The Ramsey Castle is a custom built Purple Martin house made exclusively out of 8" PVC schedule 20 piping. Joe builds these castles as a hobby out of his love for Purple Martins. The normal castle comes with 8 cavities. Four 8" PVC tubes surrounding a 3" PVC pipe. Again, these are custom built and can be made with 12 or 16 cavities, with this being extra. They are built light (app. 20 Lbs) and being round, makes for less wind resistant. Each floor rests on four screws and are very easy to pop out. By doing this they can be left outside year round. (Predators have a hard time building a nest without a floor) The size of the rooms are nearly the size of super gourds. The floors are larger, but the circumference is not quite as large. Each Castle is treated and painted for sun deterioration. They raise and lower close to the pole as this is believed safer, you do not have to stand directly underneath. PVC is as tough as any material you can find for building martin houses. These castles are easy for women and the weak hearted to raise, lower, and take care of.
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This is an example of one of Joe's Castles with his active Martin colony. This Castle has "excluder" entrances that are supposed to be Starling resistant. As you can see, the Martins enjoy the Castle as much you will.
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Here is the castle with a home made Owl Guard and heating units (not shown) to warm the Martins when needed. To make your own home made Owl Guard, just take 4X4 wire, make a barrel type enclosure,with top, and fasten it to perch on top of pole. This way you can raise and lower the castle up into the owl guard. This is relatively inexpensive and very effective against flying predators.
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This is a picture of the ground protector Joe uses. This is simply a bucket he has modified for use as a predator guard. This is just an example of how you can use your household items and incorporate them for uses with Martin housing, without spending more money on additional necessities.
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These are the four entrances you can chose for the Castle. From left to right, Crescent, Obround, Circle, and Excluder. They are hinged with a hook as fastener. It is easy to change the opening by simply taking out a pin and replacing it with another.
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Joe has build a heating unit that fits into the floor and uses light bulbs for heating, helping the Martins to keep warm. This is very helpful up north where cold snaps during spring are common. Each heater, with a floor like attachment, has holes in it to let heat filter up in the castle. If you use all four heating elements under the castle, they can be attached to the first with electric plugs so as you need only one electric line to the castle. They are made to have the plugs far enough up in the heating element so as the rain will not get to them. These heating units are sold as 'separate units' and do not come with the castle. Each heating unit is $15.00.
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The price for a normal 8 cavity castle is $170.00 plus freight. Any extra cavities are $20.00 each. The Pole is not included. Joe suggests a person can go down to Lowe's or Home Depot and purchase a 10' foot 1 1/4" electrical conduit pipe for approximately $5.00. This is the same pipe Joe uses and can handle most storms. Also, if you don't have a 1/8" electric drill bit, you are advised to get one because it's easier to drill the holes. Everything else is included, including rope and instructions on how to erect your castle. Castles are made in roughly a weeks time.
For further information contact...
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