Don't mention the fact that the 4 story comes with 92 little screws and locknuts for your home assembly pleasure. A good cordless Makita drill and a wife that likes to pull the trigger makes the task a lot easier. "We" put the second house together a lot faster than "I" did the first one.
Wondering why I only got 48" ground stake. Maybe that will soon be answered by the CUE (Creative Universe Enterprizes) guys that make the pole. If they only read the forum........I might already have and answer. Glad I ran out of sackrete putting up the Heritage Farms pole.
Photo Of New WatersEdge Suites With Round Holes
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mbuster
- Posts: 14
- Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2006 12:49 am
- Location: Arkansas / Ben Lomond
- Martin Colony History: Started out with a homemade wooden house gifted by a neighbor as a birthday present about 35 years ago when we lived in town. Only had a couple of pair, but have been hooked ever since. My grandfather gave us several of octagon shaped aluminum houses when we moved out of town, he had too many trees. We managed to gain a few more pair and then we moved again, to our current location 27 years ago. We've added additional housing over the years as the colony grew and now have 2 gemini gourd racks with 36 troyer gourds ad 12 super gourds, a courts waters edge suite bundle (2 eight suite houses with 4 gourds) and a quad pod rack converted to hold 16 troyer gourds instead of the pods.
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Steve Kroenke
- Posts: 4342
- Joined: Fri Nov 28, 2003 6:49 pm
- Location: Louisiana/Logansport
Mark,
Oh yeah! I must admit the assembly of my first WatersEdge house was an ordeal! I did it the old fashion way and it did take a while. I got better with the second house. Perhaps in the future Coates will be able to have more of the house pre-assembled to reduce the assembly time and effort. But I still like the house a lot.
That is strange about your ground stake. CUE is a good company and I have talked with the folks there several times. Last year one of my ground stakes on a PMCA Deluxe pole bent during a violent storm. They called me and talked about the problems and replaced my ground stake free of charge.
Steve
Oh yeah! I must admit the assembly of my first WatersEdge house was an ordeal! I did it the old fashion way and it did take a while. I got better with the second house. Perhaps in the future Coates will be able to have more of the house pre-assembled to reduce the assembly time and effort. But I still like the house a lot.
That is strange about your ground stake. CUE is a good company and I have talked with the folks there several times. Last year one of my ground stakes on a PMCA Deluxe pole bent during a violent storm. They called me and talked about the problems and replaced my ground stake free of charge.
Steve
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Louise Chambers
- Site Admin
- Posts: 6208
- Joined: Tue Nov 04, 2003 1:07 pm
- Location: Corpus Christi, TX
Mark & Steve,
Manufacturers sometimes change product designs between seasons and this is one of those cases. PMCA gourd racks and Multipurpose poles now have 48" ground stakes, and previously had 57" ground stakes.
Louise
Manufacturers sometimes change product designs between seasons and this is one of those cases. PMCA gourd racks and Multipurpose poles now have 48" ground stakes, and previously had 57" ground stakes.
Louise
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Steve Kroenke
- Posts: 4342
- Joined: Fri Nov 28, 2003 6:49 pm
- Location: Louisiana/Logansport
Louise,
Thank you for clarifying this. I still have 3 multi-purpose poles to install. I bought these last season and all have the 57 inch ground stake. Perhaps the assembly instructions still have the 57 inch reference and this confuses folks.
Steve
Thank you for clarifying this. I still have 3 multi-purpose poles to install. I bought these last season and all have the 57 inch ground stake. Perhaps the assembly instructions still have the 57 inch reference and this confuses folks.
Steve
Who is the manufacturer of the Multi-Purpose Pole for PMCA?
And can the above feedback be constructively used to improve their design?
With the Coates houses, their base plate is very well designed and provides a house with no "wind sway" when properly installed on a Coates pole.
I would guess Coates COULD do more pre-fab work, but that would probably add to the cost of an already very economical and well designed house. The assembly is time-consuming, but very straightforward.
And can the above feedback be constructively used to improve their design?
With the Coates houses, their base plate is very well designed and provides a house with no "wind sway" when properly installed on a Coates pole.
I would guess Coates COULD do more pre-fab work, but that would probably add to the cost of an already very economical and well designed house. The assembly is time-consuming, but very straightforward.
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mbuster
- Posts: 14
- Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2006 12:49 am
- Location: Arkansas / Ben Lomond
- Martin Colony History: Started out with a homemade wooden house gifted by a neighbor as a birthday present about 35 years ago when we lived in town. Only had a couple of pair, but have been hooked ever since. My grandfather gave us several of octagon shaped aluminum houses when we moved out of town, he had too many trees. We managed to gain a few more pair and then we moved again, to our current location 27 years ago. We've added additional housing over the years as the colony grew and now have 2 gemini gourd racks with 36 troyer gourds ad 12 super gourds, a courts waters edge suite bundle (2 eight suite houses with 4 gourds) and a quad pod rack converted to hold 16 troyer gourds instead of the pods.
