This is our second year of raising meat birds in a Salatin style chicken tractor. We’ve been using a standard moving dolly to help move the tractor so far, and that has been painful as it doesn’t hold the side of the chicken tractor up very well or very evenly.
I recently bought a stick welder and as part of learning how to weld, built a Joel Salatin style chicken tractor dolly.
You can see the standard dolly on the right that it is replacing. The project was a good learning experience as the 1″ tube was tough to weld without blowing through and required a lot of fixing and grinding for a beginner.
I tested it out by standing on top of it and bouncing around, picking it up and dropping it on the cement floor of the shop.
I added corner bracing at the bottom to help prevent twisting and breakage.
There is a 2″ peg near the bottom to keep the chicken tractor from backing up the handle. It could also be used to help push the chicken tractor, vs pull, if necessary.
4 replies on “Chicken Tractor Dolly Build”
Hello from Point, TX
It is a shame no comments in 8 months. I love your dolly and want one but I can’t weld…no knowledge and no equipment. I am finishing up my first chicken tractor. 50 birds this week feady for grass.
From the pictures, I think it looks great. Excellent thinking to torture test it before depending on it.
Hey Robert, thanks for checking it out! Just buy a welder and teach yourself, that’s what I did. It’s starts really rough, but gets better over time.
Check out TimWelds youtube chanel.
I was searching around for a good way to copy the Salatin chicken tractor dolly, but nothing quite put it together the way you did. I would recommend getting some training on welding though, before you break something or hurt yourself.
Thanks for looking, Dan! I appreciate the comment.
The plan is to get some training on welding, but time, time is always short and there are so many things to do.