Reloading is the way to go, especially when one shoots spendy magnums. I use my reloads for plinking, serious training, and hunting. I haven't shot a game animal in the last 30+ years with a commercial load--only with my reloads. And they are more powerful and accurate than commercial loads.
Here's a "Talk About Anything" thread
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Started on my chicken tractor/trailer
Well, after several bouts with coons, I am working on converting a cotton trailer to safe house for my ole girls.
A few weeks ago , I came home to hear my chickens all upset. It was late but lots of sun left in the sky.. I run out there and a coon is chasing my chickens and is after "Ginger".. Just as I get to the fence, the coon grabs Ginger and bits her in the back. I am about 5 ft away and go " ahhhhh ahhhh!!!! ". (There is a fence between us ) He just looks at me, and I go blah blah again and lunge at 'him. . He lets go and, as Sis is hearing me, she grabs the shotgun to bring but he is gone before she gets there. The chicken survives.
The chickens are kept locked up all the next day as I work on cutting some limbs and taking out a pear tree that I had been resisting doing away with.
I cut limbs and went to the barn for the skid steer and when I came back 10 min later, the coon was there trying to get in the coop. He saw me and left fast. Now this happened 2 more times until I decide to approach the coop from the back and out of view... I got him with the 16g. I had 2 more coons try this later and they are now departed as well.
I had already had my eye on this cotton trailer which I had borrowed from my neighbor farmer friends many years ago. (I was using it to rehab song birds in.)
So, This is a continuing saga of my cotton trailer conversion.. I know I am not a carpenter but I do the best I can, I have already told the chickens no rulers or squares allowed or it will be used a second time to measure a stew pot.
In the first picture I am pulling it out of the woods with the RTV. I am taking it to the barn to work on it..The last picture is of the interior screen door- work in progress... collie
Well, after several bouts with coons, I am working on converting a cotton trailer to safe house for my ole girls.
A few weeks ago , I came home to hear my chickens all upset. It was late but lots of sun left in the sky.. I run out there and a coon is chasing my chickens and is after "Ginger".. Just as I get to the fence, the coon grabs Ginger and bits her in the back. I am about 5 ft away and go " ahhhhh ahhhh!!!! ". (There is a fence between us ) He just looks at me, and I go blah blah again and lunge at 'him. . He lets go and, as Sis is hearing me, she grabs the shotgun to bring but he is gone before she gets there. The chicken survives.
The chickens are kept locked up all the next day as I work on cutting some limbs and taking out a pear tree that I had been resisting doing away with.
I cut limbs and went to the barn for the skid steer and when I came back 10 min later, the coon was there trying to get in the coop. He saw me and left fast. Now this happened 2 more times until I decide to approach the coop from the back and out of view... I got him with the 16g. I had 2 more coons try this later and they are now departed as well.
I had already had my eye on this cotton trailer which I had borrowed from my neighbor farmer friends many years ago. (I was using it to rehab song birds in.)
So, This is a continuing saga of my cotton trailer conversion.. I know I am not a carpenter but I do the best I can, I have already told the chickens no rulers or squares allowed or it will be used a second time to measure a stew pot.
In the first picture I am pulling it out of the woods with the RTV. I am taking it to the barn to work on it..The last picture is of the interior screen door- work in progress... collie
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That is gonna be so cool......... Can you still do the bird rehab in it??? You can make a traveling free-range outfit for the local yuppie's yards that have to have them environmentally just right eggs. Seriously, these long hot days and nights are getting the brain cells cooking pretty good to come up with these great concepts........ God bless...........Dennis
Hi Kanook, Cotton trailers are pretty much a thing of the past down here . But years ago, they were the only way to get cotton to the gin. I remember as a kid visiting my Uncle about 5 miles from us as a crow flies, ,who was a big farmer, and watching them dump the cotton into the trailers with a special sideways hydraulic dump trailer that was able to reach up to the top of the trailer. These dump trailers were pulled with another tractor and would meet the cotton picker and get a load from it. saving the cotton picker time. In the beginning my Uncle had a 2 row picker . (today there are some 8 row pickers !) . Then my cousins and farm hands (and us occasionally) would jump up and down on the cotton in the trailer to pack it down. Then it wouldn't blow out, plus you couldn't pull these trailers very fast at all. My cousin Kay was quite good pulling those 24 ft trailers to the gin and she was in high school ! 