Thanks everybody for the feedback. Maybe the price of steel is driving the length down. E P - Creative Universe Enterprises
I'll go ahead and get my groundstake in concrete and ponder on a beefier mounting bracket for the two 4 stories while the concrete is curing.
Just got thru putting up a Quad Pod. That's a pretty interesting design.
I'll go ahead and get my groundstake in concrete and ponder on a beefier mounting bracket for the two 4 stories while the concrete is curing.
Just got thru putting up a Quad Pod. That's a pretty interesting design.
Hi,
I have three coates waters edge 4 level houses in my martin set ups at work. I purchased them because I liked the concept and design but the birds seem to feel differently. I didn't have one martin nest in a single compartment. I had martins nest in the troyer horizontal gourds hung below them but none in the watersedge house itself. I did see a few SY birds enter but they preferred the crescent troyer gourds below the watersedge. Maybe this year I will have some birds use the watersedge houses.
I do have a problem with the latching system. The raised bump in the floor doesn't secure the doors properly. On some compartments the door doesn't meet with the bump and the door doesn't latch at all. I usually slip a dime in the slot in the latch bump to hold the door to hold it securely. But this is inconvenient and inevitably I drop the dime and lose one or two during nest checks. At least 2 or 3 doors on each house are this way. I wish they had a more secure latching system.
Also the sub-floors don't always fit neatly into the compartments and that can make the doors hard to latch. Definitely a redesign is needed here.
I checked out the Coates website and they do not show the round hole doors on their website. Do you have to request them specifically?
I don't like to be overly critical but so far they haven't proved successful for me. Other landlords have found them good and I can't argue with that. But, overall I have found the houses to be inconvenient and not well designed. I thought they were a good idea in the catalog but they have not proved to be as practical and inviting to the birds as I had hoped for in application. I haven't given up on them and will give them another couple of seasons but if the birds don't like them I might as well stick to the gourd racks and T-14 houses. Hopefully the birds will take a liking to them and I will change my mind.
James
James
I have three coates waters edge 4 level houses in my martin set ups at work. I purchased them because I liked the concept and design but the birds seem to feel differently. I didn't have one martin nest in a single compartment. I had martins nest in the troyer horizontal gourds hung below them but none in the watersedge house itself. I did see a few SY birds enter but they preferred the crescent troyer gourds below the watersedge. Maybe this year I will have some birds use the watersedge houses.
I do have a problem with the latching system. The raised bump in the floor doesn't secure the doors properly. On some compartments the door doesn't meet with the bump and the door doesn't latch at all. I usually slip a dime in the slot in the latch bump to hold the door to hold it securely. But this is inconvenient and inevitably I drop the dime and lose one or two during nest checks. At least 2 or 3 doors on each house are this way. I wish they had a more secure latching system.
Also the sub-floors don't always fit neatly into the compartments and that can make the doors hard to latch. Definitely a redesign is needed here.
I checked out the Coates website and they do not show the round hole doors on their website. Do you have to request them specifically?
I don't like to be overly critical but so far they haven't proved successful for me. Other landlords have found them good and I can't argue with that. But, overall I have found the houses to be inconvenient and not well designed. I thought they were a good idea in the catalog but they have not proved to be as practical and inviting to the birds as I had hoped for in application. I haven't given up on them and will give them another couple of seasons but if the birds don't like them I might as well stick to the gourd racks and T-14 houses. Hopefully the birds will take a liking to them and I will change my mind.
James
James
James Mejeur
-
apundt-TX
- Posts: 986
- Joined: Thu Jan 22, 2004 7:34 pm
- Location: Pflugerville, Texas
- Martin Colony History: :
2022-1 pair
1 pair 2021
2020- Didn't get setup fast enough in Pflugerville
2019- Apartment
2018 Divorce lost Colony in Dripping Springs
19 pair 2017
17 pair 2015
12 pair 2014
8 pair 2013
5 pair 2012
2 pair 2011
I got a good laugh at this comment "Maybe the price of steel is driving the length down.". Or maybe the cost of shipping too.
Yes the coates house has lots of parts. I think they do that to make it compact for shipping.
Steve's round hole watersedge was a special order item. I guess you could call and ask....
I to have trouble with the door latch. One suggestion someone made here or the clubhouse was a two latch system per door.
The sub-floors for me were also too wide. I had to bend the floor sides more to make it fit. This made the sub-floor a little taller and narrower.
A.P.
Yes the coates house has lots of parts. I think they do that to make it compact for shipping.
Steve's round hole watersedge was a special order item. I guess you could call and ask....
