Lonestar Houses

[Guest]

I currently have a Watersedge house with 8 cavities. Last year I filled three of them and I am hoping for more this year. I am thinking about upgrading my housing (probably next year) to include a pole that has a winch system.

For the Lonestar owners out there, what can you tell me about the houses? Well built? Is the square pole as sturdy as it looks? Does the winch system work well? Any suggestions for other houses in the same price range?

[bk]

we have a goliad that was mostly full last year. the houses are simple but well made. the square pole seems to be adequate. I'm a little leery of the skinny cable and the winch, while up to the task, is quite a bit smaller than the one for the heavier t-14. The goliad is noisy to raise and lower even with felt pads stuck in there. I riveted the sections together because some here had reported the sections separating in mid air and becoming stuck.
I am not familiar with the waters edge housing up close. I can't remember why I didn't pick those. Do they use the combo pole?
Goliads are ok in my book. the martins like em.

Bill
Rowlett Tx

[Guest]

The Coates house that I have is the model with "Suites" or double compartments. As far as the house goes, I think it stood up to the tremendous wind we have here. I noticed when cleaning it out this year, two of the dividers in the bottom section had popped loose (aluminum cracked). My guess is that the flexing from the wind eventually wore down the metal. Other than that, I can't complain about the housing.

The poles on the other hand have been horrible. I bought a heavy duty pole last year. I was less than satisfied with it because there was such a big difference in the OD/ID of the first and second section. It made the house sway a bit until I shimmed it up.

I have ripped it out and ordered the new aluminum 14' pole that Coates is selling. It looks like it is better made and the sections should fit together much better. I guess I will see when it shows up.

Thanks for the input on the Goliad. The cable issue was something I wondered about when looking at an assembled model in a store. I suppose someone could replace the "wimpy" cable with a stouter replacement? Don't know for sure since I haven't looked that close at that part of the system.

[Joe Henchal]

We've had an Alamo with crescent entrances for several years now. Early on, we had a martin die after it got stuck in an opening where the thin metal of the door acted like a knife, cutting between the wing and neck. Two other martins were stuck inside and died before we got home that evening. I used plastic material about 1/4" thick to thicken the area around the entrances and we haven't had that problem again, although it may have been a fluke in the first place.

I agree the cable is quite a bit thinner than our T-14, but the house is very light and we haven't had any problems with ours. We lube the cable and winch every year, but that's about all we do. The pole has held up well, but we usually lower it 4-5 feet if there's a chance of high winds, and last year it was just as popular with the martins as the T-14, which isn't usually the case for us.

[Tim Mangan-Kansas]

Pavetheway:

I have two of the Watersedge eight compartment suites out on my multi-purpose pole. I had 15 out of the 16 cavities from these two houses successfully fledge nestlings last season. One dominant male kept two compartments all season or I would have had 16 out of 16.

I also have a Sunset Inn house by Trendsetter. The Sunset Inn is comparable in price, only $5 more, and a much better constructed house using a heavier gauge of aluminum. The Sunset Inn arrives fully constructed. The only downside to the Sunset Inn, for me, is it does not have divided compartments. I bought some aluminum and made dividers for my Sunset Inn. It is sold by the PMCA.

Tim

[Craig Dyer]

I have a six floor Goliad with a gourd rack benieth. I too was concerned about the 1/16" diameter steel cable, and replaced it with a 3/32" diameter. The pole seems sturdy enough, but I do lower the housing abit in winds in excess of thirty mph. As mentioned above, before I bolted the floors together, I experienced the top couple of floors getting stuck/wedged high up on the pole. That was no picnic, but have not had that problem since. I placed felt pads inside the housing where the pole slides. It operates very quietly. I also added porch dividers, as the housing does not include them. I too experienced some wing entrapments due to the crescent entrances. The radii of these openings are very sharp. Overall, I think it is a good investment, and the martins like it.

[klcretired]

pavetheway,
I have had both the LS Goliad House (20 room) and The LS Gourd Rack with 36 gourds and adding more this year both setups up and never come down during high winds. I have had these setups up since 1995 and never spent any money on them and never ordered any parts for them as of yet. I do keep them oiled and lubricated well but thats all.
I hope this info helps you and if you have other questions i will be glad to answer them. My email address is below:
Your Martin friend,
Kenny