Bat House Forum

[cohutt]

William,
I note you are from N GA as well- any relatives in Floyd county?

Possibly, though there are several sets of Bagwell's that do not tie in the US. I'm originally from Cobb county currently in living Pickens.

Only 600 feet of elevation and north of Atlanta? What quarry pit do you live in?

I sneak through the corner of Pickens on my way to property in Fannin county.

Yeah, that reaction is what we get a lot- If you go down the hill east on 53 to Fairmount you'll be on the eastern edge of a long flat valley that runs between long ridges all the way into Alabama. If you look at it on a topo it stands out.... Where the Etowah and Oostaunaula come together here downtown I think the actual elevation is 635 feet.
(The quarries here have pumps running 24/7 fighting the water table)

I'm right in the loops and bends they make around downtown here so the bats have good water within 1/4 mile in 3 directions.

[cloudman75]

Jack your photo looks faded and unclear on my computer. The ones posted are very clear and bright. Any of you other viewers have my problem.
I think you enhanced the photo but it appears very dull. I may have something wrong as I am not all that computer literate.

Frank

[Terry Lobdell]

I don't think the roof overhang is overkill as long as wind does not catch it.........The wide overhang will allow your bat houses to last longer and provide some cooling during the hottest weather...........

[cohutt]

Thank you all for the input.

I'll post updates as I make progress on the mounting project

[cloudman75]

What color do you plan to paint or have painted the metal roof? Just curious. I think the large overhang will be fine.
I put a large roof on one of my cedar houses and painted it white for use by the bats in our high 90s temps. The house also has a ventilated roof in that the roof does not close in the top but leaves a space from front to back for the wind to cool the chambers. This was a dedicated summer house . A few bats used it the first season. It just gives them a choice when they get too hot in other houses. I just like trying new ideas, some work some don't.

Frank

[cohutt]

I've left it "natural", which means it is well aged galvanized roofing ie dull grey and a little rusty in some spots.

[cloudman75]

Thanks for reply, sounds good to me. My old 5 chamber withstood the wind gusts today. It is already below freezing here and expected to get around 18 tonight, and below freezing again tomorrow night. Not very good weather for you to install the house, but should not last too many more weeks.
My sometimes winter residents have all gone, no bats seen tonight.

Frank

[cohutt]

Well I have this beast on poles and ready to pivot up somehow, it will be almost 20' up should I manage to get it raised lol:

[cloudman75]

Looks like you are about ready to try and get that monster in the air. I believe that I would add some braces across those pipes. What size dia are they?
Even temporary 2x4 wood bracing might be a good idea while you are putting it up in the air because of the twisting forces associated with the lift to vertical. You can wire them or tie them with small ropes to the pipe, or use u bolts from Ace or Lowes, etc.
It is really not possible to make a correct determination from photos but a little prevention is worth a lot of cure to coin a phrase. I just threw that in
for your consideration if you think it is necessary because you being there can judge that better than someone looking at photos.
I'll be looking forward to seeing photos of it in the air. You have just a few weeks left before some bats will be looking around to see what's available.

Frank

[William Bagwell]

Be careful and make sure you have plenty of help! When we put our beast up last year, just the round pole had been up and taken back down. This left the hole elongated enough that two of us were able to raise the full assembly up about head high, and jam the butt end of the pole against the far side of the hole. Backed a pickup under it and raised it once more as high as we could reach. By this point it was high enough that the rope we had attached earlier could pull it the rest of the way vertical.



The bat house (still facing the wrong way) is 30 1/2" high, 17 3/4" wide. 8 1/4" and that one weighs 50 pounds. Two-bys are all 2 X 6 and the new vertical ones are 10' long. Main pole is about 14' long with 3' in the ground. The black house is now facing east and I hope to add a white one facing west later this year.

[cohutt]

Thanks guys...

Today I was planning on using threaded rod and a smaller section of 1/2" pipe to make a cross brace. I may add a temporary wooden one or two if it feels like i need one after I start walking & winching it up.

I incorporated a backyard engineered pivoting hinge design into the base-

4x4s sunken half way to China are the foundation; a 3/4" pipe run through them serves as the anchor for the pivot hinges.
The pivot hinges are 1" tees with 30" of pipe screwed into them. The support poles themselves are 1-1/4" pipe- two 10' sections for each side- and they slide over the 30" pipes screwed into the Ts. The pictures below show how this is set up:



A close up of a pivot joint:



I'll brace the 4x4s as well using the 2x12" of the asparagus bed as an anchor. I stood up 10' sections of the support poles to check and mark for vertical "plumb" and will cut/install stops that will hold the poles there once up. The plumb test:

[William Bagwell]

(snips)
I incorporated a backyard engineered pivoting hinge design into the base-

I'll brace the 4x4s as well using the 2x12" of the asparagus bed as an anchor.

Ah, I see you are way ahead of us! Clever design and I may 'borrow' part of it someday

And I also wondered about the raised bed. Using it as a templet / fixture / work platform is clever too.

[cohutt]

Haha borrow at your own risk......

I "think" I have it worked out in my mind this morning and am heading out shortly to get a couple things I'll need. (We should know soon enough)

[cloudman75]

Looks like you put a lot of thought into the rigging. With 1 1/4 inch schedule 40 that should do it. The weakest point will be the treaded joints, but the size should make it fine for years to come. With the recent rains and high winds I am bracing my steel channel that is an anchor for my three bat houses.
The concrete embeded channel shifted off plumb but was not but about 2.5 ft. deep in the ground. I have some temporary bracing and am installing some old chain link fence top rail to brace the channel. My weight of the three houses on the wood hollow pole is about 60 lbs. This is the second season on it
which was taken from an idea poasted by Terry Lobdell on this forum. My pole is lighter than his but is doing OK so far. Good luck on the vertical positioning.
Anxious to see the photos.

Frank

[cloudman75]

Just a bit of advice after reading Markcuda's mishap. Maybe you could give some thought to errecing some additional 2x uprights to the 4x4 pivot timbers then use a come along or boat winch to crank it up as a safety factor. Even if you have some help it will be a chore to get up. The boat winch scheme worked graeat for me on my 5 chamber and I also used a come along to back up the boat winch. Be careful as that much weight on a long fulcrum has a lot of force.

Frank