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Post by hornharvester on Aug 1, 2006 9:09:09 GMT -5
Anyone ever build one? Since plywood has come down in price i thought about building one. Ive got a 3000 BTU window air-conditioner and thought about using 4 - 4x8 sheets of plywood and using another to cover the top and bottom. build a frame from 2x4 studs. make it 4x4x8 and have hooks to hang the half's. the only draw back i can see is the fan might dry out the meat. do you think i should mount the a/c at the top or bottom? any suggestions or ideas appreciated. h.h.
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Post by Decatur on Aug 1, 2006 9:43:49 GMT -5
Definately mount it at the top. Cold air sinks. Will the air conditioner keep it cool enough? It will need to be at 40* or less. What about cost of running an air conditioner? Wouldn't an actual refrigeration unit be more efficient? Just some questions. Let us know how it works, and how much it raises your electric bill. What are you going to insulate with? What about moisture? I hope it works for you.
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Post by dec on Aug 1, 2006 10:00:32 GMT -5
I've heard/read horror stories of using A/C units, but admittedly have no experience with them.
I have a friend who built a walk in cooler using an old stand up deep freezer as his cooling unit. Basically, he removed the front door of the freezer and butted it up to the back of his insulated structure that served as his walk in cooler. It works well. Whenever I shoot a deer in warmer weather, I take it directly to his place to hang.
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Post by hornharvester on Aug 1, 2006 10:03:26 GMT -5
good ideas guys, keep them coming. h.h.
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Post by duff on Aug 1, 2006 10:22:01 GMT -5
dec, what kind of horror stories?
If that is all that you had to work with I would think it would work. I have heard of guys making one in the corner of a barn using a A/C unit. Insulate the heck out of it. I'd say it would be far away better then leaving them in a pile at a butcher like I have seen on several occasions. As far as the cost to run it would only need to run when you have a need for it. Most of us that would be a few weeks to a few months a year so the electricity drain would not be prohibitive IMO.
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Post by dec on Aug 1, 2006 10:25:14 GMT -5
All that I've heard and read is that an A/C unit can not get it cold enough for an extended amount of time. It would definately cool a deer down, but not cool enough to keep it for several days hanging. Also, I've read about the electrical demand is so great that one would question if the power costs would be worth it.
Again, I've never built one, but I did read up on it a little because I had entertained similar thoughts. If I were to build one, I'd probably go the freezer route.
Run a search over at Archerytalk or some of the other websites. I'm sure you'll find all kinds of opinions, facts, ideas, and probably even plans on how to build them.
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Post by duff on Aug 1, 2006 10:28:20 GMT -5
Yea there are probably better ways to do it for sure, never looked into it much so was just interested in hearing the bad side of it. Thanks, Duff
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Post by hornharvester on Aug 1, 2006 11:33:08 GMT -5
Im not going to let deer hang more than a day or two. its mainly for early part of archery season when it can be 70 - 80 degrees. it would cool the meat down some. id gut, skin and half the deer and then hang it. i wanted to make it portable so i could tear it down so it would'nt take up much room in the garage when not in use. h.h.
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Post by bill on Aug 1, 2006 11:53:17 GMT -5
I have seen the a/c cooler before. The guy liked his. It was lined with type of fiberglass white liner and insulated. This made cleaning easy. Anything is better than hanging a deer outside and it gets warm.
I have also seen a small enclosed trailer with a cooling unit. It kept a keg and a hog cool and it was movable too.
I used to have access to a tavern walk in cooler. I didn't worry about processing then.
Let us know how the cooler turns out.
Bill
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Post by steiny on Aug 1, 2006 16:45:59 GMT -5
I'm no refrigeration expert, but would be surprised if a window AC unit could get things cold enough. Never saw one that had a 40 degree setting. Somebody familiar with the equipment might be able to modify one to work.
As a very simple solution, you could pick up a big, old used refrigerator somewhere, jerk all the shelves and drawers out, install a couple hanger rods, and you could hang a couple quartered up deer.
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Post by schoolmaster on Aug 2, 2006 14:40:54 GMT -5
Did a little research on the net and found that people had success using an air conditioner if it was modified by hooking up a thermostat in combination with a light bulb to "fool" the air conditioner so it would continue to cool. Claimed temperatures in the high 40s.
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Post by Decatur on Aug 3, 2006 6:24:50 GMT -5
Temps need to be at 41* or less to prevent bacterial growth. Any more than 4 hours above that temperature, and the meat should be suspect.
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Post by hunter7x on Aug 3, 2006 8:22:54 GMT -5
low outside temps will give you problems with the air conditioner also. I don't think it would be reliable enough to trust much meat to it.
Maybe in an emergency just until I can get it to the butcher type of thing.
fooling it with a t-stat and light bulb is a way to get it to cool longer, but it still only has so much capacity and anything less than 55 or 60 out side and you'll have problems with it freezing up.
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Post by psychobubba on Aug 3, 2006 14:25:05 GMT -5
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Post by danf on Aug 3, 2006 14:29:52 GMT -5
You guys think a "dorm" fridge would be enough to cool something the size of what Bubba just posted?
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Post by RiverJim on Aug 5, 2006 6:29:17 GMT -5
Did ya check out the w/i coller for sale in the buy swap sell forum?
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