Heritage Farms Quad Pod pole

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MY FYN 79
Posts: 95
Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2018 8:58 pm
Location: Chilton Wisconsin
Martin Colony History: 2019 - Sighting
2020 - Pair investigating
2021 - Got 2 eggs. HOSPs poked holes in them. Commence HOSP reduction
2022 - Off to a good start, tree swallows took over and Martins left
2023 - Off to a good start, Martin population dwindled and they eventually left
2024 - New standalone pole and gourd rack. High hopes for success!

Good Morning Folks,

Hope you are enjoying the offseason and doing those small (or maybe big) tweaks to ensure success in 2025.

Only a couple modifications for me. I waffled all my gourds with 1/2 copper pipe. A different take, we’ll see if it helps.

I also modified my home made poles to get a little more height out of them. Easy modifications, gained maybe 6” of height.

On to my main question though, I’m a budget shopper and have been keeping an eye out for a chunk of pipe/tubing that would be suitable for the next pole build. I came across someone selling the quad pod setup for a good price, so I bought it. This pole is built out of 1/8” wall 2.5 galvanized pipe.

I’m not going to use the quad pod houses, gonna buy some gourds and build a custom rack for it. My others are wood, but I might try some type of metal rod or tubing to keep the weight and wind resistance down.

Anyone care to weigh in on how many gourds they think this pole could support? It appears to be a pretty tall pole, whatever I build for a rack I’ll keep the gourds lower around that 12-13’ height.

Thanks for any thoughts and happy holidays. 🙂
Bird Brain
Posts: 256
Joined: Wed Feb 10, 2016 9:22 am
Location: Highland Village, TX
Martin Colony History: 2022-visitors, 2023-visitors, 2024-1 pair, fledged 4

I'm not an engineer, but I believe the Heritage Farms pole was designed to hold a maximum of 4 levels of 4 pods each level or16 pods maximum. So I would stay close to that number. If you somehow reinforce the pole more, then I guess you could add a couple more units. I would keep the pods and keep the pole and units as originally designed. I always thought the Heritage Farms setup was an attractive martin pole. Also, they don't make them anymore so it does or will have some antique/nostalgic quality soon. There is a guy down the street from me that has one and it looks great and he always has martins. You can still buy additional pods on other martin sites and maybe ebay.
Our nation's destruction is not incompetence. It's intentional. YOU are the carbon they want to reduce. Once you understand this, you understand everything.
Dave Reynolds
Posts: 2349
Joined: Mon Jan 31, 2011 4:35 pm
Location: Little Hocking, Oh.
Martin Colony History: 2017 Visitors
Satellite Site “Oxbow Golf Course”..
2018 - 15 Pair, 58 Eggs, 36 Fledged
2019 - 26 Pair, 128 Eggs, 97 Fledged
2020 - 30 Pair, 156 Eggs, 137 Fledged
2021 - 30 Pair, 162 Eggs, 144 Fledged
2022 - 27 Pair, 146 Eggs, 125 Fledged
2023 - 31 Pair, 157 Eggs, 130 Fledged
2024 - 41 Pair, 212 Eggs, 198 Fledged

Home Site "Little Hocking, Ohio".
2019 - 1 Pair, 5 Eggs, 5 Fledged
2020 - 1 Pair, 4 Eggs, 4 Fledged
2021 - 8 Pair, 39 Eggs, 36 Fledged
2022 - 13 Pair 64 Eggs, 46 Fledged
2023 - 16 Pair, 89 Eggs, 84 Fledged
2024 - 22 Pair, 111 Eggs, 104 Fledged

... MY FYN 79 ... I have one of those, 1/8 x 2.5" galvanized poles 16 foot long, that a friend gave me to try and use. I was able to install a wooden gourd rack on it, (Made by PMCA) with 16 gourds.. I used a double pulley rope system on it and it worked out fine. I found that when I raise and lower the rack, using the rope, that I must pull straight down on the rope with my hands close to the pole, otherwise the pole tends flex out in the direction I'm pulling from. I don't think that I can bend the pole, but do not want to chance it. When the season is in full swing and the gourds are full of nests and babies, it can get pretty heavy. My original rope was on a single pulley, but it didn't take long to switch it to a double pulley. Hope this helps and Hope you have a great season in 2025.. :grin: :grin:

Dave
PMCA Member
Little Hocking, Ohio
MY FYN 79
Posts: 95
Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2018 8:58 pm
Location: Chilton Wisconsin
Martin Colony History: 2019 - Sighting
2020 - Pair investigating
2021 - Got 2 eggs. HOSPs poked holes in them. Commence HOSP reduction
2022 - Off to a good start, tree swallows took over and Martins left
2023 - Off to a good start, Martin population dwindled and they eventually left
2024 - New standalone pole and gourd rack. High hopes for success!

Thanks for the response folks!

Part of my concern about using the quad pods was that some reading I did made it sound like because of them being older they were now unsuitable to use because of their smaller size. Any truth to that?

This pole has the original winch/cable also for what it’s worth.
Bird Brain
Posts: 256
Joined: Wed Feb 10, 2016 9:22 am
Location: Highland Village, TX
Martin Colony History: 2022-visitors, 2023-visitors, 2024-1 pair, fledged 4

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Our nation's destruction is not incompetence. It's intentional. YOU are the carbon they want to reduce. Once you understand this, you understand everything.
MY FYN 79
Posts: 95
Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2018 8:58 pm
Location: Chilton Wisconsin
Martin Colony History: 2019 - Sighting
2020 - Pair investigating
2021 - Got 2 eggs. HOSPs poked holes in them. Commence HOSP reduction
2022 - Off to a good start, tree swallows took over and Martins left
2023 - Off to a good start, Martin population dwindled and they eventually left
2024 - New standalone pole and gourd rack. High hopes for success!

So that seems a bit small compared to gourds nowadays. No concerns from folks here on using these if I chose? Maybe I could use these and just mount a few gourds under them.
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