Do-it-yourself feather removal machine from a barrel. Do-it-yourself feather removal machine. The benefits of making it yourself

Owners of private houses almost always maintain farmsteads and especially love to raise poultry. But from the moment when tiny yellow balls run around the yard, causing tenderness, to a huge dish with an appetizingly fried chicken, some time passes, filled with the hassle of caring for and raising and, by the way, in this interval there is a period when the bird has to be slaughtered and pluck. This process almost plunges some subtle natures into a deep faint, but, nevertheless, it cannot be avoided.

Plucking with your own hands, even for villagers accustomed to any kind of work, is not only an unpleasant task, but also quite lengthy and tedious. If you have to process two or three carcasses, then that’s all right, but if you need to slaughter a dozen or two chickens to load into the freezer or take to the market, then the work may take all night. And if we talk about farms, where hundreds of carcasses have to be processed, then we cannot talk about manual labor at all. And the industry, of course, took care of automating the plucking process and launched special feather picking machines on the market.

Such devices make it possible to speed up the removal of feathers from a slaughtered bird tens of times, while the quality of work is quite high: the carcass is completely free of feathers and fluff, is not damaged and has an excellent presentation.

We are sure that every private poultry farmer would like to have such a device for plucking birds at home, but its cost is quite high, and not everyone can afford it, and its payback, on a small farm, can take years. We suggest not to be upset about this, but once again to be smart and build such a device yourself.

Let's first take a look at what a feather removal machine actually is. This device, operating on the principle of a centrifuge, consists of a drum, the entire inner surface of which, as well as the bottom, is studded with rubber beating fingers. The bottom of the feather removal machine is not rigidly connected to the drum and is a separate moving part. There is an output tray at the bottom through which the removed pen comes out. The device operates from a single-phase one and a half kilowatt motor.

When plugged into the network, the bottom of the device begins to rotate quickly, constantly turning the carcass over, rubber fingers hook the feather and pull it out, the water pouring from above washes it out through the exit tray. In just a minute, one or two chickens will be cleanly plucked and ready for cutting.

Punching fingers for a homemade pen removal machine

As you can see, the main working elements of the device are the striking fingers. It is impossible to make them yourself, so our feather removal machine will begin to be built by purchasing them.

The machine may require up to 120 pcs. such elements. They are also not cheap - for one dollar you are unlikely to be able to buy more than 3-4 rubber fingers, but do not be discouraged ahead of time - in fact, this will be almost the only major investment in this project, everything else can be found in own farm.

When ordering beaters, keep in mind that they come in different sizes and are selected depending on the type of bird. So, when you are planning to pluck broilers, make sure that you do not receive old fingers intended for quail.

Assembling a poultry plucking device

As a container, that is, a drum for a pen-picking machine, you can use a plastic or metal round container, the height of which should be approximately 80-90 cm and the width 70 cm. The plastic should be very durable, and the metal should be at least 1.2 mm thick . The walls should not bend or crack under the influence of carcass impacts, and the rubber fingers should be secured very firmly. Since the drum is still separated from the bottom, it can easily be built from the body of an old round washing machine.

Along the bottom of the drum, up to about half or 1/3, and along the bottom, which is a circle with a diameter similar to the container, holes for the beaters are drilled with a wide drill, at a distance of 3-4 cm from each other. The diameter of the holes should be such that the narrow part intended for installation, the fingers sit tightly in the sockets.

Installing the hammer fingers is quite a task, you will break seven sweats and spew several megabytes of profanity into the air while getting everything in place. Dipping the elements into some kind of slip-promoting liquid, such as oil or detergent, can make the job somewhat easier.

We make a wooden base for the drum and fix it on it. The base must be not only strong, but also very stable, since the operation of the feather removal machine is associated with a fairly strong torsional vibration, capable of collapsing the device on its side in no time.

Particular attention should be paid to the arrangement of the bottom. The photo clearly shows that it is two-layer.

The lower circle not only supports the beaters from below, but also consists of a rigid coupling with the transmission device.

The transmission is connected to a motor, which is recommended to be installed slightly to the side.

Since the operation of the feather removal machine will involve the use of water, and the splashing can reach several meters, it is strongly recommended to protect the electric motor with a plastic apron that looks like an inverted basin or something like that.

That's it, making the feather removal machine with your own hands is finished, all that remains is to test it. Turn it on and throw the pre-scalded chicken into the drum.

And after 30 seconds we get an excellent result.

So, in 40 minutes we managed to get rid of the feathers of 17 pieces. broilers

Let's see!

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Hello dear farmers! In this article we will look at how to choose the right type and calculate the number of strikers for making your own feather picker or drill attachment.

First, let's look at what beat fingers are (or simply beats, pen fingers).

