Washing machine plucker

[lilwhispers]

Has anyone built a plucker out of an old washer if so where can I get the plans? I have 2 old washers in my basement and would like to convert at least one maybe both. I am hoping to raise 100 chickens this coming year 50 auracanas and 50 cornish cross. I HATE (with a passion) plucking, it is so much easier to skin em but if I had a plucker than I could still have that crispy skin, mmmmm.
Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[wohneli]

 

[Jim & Jo]

http://thedeliberateagrarian.blogspot.com/2006/09/whizbang-plucker-story.html

 

[Buster52]

I think this is what the OP was talking about...

 

[maryhysong]

Has anyone actually built one of these, besides the guy in this video?

We want to build one but don't have any idea about the motor and switches and stuff; do you just use the washer motor? And rewire the switches to the front?

 

[lokua]

I am currently in the process of building one. I have seen many that basically just put a normal pulley driven whizbang plucker inside the drum of a washer. Mine actually uses the motor and transmission that came with the machine. While this option is definitely cheaper it is harder to make and I worry about the durability of the motor and plastic gears. I had to remove the center shaft that drove the agitator and shorten the outer shaft that drove the drum. I also had to shortened the bushing this shaft rides in to put my featherplate as low as possible in the drum. I completely removed the factory controls and just hard wired the slow speed spin cycle directly to power and installed a typical household light switch to turn it on and off. (Start with a working machine and figure out where power goes when its running the cycle you want.) My featherplate construction was identical to a normal whizbang (possibly the hardest part of this project). I used a sprocket from TSC as a flange and bolted it to the featherplate so it can attach to the shaft. It should be done in the coming weeks and I have found a few spent hens from a local farm to be my "test subjects". More in its performance to come.

 

[jmfunnyfarm]

Do you have pics of your finished product?