Homemade Wild Duck Plucker Keeps On Plucking

Homemade Wild Duck Plucker Keeps On Plucking Harry Hickerson of Pine Bluff Ark built a wild duck plucker that’s still going strong in its fourth decade “My buddy and I made it from scrap ” he says “It can pluck a mallard in under 3 min and a wood duck or teal in under 1 min We’ve used it on over 2 000 ducks and it’s still plucking ” He came up with the idea after seeing a natural rubber thimble used to shuffle through paper “For years we dipped the duck in paraffin or beeswax to make plucking by hand easier then we’d singe the remaining feathers ” he says “With the duck plucker we no longer have to singe them because it gets all the feathers off ” Materials for the plucker included a mandrel/ head made out of a handrail filled with grease along with two bearings pressed on each end The tines are made out of a 1/4-in natural rubber “We experimented with the length and the width and we found that 3 in wide by 9 in long worked best ” says Hickerson “Any higher is too stiff The motor is 1 725 rpm half horsepower reduced to about 1 100 rpm We attached it to a temporary board to test it and it’s still on that same board The rubber is the same that linemen use on power lines to keep from getting electrocuted ” Hickerson considers the plucker free because he had the materials on hand or received them from friends “And there’s no maintenance necessary ” he says “Haven’t even had to change the grease ” To use the plucker Hickerson grabs the duck by the head with one hand keeping the other on its back then rotates the bird through the plucker until all feathers are removed “It’s helpful to have a duck plucker if you deal with at least 25 to 30 ducks per season ” he says He recommends experimenting to create the most suitable design “Yours doesn’t have to be made exactly like mine; you can make it your own I’m thinking it might be helpful to make a stand for it ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Morgan Carter morganebrock@icloud com

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.