I to have trouble with the door latch. One suggestion someone made here or the clubhouse was a two latch system per door.
The sub-floors for me were also too wide. I had to bend the floor sides more to make it fit. This made the sub-floor a little taller and narrower.
A.P.
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Steve Kroenke
- Posts: 4342
- Joined: Fri Nov 28, 2003 6:49 pm
- Location: Louisiana/Logansport
James/A.P.,
On the PMCA online catalog, the WatersEdge are now offered with round holes. So I believe they are now available for folks who use round holes.
The door panels on my two WatersEdge suites seem to latch OK, but it does concern me, too. I would favor a double locking system also to ensure the doors remain intact. Folks may not remember, but WAY BACK in the early to mid-60s, the first Trio Castles had the same system on for their doors. I remember having to latch the doors to the raised bump. The Trios only had one door per bump and it seemed to work fine. Trio now uses a door latch system for all their houses I believe. I like the way the Trio doors lock into place.
Another possible problem may be the vents in the nesting chamber area. This may allow too much light to pass through and this could possibly discourage some female martins from selecting the cavities. I have blocked off all these vents with black electrical tape from the inside for this season. James, you may want to try that or use some other kind of blocking system like pieces of aluminum to block off these vents. The WatersEdge suites already provide plenty of air venting through the air holes and the space above the door panels.
This will be my first season to use any Coates product. There are many Coates houses in the Louisiana area as the company is based here.
Good luck.
Steve
On the PMCA online catalog, the WatersEdge are now offered with round holes. So I believe they are now available for folks who use round holes.
The door panels on my two WatersEdge suites seem to latch OK, but it does concern me, too. I would favor a double locking system also to ensure the doors remain intact. Folks may not remember, but WAY BACK in the early to mid-60s, the first Trio Castles had the same system on for their doors. I remember having to latch the doors to the raised bump. The Trios only had one door per bump and it seemed to work fine. Trio now uses a door latch system for all their houses I believe. I like the way the Trio doors lock into place.
Another possible problem may be the vents in the nesting chamber area. This may allow too much light to pass through and this could possibly discourage some female martins from selecting the cavities. I have blocked off all these vents with black electrical tape from the inside for this season. James, you may want to try that or use some other kind of blocking system like pieces of aluminum to block off these vents. The WatersEdge suites already provide plenty of air venting through the air holes and the space above the door panels.
This will be my first season to use any Coates product. There are many Coates houses in the Louisiana area as the company is based here.
Good luck.
Steve
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mbuster
- Posts: 14
- Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2006 12:49 am
- Location: Arkansas / Ben Lomond
- Martin Colony History: Started out with a homemade wooden house gifted by a neighbor as a birthday present about 35 years ago when we lived in town. Only had a couple of pair, but have been hooked ever since. My grandfather gave us several of octagon shaped aluminum houses when we moved out of town, he had too many trees. We managed to gain a few more pair and then we moved again, to our current location 27 years ago. We've added additional housing over the years as the colony grew and now have 2 gemini gourd racks with 36 troyer gourds ad 12 super gourds, a courts waters edge suite bundle (2 eight suite houses with 4 gourds) and a quad pod rack converted to hold 16 troyer gourds instead of the pods.
I'll be the guinea pig on extra vents. I got my multipurpose pole ground stake set. I'll have 2 Coates 4 story WatersEdge Suites on this pole. I'll tape up the extra vents on one house and not the other. They will be oriented so that openings are facing north and south - unless there is a problem with that.
It is also our first year with Coates and crescent. May or not be able to determine anything this year but certainly hope so.
As far as door latch, all are working OK and seem secure, but nothing has been distorted by wind or temperature since they are still in the spare bedroom.
I put subfloors in mine before tightening screws on each level. There was enough looseness in holes to not have that partion too tight.
It is also our first year with Coates and crescent. May or not be able to determine anything this year but certainly hope so.
As far as door latch, all are working OK and seem secure, but nothing has been distorted by wind or temperature since they are still in the spare bedroom.
I put subfloors in mine before tightening screws on each level. There was enough looseness in holes to not have that partion too tight.
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Steve Kroenke
- Posts: 4342
- Joined: Fri Nov 28, 2003 6:49 pm
- Location: Louisiana/Logansport
Mark,
Thanks for being the guinea pig for the vent experiment on the WatersEdge suites! No one knows for sure, but the more data we can collect the better. My door latches are working well too. Perhaps as time progresses and actions of any nesting martins may produce some pressure on the door panels to result in them popping out. I will keep a watch on mine.
Steve
Thanks for being the guinea pig for the vent experiment on the WatersEdge suites! No one knows for sure, but the more data we can collect the better. My door latches are working well too. Perhaps as time progresses and actions of any nesting martins may produce some pressure on the door panels to result in them popping out. I will keep a watch on mine.
Steve