[Curlytop]

HF I for one would be (or rather my O/H) very interested in receiving some more of your brilliant advise on building an automatic pop hole, so a thread on the subject would be great.

As much as I love my girls waking up every morning at 6am is beginning to show around the eyes, oh what I would do for a day off!!!

[wolverine]

with your knoledge of self opening pop holes can you please design me one for a side opener??  I bet a garage door opener would proberbly do it

[birmancats]

Great Hillfooter.  Fortunately for me I was bought an auto opener and closer as a present for when my girls arrived.  It's been a godsend as ha been the peck feeder.   I was admitted to Hospital for a week the day after they arrived - very unplanned. 

My neighbour who loves chickens did check them and give them treats each day but at least everything else was covered and the girls safe. 

[hillfooter]

with your knoledge of self opening pop holes can you please design me one for a side opener??  I bet a garage door opener would proberbly do it

It may appear to the layman that a door is a door but to a designer there are ALWAYS optimum choices to be made for every design feature and the traditional design can't be bettered in this case

Unfortunately you've broken my design rule number 5 there Wolverine "Never buy a house with anything over than a traditional vertically dropping pophole door".  It would be easier to build a new house or convert the one you have than be able to design an automatic sliding door solution.  To start with considering the problem with a engineering designers eye,

1   The friction on a slider is going to be much higher than a vertical dropper[/li][/list]
2   To have any chance it would need to slide on rollers or be suspended and hang from wheels
3   The lower "tongue and groove" slide is far more suspectible to getting clogged with litter
 than a vertical dropping one.  It will therefore be much more susceptible to jamming.
4   A sliding door is much less secure than a vertical dropper.  A sliding door is stable in any position so a fox can easily push it open unless it has latches which are more difficult to cope with on an automatic design.  Vertical droppers always have the weight of the door acting to close it and a fox is much less likely to push one open and enter if it realises it will drop behind it and be trapped.  Foxes are very smart.

In short a sliding door (and to some extent a hinged door) is a crass design choice.
Back to the drawing board

[Bantymad]

Hillfooter, i would be very interested in doing this on my two 6 by 4 sheds, but would need a fools guide!!! Any chance of a seperate thread as you sugested?? would be good as a step guide and pic's. I think it looks great.

[wolverine]

Point taken fortunatly for my hens I'm up very early anyway

[hillfooter]

Hillfooter, i would be very interested in doing this on my two 6 by 4 sheds, but would need a fools guide!!! Any chance of a seperate thread as you sugested?? would be good as a step guide and pic's. I think it looks great.

I'm working on it and i definitely will do one but it's not something that I can dash off.  I had thought about photos but obviously i would need to take some and I've assembled all my parts now so it would be difficult to show sub-assemblies.  I will probably do it in several post in like installments so they aren't too indigestible.

There's no reason why you can't do one for your sheds.
HF

[Bantymad]

I think you are going to be a busy boy hillfooter! it's not something most of us would have a clue how to do, so i for one will be follow your instuction with great interest. Cant wait. I couldnt afford to buy the whole kit and kaboodle and it would be a godsend for me as i start work around 1ish and don't get home till 9.30 in the evening and although i think my run is pretty safe i still worry, so would be peace of mind for me.

[bownty]

sparky

[henamoured]

I, too, would be interested in a separate thread please HF.
But pls, pls can it be as idiot-proof as you can stand to write?
I know absolutely NOTHING about electricity but I am a bit handy with wood!
Staged pics would be very helpful - again if you can spare all the time it will take.
An automatic opener would be a godsend when I go to babysit the grandchildren at weekends particularly now the nights are drawing in.

[joyfull]

and here it is 

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=65865.0