wymberley Posted February 5, 2015 Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 Guys, Many years ago like many of us i made a magnet - Sierra wiper motor based - but didn't really get on with it, finding a couple of flappers more effective. The ones I have are now almost life-ex. Over the past couple of years our pigeon numbers have plummeted. No problem as we've got enough trouble with the black ones, but in order to do better with the few pigeon we do have, I fancy giving a magnet another go. Retired now so have lost my engineering facility so I need to buy one. Any recommendations for which one to use with dead birds would be welcome. The reason for asking is that I shoot on the edge of a pebblebed heath and the ground is very stoney - can take forever to even get the hide poles in at times - so I need one with a bit of a brute of a ground stake/s. Many thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenboy Posted February 5, 2015 Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 I would have said the UKSW basic magnet , mine has done a fair amount of work now with no problem . The ground stake issue could be a problem on most though as they tend to be put together more with soft ground in mind so have fairly wide ground spikes . What you could do is buy one with wide ground stakes , cut them off at the bend , drill a 12-14mm hole through the flats and make some new stakes from threaded bar and lock nuts , you could then hammer it in and you would be able to replace the stakes as required easily enough . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wymberley Posted February 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 I would have said the UKSW basic magnet , mine has done a fair amount of work now with no problem . The ground stake issue could be a problem on most though as they tend to be put together more with soft ground in mind so have fairly wide ground spikes . What you could do is buy one with wide ground stakes , cut them off at the bend , drill a 12-14mm hole through the flats and make some new stakes from threaded bar and lock nuts , you could then hammer it in and you would be able to replace the stakes as required easily enough . Thank you, mate. Re your second paragraph; I've just had a shufti and they also do a hard ground version which you can stand on. Also, I thought I'd thrown my original one out but have just found it in the garage so the base of this this could be modified to suit if necessary. However, looking at the arm and wing spreader design, and even though the arms were adjusted in to suit the weight of a dead bird I've had problems of the birds rotating on a similar design of bouncer because the adjustment locking device wasn't up to the job. consequently, can you confirm that these are strong enough to hold the dead birds horizontal? Again, many thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenboy Posted February 5, 2015 Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 Not sure if you refer to the locking device on the extending arms or the dead bird cradles but I have never had a problem with either , the extending arms have a square section on the bottom ( on my version) so they cannot spin or come completely out . I could perhaps see where the thread on the cradle will eventually strip as there is not a lot of material there but again I have had no trouble yet and spares are cheap enough. A tip for you , you will find the magnets work better if the dead birds are tilted inwards about 30 degrees rather than having them horizontal , it means the wing bars can be seen from much further away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wymberley Posted February 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 Not sure if you refer to the locking device on the extending arms or the dead bird cradles but I have never had a problem with either , the extending arms have a square section on the bottom ( on my version) so they cannot spin or come completely out . I could perhaps see where the thread on the cradle will eventually strip as there is not a lot of material there but again I have had no trouble yet and spares are cheap enough. A tip for you , you will find the magnets work better if the dead birds are tilted inwards about 30 degrees rather than having them horizontal , it means the wing bars can be seen from much further away. Yep, aware of the square section and, yep meant both the adjusters for the arms and cradles. Many thanks and also for the tip - makes good sense and probably wouldn't have thought of it. Now, where's me card? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fenboy Posted February 5, 2015 Report Share Posted February 5, 2015 Yep, aware of the square section and, yep meant both the adjusters for the arms and cradles. Many thanks and also for the tip - makes good sense and probably wouldn't have thought of it. Now, where's me card? Dont forget your PW discount if using UKSW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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