Gins were everywhere when cotton was king. When the cotton trailer got to the gin they would either park it in a line for its turn to be unloaded or under a shed (if rain threatened) that was at the gin and bring back an empty trailer that had been emptied earlier and start all over. The cotton in the trailer was removed with a huge vacuum hose. Now days that has changed.. A few years ago they used what is called a module maker to dump the cotton in. It would be compacted really tight with the use of hydraulic cylinders in a giant all metal box the same size as the trailer. Then it was pushed out and picked up by a module truck made like a big enclosed wrecker hauler.Pulling the big moduled cotton up and onto the truck bed ,much like a wrecked car is carried.
And this past year , my neighbors paid 500,000 for a cotton picker that makes huge round bales like hay. The picker can collect one on the rear while picking another even... amazing technology.. I guess one day tractors will drive themselves...oh me, they already do !
collie
edit I put in a picture of the cotton from 2014 in front of us. You may can make out those moduled cotton bales in the far background. They are covered with yellow tarps.
Gins were everywhere when cotton was king. When the cotton trailer got to the gin they would either park it in a line for its turn to be unloaded or under a shed (if rain threatened) that was at the gin and bring back an empty trailer that had been emptied earlier and start all over. The cotton in the trailer was removed with a huge vacuum hose. Now days that has changed.. A few years ago they used what is called a module maker to dump the cotton in. It would be compacted really tight with the use of hydraulic cylinders in a giant all metal box the same size as the trailer. Then it was pushed out and picked up by a module truck made like a big enclosed wrecker hauler.Pulling the big moduled cotton up and onto the truck bed ,much like a wrecked car is carried.And this past year , my neighbors paid 500,000 for a cotton picker that makes huge round bales like hay. The picker can collect one on the rear while picking another even... amazing technology.. I guess one day tractors will drive themselves...oh me, they already do !
collieedit I put in a picture of the cotton from 2014 in front of us. You may can make out those moduled cotton bales in the far background. They are covered with yellow tarps.
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Hi Dennis, I built a screen house years and years to rehab in, but a fallen tree has damaged it .I encourage folks to put found birds back in the nest yet, have done all sorts of birds. It is very challenging and it is hard to be gone for any length of time with bitty birds because they need to eat so often and be fed by hand.I do this under the license of a clinic .I think of the songsters as a gift from God and love it when that Nightingale starts singing in the wee morning hours .. wondering if that is a decedent of one I rehabbed.
However,it is hard to do birds because they imprint on caregivers..
However,it is hard to do birds because they imprint on caregivers..
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Really good stuff there BUD..........Trying to make out the construction of your door. A layer of 2X4 laid flat, then wire then 1X4? The joints overlaying perhaps going the opposite way so you can glue and screw the lays together and have strong joints????? In other words the top rail of the 2X4 going all the way across and then the 1X4 Stiles going through all the way from top to bottom???............
GOOD lucking stuff for sure............BOY oh BOY when you build them you don't go half way. You made a hardware store owner have a smile when you walked out............
Do like the way you have 2 areas. One for feed and such and the other for critters? Or 2 different kinds of critters for each side?
Only thing I see that is any kind of a problem for me, is the floor is gonna be a pain perhaps to clean with that metal raised up. Knowing you though, it's figured out and a special shovel/implement already made.................
GREAT STUFF FOR THOSE OLD GIRLS...........God bless.......Dennis
GOOD lucking stuff for sure............BOY oh BOY when you build them you don't go half way. You made a hardware store owner have a smile when you walked out............
Do like the way you have 2 areas. One for feed and such and the other for critters? Or 2 different kinds of critters for each side?
Only thing I see that is any kind of a problem for me, is the floor is gonna be a pain perhaps to clean with that metal raised up. Knowing you though, it's figured out and a special shovel/implement already made.................
