It's great to be back!

[Sherrie]

Christmas doesn't hold a candle to the excitement I get from seeing my first martin come "home"! I haven't seen any yet, but I've been watching the skies daily. Hubby's having to re-adjust to watching TV alone in the evenings while I'm glued to this forum.

I have decided to build a foam house! Darill is often out of town when I need to be doing nest checks, but my current housing is too heavy for me to winch up and down. Emil Pampell knows all about it - because he gave us the house - which I love! It's all thanks to him that I got into being a very happy PM landlord. I'm finding and assembling all the necessary supplies as suggested in several threads here - except for one item I can't find without ordering a truckload - and that's a square pvc post which will slide on a 4 x 4 wooden pole. Can I buy just one piece at one of the big box stores? Maybe I need to call a fence contractor and see if I can bum some scraps! If you have suggestions, I need them!

I'm anticipating a great season, and hope every one of you 'wannabes' have martins in every space!

[John Atteberry]

Welcome back Sherrie!!!! Hope you have a great season!!! John!

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

Hi Sherrie, good to see you back, and glad that hubby has a good job! About the pvc sliding assembly, I really don't know if you can buy it. Can you make a sliding assembly out of 1x6 treated lumber, and attach the styrofoam to it? With a light house, the 1x6 treated wood would probably slide real easily on the 4x4 pole. I don't even know any fence contractors so I am not much help. Good luck.

Another option, maybe somebody can rig up an electric winch, but I don't know how to do that either, but I heard they are a dream when it comes to raising and lowering, as that makes it effortless!

Another idea is that maybe you need a hazer on the old house (attach it to the old house). A hazer is a small pipe that rests on the pole, the pipe turns, so there is no drag on the pole, the pipe turning makes it much easier to raise & lower the house. I put 2 hazers on my sliding rack, one at the top on one side, and one on the bottom on the other side, because that is where the drag occurs. On a heavy assembly, the wood sliding on wood causes a lot of drag, so the hazer eliminates the drag, and you only winch up the weight of the house (instead of the house + the drag)...Hope that you are not too confused, but hubby may understand.

Sherrie, another comparison on a hazer, can you imagine dragging a load of wood on the ground, compared to putting it on a wagon and pulling the wagon...a big difference, so the hazer makes it easier to raise & lower.

[Sherrie]

Emil, as always, you're full of good information. I'll look at all the suggestions. If I get a foam 'dreamhouse' put together I'll post some pictures.

[Adam Romain]

A few more suggestions for you Sherrie. When I switched my housing to go up and down an EZ Lift, I just took ppca and put a thick coating on the inside of the edges which touched the pole. This kept the edges from splitting and it also had a smooth surface to aid the movement.

However, you may too much surface area to cover using ppca so I would also suggest cutting and gluing vinyl siding to the insides. This will create a smooth surface that will resist tearing and aid with raising and lowering. Hope this helps and let us know if you have other questions!!!

[Davlyn]

Hello Sherrie,
Welcome back!! My husband has also had to adjust to watching TV along
in the evening while I am outside putting the martins to bed! I got that
term from Steve K. will right now its one martin, but I hope that changes
over the next few weeks!!! Here is hoping you have a great 2007!!!