What can you get for a fiver?

[The Essex Hunter]

What can you get for a fiver?

 

Well what can you get?

 

A packet of cigarettes?

A pint in a posh bar?

A box of cartridges!

What about a floater for a fiver?

 

You can buy floaters for around £20 upwards, and yes, they work!

However, I have noticed a few times on a friends shop bought one, that with a strong gust, the bird will twist and then sit on the slant, this results with an unnatural looking decoy, which defeats the object of decoying in the first place.

Then you have the dilemma of leaving the hide to straighten up the bird, or have them veer off, then sit complaining to your mate on the phone only to miss the next bird because you were on the phone!

 

All products have there faults, as they a built to a price, we demand that they are lightweight, strong and cheap!

The problems lie in the locking screws, as I have repaired a friend’s floater and his rotary cradle more than once.

 

Therefore, I decided to make mine! For those of you who read the scripts for my rotary build, this one is quite simple.

 

The parts you need are.

2 x 6mm diameter bonnet stays (get the longest ones you can, as you can all ways make them shorter)

100mmx100mmx2/3 mm mild steel plate.

1 meter of 1.5 mm diameter wire (Mild steel tying wire or galvanized wire)

2 x crocodile clips around 40mm in length

3 x 70mm nails from the garden shed.

And a small hobby welder (or a mate with one)

 

Please work safely as an eye or finger is not worth any floater!

The sizes are nominal, so if want to change to suite your self please do.

 

Cut the plate across from point to point to leave you two triangles. (picture1)

Trim up the ends of the bonnet stays so you have around 1.8 metres

Weld the stays together with an over lap of around 50 mm

(If you want to use a one-piece length, that will work, but make sure it has a bit of spring in it)

 

Take one of the triangles and weld it to the bar around 200 mm from one end, so the tip of the triangle is facing to the end that will go in the ground. (picture1)

 

What this does is act as a method to push it in to the ground, much like a spade; also, it will stop the bird twisting in a strong gust.

 

Depending on where you live you might well need to put a small triangle, on the tip, as sandy soil does not give so much support. If so, you can cut a piece of the remaining plate.

 

This done find a weight (piece of lead) equal to a pigeon, push the rod and triangle in to the ground, to around 40-60 deg, tape the weight to the end and give it a good bounce to see how the rod reacts to the weight.

You can adjust it before you go cutting a piece off.!

For the next part, you will need a dead bird (as the live ones flap around a bit)

Hold the bird so the head is at the end of your rod, as you will be locating the head with a spike (make sure that it is in a natural length as you don’t want the neck over stretched)

Look at where the middle of the bird is, roughly in line with the wing joints and mark the spot.

Take a 50mm off cut of the rod and weld it at a right angle to the rod (picture 2)

On the end of that, you need to weld two of your nails (picture 3)

Cut the wire and fold it in half, twist it together leaving a small eye to fix the crocodile clip to (pic)

Lay the bird on its back and spike it to small cradle you have made. (Picture 4)

Spread out the wings to what shape you want the bird to look like.

Shape the wire like a question mark with the clips on the curved end, then trim, and fix them around the 50mm piece leave enough to allow adjustment as the bird will sit differently when you turn it over.

You can weld a spike on the end of the rod, or grind it to a point to fix the head.

When you set up a bird, fix the head first, and then fix to the breast cradle, then set up the wings to how you want the bird to look. (Picture 5)

A good tip is to break the wing at the body this will give you more range to adjust and will let the wing flutter somewhat.

To see the pictures go to http://s856.photobucket.com/albums/ab130/T...Hunter/Floater/