The main characteristics of feather fingers are: shape, length, bore diameter, tensile strength, Shore rubber hardness, elasticity and color.

The shapes of the beats are:

To choose the right type of plucking fingers in shape and size, you must know what kind of bird you will be plucking: quail, broilers, chickens, ducks, geese or turkeys.

For quail you need a small finger up to 50mm long and a landing diameter of 10mm. The quail is a small bird, so it is necessary to exclude the possibility of the bird getting stuck between the fingers. If you use fingers 90-100 mm long, the carcasses will fall between the fingers, or these beaters must be installed very often with a minimum distance between them. And this significantly increases the number and, accordingly, the price of purchasing fingers.

Boilers, chickens and turkeys have mostly small feathers, for the removal of which ball-shaped fingers (or spheres) with a length of 90-100mm and a fit with a diameter of 20mm have proven themselves.

Waterfowl ducks, ducks and geese have large feathers, for which ring-shaped fingers (or a ring) with deep ribs, 90-100 mm long and a landing with a diameter of 20 mm work well for plucking. The distance between the ribs of the beel corresponds to the thickness of the pad of the lower part of the feather, which holds the feathers in the skin of the bird.

In order to pluck different birds on one machine, we recommend combining the beating fingers with spheres and ring fingers in equal proportions.

For household centrifuge-type feather removal machines, soft fingers with a value of (48-55 Shore units) are used. In this type of equipment, the bird hits the finger under its own weight; if it is hard, the likelihood of skin tearing increases significantly. For beating drums and feather pick-up attachments, it is also better to use soft fingers, because... It is very difficult to accurately calculate the hand strength with which you need to press the bird to your fingers.

For industrial conveyor lines, stiffer pins with a value of (60-70 Shore units) are used.

The elasticity of rubber is the ability of rubber to quickly return to its original state. In our case, this is the ability to quickly return the finger to its original state when bent.

White rubber fingers have the greatest elasticity. We recommend using it for plucking young poultry. Another property of white rubber is its pleasant smell.

In order to correctly calculate the required number of pins, you need to know what type of equipment they will be installed in. Simply put, decide what you will make: a poultry plucking attachment, a beating drum or a feather removal machine?

Approximate quantity:

Feather nozzle	Beat drum	Centrifugal beating machine

Feather fingers can be made of rubber of varying tensile strength. This value can be from 10-25 mPa. The higher, the more expensive the original rubber and, accordingly, the longer the service life of the finger. For this parameter, select fingers based on the number of poultry heads slaughtered per year. If you slaughter up to 500 pieces/year, take any finger. For large numbers of heads, it is better to take fingers with high strength. This value does not affect the quality of pen removal.

The technological process of removing feathers from a bird also depends on several factors:

• Rotation speed of the feather removal machine or drill attachment;
• Temperature and time for scalding poultry before plucking ;
• Choosing the right type of striker fingers.

We hope that this information will help you quickly and efficiently make your own feather picker, poultry plucking attachment or beating drum.

If you keep a large number of birds, then you probably have a processing problem. Plucking feathers by hand is very time-consuming and tedious, and you need more people. This problem is solved with such a clever device as a feather removal machine. All you have to do to remove the feathers from a bird is scald it in boiling water and throw it in the machine, it will do everything itself. Of course, after this there will still be a couple of feathers left on the bird, but it is not difficult to remove them manually.

The device discussed below is assembled quite simply; the most expensive element here is the electric motor. Everything else can be found in landfills or use unwanted parts that you have in your garage. You will also need to buy them, but they are not expensive. Let's take a closer look at how to make such a miracle of technology.

Materials and tools that the author used for homemade work:
List of materials:
- engine (2-3 kW);
- spare parts from an old washing machine;
- steel square pipes;
- plastic barrel;
- steel plates;
- bolts with nuts;
- switch;
- ;
- dye.

List of tools:
- Bulgarian;
- drill;
- welding;
- screwdrivers, pliers, wrenches;
- drill for fingers;
- obedient woman ;-)

Machine manufacturing process:

Step one. Preparing all necessary materials
Let's start with the basics of the feather removal machine. It is a disk on which the stylus fingers are attached. They are made of rubber and look like bolts. When the disk rotates, such a finger, due to the frictional force, grabs the feather and pulls it out. Today it is not a big deal for a feather removal machine. They come in different sizes, profiles and so on.

The lower rotating part is made from a washing machine drum, that is, we cut off the walls of the drum and what remains is a disk. Holes are drilled in the disk into which the fingers are installed. You will also need a housing from the washing machine; it is used as a basis for installing the disk axis and the upper part of the machine.

You need to cut a hole in the base, dirty water will flow out through it.

