicate it more, do you move it with the chickens inside?

The chickens will go inside the coop to sleep as soon as it's dark outside. This is the best time to move chickens, or handle them. It an be a challenge to catch a chicken during the day, but super easy once they go to bed. Close the door to the coop, and move it at night, or first thing in the morning before opening up the door.

 

[jmc]

Expanding on that .... mount the tongue so the coupler is above ground enough to back a hitch and ball under it. Use a 3 point mounted trailer mover and the three point lift to raise it. No trailer jack needed unless desired.

Yep, and expanding on that:

If the trailing wheels are 24" behind the enclosure (touching the ground), and ball hitch is 192" (16 feet) forward from the wheels, and your 3 point hitch will lift its end 18", then the lifted ground clearance at the rear of the enclosure will be (18 X 24)/192=
about 2 inches.

If that's not enough, maybe extend the ballmount rearward (and/or shorten the toplink). Reduced lift capacity won't be a problem on part of 600 lbs.

 

[Tractorable]

These are the wife’s prized Polish and bantam chickens so they’re not on the menu for us or the predators lurking around. We already lost two this year to that fox when we let them out for an hour.

When we move the chicken tractor we let them out. Since they’re Polish hens with big poofs on their heads they’re half blind and easy to catch and corral back in.

 

[jmc]

^^^^^
I took a shortcut thru the 4H poultry barn at our county fair and it turned out to be the best part of the fair!

 

[alexpops]

Sounds like you like your current system, you just don't like the strength needed to lever the wheels up. What if you nested 2x2 square tube inside of 2-1/2 x 2-1/2 square tubing & attached your spindles to the bottom of the 2x2. A cheap bottle jack on top of the 2x2 with a bearing plate attached to the coop frame above it could be used to push/extend the wheel/spindle to the length needed for your height. Drill a hole through both tubes at the right height & run a pin there to maintain. No tractor remotes needed & you could keep using the same tractor you have now. Reverse & use the bottle jack/remove pin to drop it back to ground when you get to your new spot. Instead of the cost of hydraulics/hoses/beefed up framing/etc. it costs you a few feet of 1/4" square tubing in nesting sizes/1 or 2 bottle jacks (depending on whether you want to carry from side to side)/& some welding time. with the savings you could upgrade the wheels/spindles & not overload the current weak axles. You should be able to get everything at TSC (except maybe the weight bearing plate), in which case you could substitute some additional square tube & weld up an inverted "L" for the bottle jack to press against.

 

[kneedeep]

Just put it on skids and drag it to a new spot with a chain !!

K.I.S.S.

 

[TheMadOne]

If the current wheels are the issue, why not just get some sidewind jacks and atv tires?

You'll break that wood frame before hurting either of those components.

 

[Mace Canute]

Put the coop on skids and drag it

Just put it on skids and drag it to a new spot with a chain !!

K.I.S.S.

Best idea! :thumbsup:

 

[herm0016]

ours is in 4x4 skids. i pull it with my truck or a comealong. my GT is not quite enough to pull it on dirt, but i think it will once the grass comes in.

 

[ajmaxham]

I used top wind trailer jacks - installed a coupling nut for the handle and use a 18 volt drill to jack the wheels down. Used 4.80/4.00-8 tires on 3/4'' bearings (400 LB load per tire) I can move my chicken tractor by hand on level ground but it takes two move when going up a grade. You could also use the side crank trailer jack and crank it up and down by hand.