It took a few weekends but we finally finished our rabbit tractor! We came up with the design ourselves and I’m rather proud of it. Every time we complete a new project it turns out a little bit better than the last one. Having very little building experience and hardly any tools this is quite the feat. Without further ado here it is:
Pretty nice huh? We ended up having to cut some corners with materials for encasing the covered area. The wood we originally bought for those pieces wasn’t going to work and I didn’t want to spend any more money on the project so I found a way to make it work with some reclaimed materials we had sitting around. The roofing material is from a local antique store a friend of mine runs. She cut the panels to size for us when we bought them since we don't have the right tools for that sort of work. Everything else was purchased brand new from Lowes and Home Depot using steemit money!
Items Needed:
Metal Roofing-$15
Lock-already had
Plywood-Free, salvaged
Plywood (we ended up not using) - $13.98
Hinges-$2.47
(12) 2x2s- $2.07 ($24.84)
(2) 1x2s- $1.36 ($2.72)
Hardware Cloth- $23.94
Polycyrlic- $15.97
Screws- $6.47
Lock- $2.19
Hinges- $2.58
Staples- $3.94
Rope- $5.49
Piece of PVC- already had
I used a piece of PVC instead of an old garden hose, a trick I saw on Justin Rhodes’ channel which makes the rope easier to pull. The 1x2s ended up being unnecessary, it would have made more sense to use 2x2s. It ended up costing us about $120 most of which was made possible by you guys! The tractor is 6 feet long by 4 feet wide. We used 3 equilateral triangles to make the A frame. The one side and the back wall both come all the way down so that we can get in if we have to.
The only thing I wish we had done differently is the hardware cloth. I didn't account for wood on the inside of the frame to attach the hardware cloth so we had to attach it on the outside of the frame which doesn't look as nice. I also would have made it longer so there is more square footage but we have a small car and had to have the pieces cut to size at the store so they would fit.
We will be using this tractor until our rabbits reach breeding age, at which point they will be moved to a permanent colony set up. This will allow them to have babies underground which will hopefully minimize our losses to the heat. Once that’s done the tractor will either be used for the buck or the grow outs until they reach butcher age.
It’s working out really well so far (except for the day we didn’t move it, we’ll be talking about that in a future post). I firmly believe in raising our animals in the most natural way possible while minimizing losses and promoting good health. For that rabbits have to be raised on the ground as nature intended. And bonus we get free lawn mowing services and save money on feed costs!
(work in progress)
Youtube
You should be proud of yourself, you did an amazing job. I am going to show your post to @canadianwoodguy he would be super proud too, and perhaps he can replicate your idea for a few customers that are farmers that have asked if you don;t mind sharing your plans. Thanks
Thank you! haha We don't come anywhere close to his expertise. I have no problem sharing our plans though they don't really exist. We had to change a lot of things as we went since we aren't experienced. Really it's just 3 4ftx4ftx4ft triangles on top of 2 6ft pieces. Then we added pieces underneath so there weren't any gaps. The covered area is 2ft wide
I honestly never thought about a rabbit tractor like a chicken tractor! Very cool!
it has draw backs. Some people have problems with them digging out but as long as we move it every day we haven't had any issues so far. Only the one time we didn't move it did we have a digging issue. Most people use this method for the grow outs. Once they get too old to get along in a colony set up (too many males) people move them to tractors until butcher age!
Just the name of it is adorable.