The upper part of the machine is made of a plastic barrel. You just need to cut off the bottom. Several rows of stylus fingers are also installed in this part. You will need to select a drill of the appropriate diameter for your fingers; they should fit tightly.

As for the transmission of motion from the engine to the working disk, two pulleys and a belt are used for this. Most likely, the author used these parts from old washing machines.
The author assembles the frame from steel square pipes.

Step two. Assembling the frame
We cut the pipes into the required pieces, and then weld the frame. There is nothing complicated about this, you need to do some calculations to position the engine so that you can arrange a belt drive.

At the top of the frame you will need to weld the sides; they are made of reinforcement or the like. Weld the bracket for the engine; it can be made from thick sheet steel. You will also need to weld another small plate to mount the switch.

Step three. Assembling and installing a working disk with a base
You need to install fingers into the working disk; select a drill for them with a diameter so that they fit tightly into the holes. Each finger has a groove, thanks to which it is securely fixed in place. The fingers need to be installed in a checkerboard pattern so that they skip less sections.

We install the disk on the base, do not forget to lubricate the bearing. On the other side we install a pulley. The author has a much larger diameter than the one on the engine shaft, due to this the speed decreases and the torque increases, which is what is needed for the operation of the device. High speeds are not needed for the feather removal machine.

Step four. Assembling the car
We install the working platform with the disk on the base; it is secured using special brackets and bolts with nuts. Thanks to this, you can always disassemble the machine. Install a galvanized metal shield opposite the outlet to prevent dirty water from flowing throughout the frame.

Now you can start installing the engine, secure it with bolts and nuts. Don't forget to install the belt and tighten it. Tighten the nuts well so that the belt does not loosen.

Finally, you must install a switch on the machine; it will allow you to quickly turn off the device in an emergency. The switch must be well protected from water. The author decided to hide the buttons under an elastic band to prevent water from getting in.

You can try turning it on! Is everything working? Great! Just don't throw cats at it! This is a joke  More precisely, no, it’s not a thing... don’t quit!

It's time to install the top part; a part from a plastic barrel is used as it. Securely secure it to the base using bolts and nuts. The disc should not catch on the barrel! Remember that there will be a cock inside against the walls, make sure that everything is securely fixed.

Now you can install the stylus fingers. We drill holes for them and install them exactly as in the disk. For the device to work effectively, there must be several rows of fingers; they must be installed in a checkerboard pattern.
When everything is ready, turn on the machine again and make sure that the disk does not catch on the case.

Step five. Painting
The frame of the car will need to be painted; this is done not only for aesthetic purposes. When the device operates, dirty water flows out of it, which will quickly lead to the destruction of the metal. We take oil paint and thoroughly paint all those parts that may rust.

The device is ready! You can assemble it and test it!

The most difficult stage in the work of poultry farmers is rightfully considered to be the time of plucking and processing bird carcasses before sale. With a small farm, such work can be done independently or with outside help. With a large population, manual plucking of each carcass is simply impossible. Plucking machines have come to the aid of poultry farmers for plucking quails, chickens, geese, and turkeys.

What are there

The pinching machine is a container with pins with a special surface installed inside it. The pins look like small rubber pins with notches. When the mechanism operates, the bird's feather is captured and subsequently pulled out from the bird's carcass.

There are several options for the operation of the pinching machine mechanism. Some models allow you to pluck several carcasses within a few minutes.

With centrifuge

Typically, such models have The design is based on a round container or triangular in shape, inside of which there are striking fingers. When the plucking machine operates, the bottom rotates strongly. Rotating the carcass at high speed and touching it with your fingers starts the feather removal process. To improve efficiency, water can be added to the machine, which prevents birds from being harmed and washes away excess feathers.

Such car models Designed for smaller bird species. It is the best option for a feather removal machine for quails and for plucking chickens. The machines are designed for use in small farms. The advantage of such models is the low energy consumption during operation and the absence of special requirements for the installation location.

With drum

Inside these types of models there is a drum that is rotated by a motor. The kicking fingers are located on the outside. The carcass is installed by the operator, who controls the process of plucking the bird.

A machine with this operating principle allows you to pluck birds of any size. In most cases, it is used for processing large species of birds, since plucking small carcasses in such machines is not very convenient.

Special attachments

A power tool with a special attachment is a universal device that can be used to pluck any breed of bird, regardless of size.

The advantage is the low cost of the device. A significant disadvantage is the difficulties that accompany the plucking process. When working, you need to hold the tool in one hand and hold the bird carcass with the other.

Cost of individual models

The cost of feather removal machines is quite significant. The cost of even small models with a small load can reach several thousand rubles. The price of the model is influenced by the following factors:

• manufacturing company;
• quality of manufacturing material and principle of operation;
• maximum load weight;
• energy intensity.

