Still bored. Made this week: Has Inner and outer porch. All pieces are pvc put together with pvc cement and Dap, Big pipe is 8" sewer and drain pvc, 0.17" wall, 8-1/4" long, length is not real critical. Entrance tunnel is 3' sewer and drain pvc, 5 long, again, length is not real critical, Clean out ...

Hey, anybody know what the S&K and the Heath gourds are made from? Went on a search, but all it yielded was "plastic". That's like saying something like a titanium gourd is made out of "metal".

The Purple Martin effort that used to be held almost exclusively by this PMCA forum is now shared throughout Facebook (probably old news to most of you), and probably on other forms of social media. I found Kent Justus on Facebook and he pointed me toward Greg Ballard's Arkansas Purple Martin site o...

And nobody is going to remark about my removing those perfectly good entrances from four Excluder SuperGourds? I figured that would be the part that would be discussed...

You're gonna stick a tunnel in them, I knew what you had planned!

Absolutly, Brad, you know me too well!

Yeah, just sorta killing time while the fortunate enjoy their martins! See some occasionally circling overhead, but only two ASY males have come in and landed. Well, maybe others came while I messed in my shop, who knows! If they did, they did it quietly, and that's not their way. And nobody is goin...

Okay, I put together some testing to determine which of the two materials, Lexel or Alex Plus Dap, is superior for modification work for the PMCA and Troyer plastic gourds which are made from polyethylene. I am assuming there is no controversy with using the less expensive Dap material for work with...

This is actually braising I think, and the ads show a man beating the devil out of a piece that is welded to a piece of aluminium tubing and holding fast. They readily state that it only affects the two pieces to a shallow depth. Smile, might not want to put myself under the darn thing though, proba...

My experience is sort of mixed. Having a bluebird box close by, I would think the 50' is fine, and having one close is what is recommended, at least it used to be. I feel most bluebird males will peacefully coexist, but some male bluebirds ARE more aggressive than others, and being reasonably good f...

It's claimed to be low temp weld, so maybe? Need someone to run an experiment, huh?

People who might like to build their own aluminum gourd rack should check out this website: https://www.blosmore.com/products/solution-welding-flux-cored-rods?variant=32236653871148 I haven't tried it, but it's a way to construct things from aluminum without having to use a heliarc or TIG welder. On...

What a great thread, Brad!

Good job, Brad, and good job explaining what you do. Just as an attempt to complete the description of it all: In the bottom picture, for the critter to be shocked it will be shocked at ground level when it begins the climb or at the top of the pvc (if it somehow gets past ground level) and contacts...

Thank you, Rodger! Oops, double dipped!

Thank you, Rodger!

Returning to the topic. Steve has a magnificent colony, and I am sure it is amazing to see and hear returning martins thock, thock, thock as they hit those round holes at high speed...so cool. To have all round holes in most areas of the country invites a significant starling problem, and they are b...

Dang, Brad, you just pointed out all the reasons I won't like it, ugly and it shrinks...hahaha

And you're alright with my blaming you when I go to town?..

Brad, as you can see I have a bit of inertia. Perhaps had I been here all along and not disappeared, I may have made the change and be up with where you are. Since I am sort of the lone holdout, I am gonna give you and others the benefit of the doubt. I am still playing around with stuff in the shop...

I don't have the Bo gourds, but all gourds get water in them when you get a blowing rainstorm. Course you should try to minimize it. Have hung many a gourd with insulated electrical wire through oversize or sloppy holes and never lost a baby martin that I could tell to a rainstorm. I imagine the mom...