Perches

Guest · Sat Apr 17, 2010 8:13 am

I have the Chuck Abare style houses - I would like to put perches on top of these houses - probably using dowels - so, I have two questions -

First, what is the optimal size for a perch rod? I realize that PM's use everything from power lines to rooftops but I would think there must be a recommended diameter for the rod -

Second, I have been looking for some sort of bracket to mount on top of the house to hold the rod - I can make wood brackets, but I was hoping someone had found a bracket of some sort that would work - I have been exploring plumbing and electrical departments at home centers as well as going through their shelving departments looking for something that would work - so far no luck -

So, any suggestions?

Thanks for your help, Dave

Suzette McGowen · Sat Apr 17, 2010 8:19 am

I use 1/4 dowels, I can usually attach them to the house with nylon ties, you can zip them tight and cut off the excess length of the tie.

Sandy - NC · Sat Apr 17, 2010 8:40 am

The ideal size is 5/8". You can get aluminum rods from McMaster-Carr in various lengths. You may consider them expensive, but considering they will basically last forever, you are looking at a one time cost. Put up as many as you can and make them as long as you can. If you can drill holes in your pole, then slip them through the holes and use worm gear hose clamps to keep the in place, or you can even use caulk. Some of my poles have 4 and others have 8. You can't have too much perching space.

Guest · Sat Apr 17, 2010 9:06 am

I should have mentioned that this style house has the pole going through the center and slides up and down the pole via a winch, so I cannot put the perch through the pole - these houses crank all the way up to the support bracket for the pulley, so there is no place at the top of the pole for a perching rod - sorry for not making it clearer -

M.Stephens · Sat Apr 17, 2010 9:10 pm

Why not make them the way Chuck Abare makes them.He gives instructions how to make them on his website.

Indiana_Tom · Sat Apr 17, 2010 10:16 pm

Hi Dave s,

I use white fiberglass electric fence rods to make perchs. They are inexpensive, strong, will last forever and can easily be cut to length. The ones I have found are in about any hardware and are about 4 feet long. They come with a pointed end for puting in the ground so I cut that off with a hacksaw. Then smooth the end with sandpaper. Watch out for the fiberglass dust. Not good for lungs or fingers. WEAR GLOVES

~Ray~Gingerich · Sun Apr 18, 2010 1:30 am

I use fiberglass fence posts which make nice perches and as Tom says last a very long time. The only problem I have with the fiberglass is that after several years in the weather you can pick up some painful fiberglass splinters.

Bamboo garden stakes work too and give a more natural look, but don't last near as long.

Guest · Mon Apr 19, 2010 8:21 pm

Lots of good suggestions and I examined the perch supports on Mr. Abares site and they are sensible, practicable and simple. But I thought why should I keep from creating additional work for myself. So I decided to come up with something that wasn't all together sensible, and even though it might be practicable it should not be at all simple. Therefore, it appeared to me that a T-14 would benefit from a cupola, and that cupola could be the device that holds the perch. So I went to the scrap bin and glued up some cupolas in layer cake fashion. Secured them to the roofs with a couple 45 degree angled coated deck screws working in withdrawl and some horizontal finishing nails working in shear. Then bored some 1/2 inch holes to accept some aluminum tubing left over from a ham radio antenna that went down in an ice storm. Put a stainless steel set screw into the aluminum tubing and.. wha-la... The only advantage to this is that I had fun.