The purchase of the simplest attachments will cost the buyer at least 1,000 rubles. More functional attachments designed for plucking almost all types of birds will cost the buyer at least 2,500 rubles.

The following models can be found on the market today:

PM-2M

Feather removal machine for quails and chickens, that is, the device is designed for processing small breeds of birds. It is an ideal option for processing quails. The maximum loading weight is 2.5 kg, that is, from 4 to 7 bird carcasses. The plucking time depends on the weight of the load and is 17-25 seconds. The weight of the model is 7.5 kg. The average price of the model is 12,000 rubles.

PM-6M

The machine is designed for processing broiler breeds. The maximum loading weight is 6.5 kg. The average plucking time depends on the number and weight of carcasses and is 25-30 seconds. Model weight 10 kg. It has a significant service life of the beating fingers - at least 10 bird carcasses. The average cost is 17,500 rubles.

HT-600

The model is universal, since it can be used to pluck all types of birds. A distinctive feature of the device is its very high performance. Within an hour, it can be used to pluck up to 250 chickens or 90 ducks. The food drum is made of food grade propylene, which has antibacterial properties. The model's nails are made in Italy. The average price of the unit is 30,000 rubles.

When purchasing a feather removal machine in a store It is recommended to immediately purchase a set of spare fingers.

It is worth paying attention to the innovation of recent years - beating fingers with a “sticking” function, the use of which allows you to increase the processing speed of carcasses by up to 25%.

The benefits of making it yourself

Mechanization of the plucking process has many positive aspects. A significant disadvantage of modern feather removal machines is their high cost. Making a car yourself has a number of advantages:

• minimizing the costs of mechanizing the plucking of bird carcasses;
• the ability to manufacture a machine taking into account your own needs, the type and number of birds;
• exciting process, opportunity for self-improvement;
• the possibility of producing a model previously tested by other master poultry farmers on their own experience.

DIY feather removal machine

Materials for manufacturing can be very different, and there are a lot of existing manufacturing options. Let us give as examples the most popular options for making a device for plucking birds with your own hands.

Screwdriver attachment

Making a plucking attachment on a screwdriver is the simplest and least expensive way to make a mechanism for removing bird feathers. It is not recommended to try to make fingers for the device with your own hands, since they are sold in stores at a very low price.

Manufacturing process:

1. Make a blank for the base. The best material would be to make it from a metal pipe of small diameter.
2. Secure the bottom with screws.
3. Drill a hole in the center and secure a stud with nuts, the size of which should fit the screwdriver chuck.
4. Drill holes in the cylinder for the pins.
5. Thread the rubber bands of each finger into the holes of the cylinder.

An economical option is to manufacture a nozzle using the same principle from a small-diameter polyethylene sewer pipe. The bottom can be made of any available material - plywood, plastic.

Feather removal machine from washing machine

For manufacturing, you need a washing machine, the design of which is equipped with a cylindrical fixed container and a ready-made drive. The machine must be in working order:

• bottom drive for bottom rotation;
• installed seal.

The conversion will not require significant changes to the factory design. The manufacturing process consists of sequentially performing the following steps:

• drill holes for fingers in the walls;
• install a round metal plate of good rigidity above the bottom; you can use a frying pan or saucepan as a base;
• drill holes for fingers in the bottom;
• it is necessary to make the structure in such a way that the size of the rotating part is smaller than the tank, but the difference should not exceed 5 cm;
• There should be a drain at the bottom of the tank for water and feathers.

When manufacturing the structure, it is necessary to check the tightness and prevent the possibility of water getting into the electric motor.

In such a machine you can process both small and large bird carcasses.

Making from a plastic barrel

If it is not possible to make it from a washing machine, you can consider making it from a barrel.

To make it, you will need a barrel made of a sufficiently strong material that will not be deformed by impacts from bird carcasses. The most suitable option would be to make it from a metal or plastic barrel 1 meter high and 70 centimeters wide.

To securely fix the barrel, it is necessary to make a frame. It can be made of wooden boards or metal corners.

In the lower part of the barrel, holes are made for the striking fingers. An additional bottom is attached to the bottom, to which a rotating mechanism is attached. For mechanization you will need an engine with a power of about 1.5 kW.

• the process of plucking quails and chickens will be faster and easier if the bird carcass is doused with boiling water before processing;
• When mechanically plucking with a drill with an attachment, it is recommended to pre-fix the tool, which will significantly increase the productivity of poultry processing and provide greater freedom of movement.

When purchasing a plucking machine, you should pay attention to the availability of additional features. The drums of some units have antibacterial properties, which helps retard the growth of dangerous bacteria.