I like my gourds to swing but...

[Whippy]

Before we go on, I have S&K Big Beau Gourds and just added Bo 11's on a fountain rack up top and regular straight rack on bottom.

So I set my gourds to swing and they do very nicely keeping the entrance orientation consistent as well as providing a smooth movement for its occupants. These gourds do not have the tunnels attached. My only pair last year was successful in one of these. None of the tunnels were occupied and were not swinging.

The ones that do have tunnels attached are not swinging yet because when set up to swing as the others are, they tend to lean forward due to the weight of the tunnel added to the gourd. So I am tasking myself to find a way to counterbalance the tunnel by adding weight to the back of the gourd. I'd like it to look good when done.

Why am I telling you this?

Simple. There is a lot of experience on this board and I believe someone here has experienced this and has a solution that I probably have not thought of. Kyler comes to mind as a crafty and engineering type as I've seen, and been impressed by, his work.

If anyone has an idea or remedy please share. I'll be out in the shop tinkering with this today.

Thank you,

Coolwhips.

[zatn02]

Have you had any problems with the fountain rack on top? I just purchased a fountain rack top and bottom and finished hanging 12 Troyer Vertical gourds yesterday. We are experiencing very high winds yesterday and today and I noticed the gourds are bouncing up and down. I am trying to figure out a way to brace the arms so that the gourds don't do this. Have you seen this with yours?

[Whippy]

That bouncing is why I set them to swing. When they swing they don't bounce like that. There is nothing I could do to change that when the gourds are mounted directly on the bar. My gourds with the tunnels were mounted that way and I would watch them shake up and down like shaking a drink or something. In my eye it looked like a rough ride for the occupants and or their eggs. Luckily I had no occupants in those.

I will try to add a picture of my swing set up as I'm sure previous posts that had the pictures no longer allow the pictures to be viewed. Not a forum problem rather a blame on photobucket. You get only so much for free I guess.

Coolwhips.

[Whippy]

Here are two photos.

This photo is of my Big Bo gourds and how I set them up. All I had to do is widen the hole in the arm to get the round eye shaft through.

Gourd Swing 1 resized.jpg (34.11 KiB) Viewed 9204 times

This is the Bo 11. A little different than the Big Bo. I used coated wire rope crimped together. I ran the wire rope through a piece of tubing to make the movement side to side less of a factor in order to keep the orientation consistent. The Bo 11 doesn't lean forward as much or at all with the tunnel attached like the Big Bo's do so I'm good to go there. Just gotta modify the Big Bos to offset the forward tilt when the tunnel is attached.

[cary-nw-fla]

Whippy...
I have 12 of the Big Bo's that I added the tunnels to and like you mine tilted down on the entrance side.
Here is what I did to solve the balance problem. Items needed: Lexel, drill, quarter inch bolts with extra
washers and nut, and a short length of 3/4 in pvc pipe. Drill a hole thru pvc about 3/4 inch up from one end.
Place one washer on bolt, insert thru gourd neck from back side, put on another washer (see note) then
insert bolt thru pvc with the pvc on the entrance side of the gourd. Add another washer, lock washer and
nut. You can cut the pvc to the length that works best for you. The gourd is then hung from the pvc to
the rack arm. .... Note: you can add additional washers between the gourd and the pvc to obtain the
correct balance. I then used the lexel on the bolt/washers at the gourd neck to seal out water.
Hope this might be of help to you.

[Whippy]

Cary,

Thanks. Is it possible to send a picture of that?

Coolwhips.

[cary-nw-fla]

Will try to do that. May take me a couple of days.

[Whippy]

No hurry. We are frozen in right now with a high of 27 today so it'll be a couple of days before the defrost button is pushed.

Thanks,

Coolwhips

[Whippy]

Cary,

I was out looking at my gourds prior to hoisting them back up and was running your solution through my mind. Then it hit me. Instead of adding counter balance to the back of the gourd, what you did is change the center of gravity.

I will do that today and let you know how it goes.

Thanks,

Coolwhips.

[Whippy]

Eye bolt hanger.jpg

(435.04 KiB) Not downloaded yet

A rough draft of changing the center of gravity. Headed out now to purchase the materials need to do it better. In addition to doing the Big Bo Gourds I am going to set up the Bo11's this way as well. With this, it is easy to remove the gourd from the rack

[Whippy]

A rough draft of changing the center of gravity. Headed out now to purchase the materials need to do it better. In addition to doing the Big Bo Gourds I am going to set up the Bo11's this way as well. With this, it is easy to remove the gourd from the rack.

[cary-nw-fla]

Whippy - I like what you did. Will try to post pic and you'll see why I used pvc because of the way I have my gourds mounted.

[Whippy]

I see it now. Given the way I hang mine and the way your hang yours the method is completely different. However, your idea made me think of moving the center of gravity. I will follow up with the final product in a few minutes once I resize the photo.

Thanks,

Coolwhips.

[Whippy]

So here is the final product. Kind of fine tuned it a bit from the above. I did a Bo 11 the same way however, it caused the gourd to tilt backwards a little bit. May not be a bad thing so I left that one alone.

This method on the Big Bo gourds actually causes them to hang perfectly even. I put a piece of rubber tubing on the shaft of the eyebolt then ran them through the mounting holes in the gourd. I put a rubber grommet in the circle of the eyebolt to take up space and to add some cushioning. The rubber grommet, by taking up space, allows the gourd to swing but maintain its orientation.

[Bird Brain]

Whippy. I might have a simpler idea. Hang those leaning gourds with tunnels with a square U-bolt. Not a rounded U-bolt, but a square U-bolt. Here's a link with a picture so you will know what I'm talking about.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Stanley-Nation ... lt/3428588
That U-bolt might not be size you need. You might have to hunt around to find the right size. You can trim the U-bolt with bolt cutters or a hack saw if it's too long. I think the diameter will be what's most important to you. If the diameter is just right for the arm but to small for the gourd, then use those plastic hose thingies you got there to add girth to the bottom. This will make your gourds swing sideways, which is OK. I think it will solve the forward leaning problem.

You will have to drill an additional hole in the arm in just the right spot to accommodate the square U-bolt.

[Whippy]

I bought some of those for another project so I will tinker with them in the garage this weekend.

Good idea.

Thanks.

Coolwhips.