GREAT STUFF FOR THOSE OLD GIRLS...........God bless.......Dennis
I used biscuit joinery on the intersections and outdoor glue when making the door. The hardware cloth is all used- it is from 1995 when I made a chicken tractor back then.. good stuff . So far I have spent 370$ on wood and top 2x4 wire. I also have some leftover, but good , waterproofer for the top wood that isn't treated. . Neighbor let me have the trailer for $400. ( I saw his hired hand driving the cotton picker down the road and it was smoking so called him..) The tires off it will be used for other trailers used only on the farm pastures- So can reduce the actual cost of the trailer because of that. bil is buying. With the price of eggs it won't be but a few years to get the $ back.. ( Any way, I sincerely believe the Lord will be coming in our generation so that doesn't leave long.) I am making it to last though . I don't think the floor will be too much of a problem. I'll have some hay down and use a plastic snow scooper to push it around as it composts and then garden time. judy
judy
I forgot to mention that I am using treated drive screws in the door and construction as well.
BC - Looking real good!!!
A couple questions.
Is the roof going to be fence/chicken wire or something solid? If not something solid, what's your plans for chicken protection from the elements?
How hard is it to lift the entire coop off the bed/floor of the trailer? As I recall, chicken manure is really corrosive to metal and it appears you have a metal floor. You're building it quite stout and it should last for years but afraid you may go through several iterations of floor replacement.
A couple questions.
Is the roof going to be fence/chicken wire or something solid? If not something solid, what's your plans for chicken protection from the elements?
How hard is it to lift the entire coop off the bed/floor of the trailer? As I recall, chicken manure is really corrosive to metal and it appears you have a metal floor. You're building it quite stout and it should last for years but afraid you may go through several iterations of floor replacement.
Good eye on the floor.The floor is metal and when it starts getting thin, I'll replace it. with eithermore used tin, wood or thin plastic liner... but that plastic/rubber stuff has gotten high and would also be slick to walk on.. I think the tin will last several years and that is all I need.. . Right now though it will serve its purpose. (a coon preventer) I am just going to take the wheels off and put blocks under it. I've loosened the lugs with the impact wrench, oiled and put back on so that they will come off with a normal lug wrench when in position .The chickens will only go in the back when we aren't around. Normally, they will go in the outside pen. Thank you 
Edit.. I forgot to add that the sleeping quarters will have a roof and the rest will be open with a wired top. I was planning on having a tin roof on it all but that has caused some aesthetic issues with the family even though it's in the tree area,it is somewhat visible from the old historic house ... less said the better but the roof has to have a certain look pitch and be rusty ... I just live here and don't own it...
Edit.. I forgot to add that the sleeping quarters will have a roof and the rest will be open with a wired top. I was planning on having a tin roof on it all but that has caused some aesthetic issues with the family even though it's in the tree area,it is somewhat visible from the old historic house ... less said the better but the roof has to have a certain look pitch and be rusty ... I just live here and don't own it...
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Great looking rig there border collie!! I really like that it will be varmint proof. We have a lot of varmints around here. Looks like you are doing a good job of this as always. Maybe you could leave the wheels on and take the birds out for a Sunday afternoon drive or even take them to a parade (sure to be a big hit). 
Great looking rig there border collie!! I really like that it will be varmint proof. We have a lot of varmints around here. Looks like you are doing a good job of this as always. Maybe you could leave the wheels on and take the birds out for a Sunday afternoon drive or even take them to a parade (sure to be a big hit).
If I had photoshop , I would fix up that suggestion !
OrangeBuggy
Active member
Looks like you are coming along quite well. Really looks good.
Mark.Sibole
Well-known member
I got to tired of laying down to shoot and to damn old for that chit so I tore my old shooting platform down yesterday.Myself and Zach my 12 year old revamped the whole thing.Its made from recycled pallets and didnt cost me a dime.Just a few hours of labor between myself and him.Its solid as a rock and set of for left handed and right handed shooters.Here is the new dance floor.
Mark.Sibole
Well-known member
OLd prone platform was nice but just to hard on my back.Even thought it seen several thousand rounds from it i had to go for the comphort level. Today ill spray it down with thompsons water seal it make it last a few years in Michigan harsh winters but I should be golden for a while now.Just need to sell off some fire wood to pay for ammo as I am a very avid shooter and powder primers and projectiles are not getting any cheaper especially when you can sit and fire off 2 to 300 rounds per sitting. Edited cause i can spell worth a shit.Have a wonderful day.And yes thats my 04 RTV still alive and working its tail off
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