General quesion on weight of houses.

Guest · Thu Feb 09, 2006 7:38 pm

Just wondering how heavy is too heavy for a Martin house, considering you have a strong pole and braking winch?

Emil Pampell-Tx · Thu Feb 09, 2006 7:42 pm

How heavy is too heavy???????????? Is this safety related, so there could be many answers, but the basic answer is that too heavy means the pole cannot handle the weight and it falls down, or its too heavy to put up and could be a severe safety hazard to install it or use it

Guest · Fri Feb 10, 2006 4:05 pm

What I have is a heavy-duty 2.75-3" outside diamter schedule 40 pipe that once mounted will be 14 ft. in the air. I am buidling a custom house that could weigh as much as 60 lbs, but I could limit the number of compartments and cut that weight down to 30. I hear the Troyer houses can weigh as much as 50 lbs. To me that seems like a lot of weight even with all the right equipment.

apundt-TX · Fri Feb 10, 2006 4:19 pm

Check this out:
http://home.earthlink.net/~chuckabare/structrl.htm

db · Fri Feb 10, 2006 5:44 pm

RH, I have a 18 cavity house built mostly from 1" cypress. It measures 40" x 40" x about 26" high. I haven't weighed it but a good guess would be around 130 lbs. It is mounted on top of a 17' x 2" schedule 40 pipe. I built another one, a (T-14) from the same material that weighs about 100 lbs. It is mounted on a 20' x 2" schedule 40 pipe. These two houses have seen some pretty high winds from the tropical systems we've had the last couple of years with no damage. I would think your 60 lb house would work out fine......db

Guest · Sat Feb 11, 2006 5:37 pm

RH, I have a T14 made out of pine. Weight 94 lbs. Good thing PM's only a few ounces each. Purchased brake winch from PMCA. Using 3/16" cable. Pole is 2" square tubing 3/16 thick. I am seriously considering aluminum housing within next couple of years. I still get nervous raising and lowering house. Must keep body out of harms way. I love the T14 style, have great success with it.
Good luck this season!
Rick

Joe Zorn · Sat Feb 11, 2006 6:59 pm

RH,

I am taking a little different approach in my construction.

I used recycled cypress wall boards that I ripped in two, making each board about 3/8" thick. For strength, I used cypress strips in the corners and along the tops and bottoms of each of the walls. I glued everything with TiteBond, and also used dowell pegs in every joint several times. Because the boards are rather thin, I used no nails, screws, or brads at all. The secret is in the glue and the clamps.

My biggest house is 18" on each side and 18" high, with a roof unit that is seperate, and lifts off for maintainance, if you take the screws out on all four sides. The roof pitch is probably 8-on-12, but I neve really measured it.

This whole unit, unpained so far, weighs less than 30 lbs. It probably would have been 75-80 lbs otherwise.

Two of my houses are made in this fashion with recycled cypress.
The other is made from ordainary fence board cedar...again, ripped in half. The construction turned out almost identical as working with the cypress.

With both the cypress and the cedar, you will have to use about three or four sections of board to make up an 18" high wall. Same with the top piece. Thats where the 3/4" strips come in.

Many of the houses I've built in the past were done in this fashion to cut down on the bearing weight on the pole. Just remember to GLUE EVERYTHING lavishly!

Joe

eyeamtheman · Sat Feb 11, 2006 8:00 pm

I use poles that are 2" ID, making them about 2 3/8" OD, and they do just fine. The new T14 I built, a little bigger than the "specs", weighs about 50-55 pounds. The reason I mention this is because SOMEBODY......I will mention no names........built one out of plywood, which was MUCH heavier, and used the same poles still with no problem. That set up was at least 70 pounds for all 4 houses, so I'd say if you're dealing with just 60 pounds, or even a little more, that big pole you plan to use will manage just fine........
Good luck!!

Guest · Mon Feb 13, 2006 10:11 pm

db wrote:.....a good guess would be around 130 lbs. It is mounted on top of a 17' x 2" schedule 40 pipe. I built another one, a (T-14) from the same material that weighs about 100 lbs. It is mounted on a 20' x 2" schedule 40 pipe.

db,

Hope you don't take this the wrong way but I would be concerned about that much weight at that height.....on that size pole. Chuck Abare is an engineer and has calculations on his site for calculating pole deflection you might want to check out. I'm guessing the pole sways a bit in the wind.

Guest · Mon Feb 13, 2006 11:04 pm

Hello All,

I was wondering where you all get your "poles". I have a trio castle, it slides up and down on a 1-1/2 OD pole. Last year I made my own out of two ten foot sections, and then cut to length. Well it wasn't very strong so I had to tether (sp) it to the ground. I did manage to fledge 30 young.

This year I want a sturdy, one piece pole. It has to be exactly (1-1/2") OD to be able to slide through the pipe that is in the castle. I need it around 14' to 15' in length.

I was trying to find one @ a reasonable price if possible. I looked all over around where I live. The only thing I can come up with is a 1-1/4" Galv pipe, schedule 40...but is a 1-5/8 OD, thats to big.

If anyone has a pole like this, or any info on location and type of pole I would need, would greatly be appreciated!!

Thanks Again!
Craig

db · Tue Feb 14, 2006 6:05 pm

Hog Wild, No offense taken. I agree when it comes to safety we should error on the side of caution but these 2" schedule 40 poles have made it through Ivan and Dennis and a couple of other storms. I've leaned the ladder against them and worked on them without lowering the houses. Having said all that, if I were about to build another house, I go with something a little lighter than 1" cypress.