Dux Industries Tabletop Plucker Chicken Defeather Commercial Cleaning Machine

The motor is quiet and the unit is very well constructed, albeit somewhat heavy and awkward when moving. Because the motor on one end, it is somewhat unbalanced for picking up, so remove the heavy grate off the top and lift carefully. I agree that an installed switch would be nice, however because of dripping water when doing multiple birds (25 in one day, etc.), we plugged the short cord into a household surge protector/power strip, then ran a 12 gauge (heavy duty) extension cord to the garage. If you cover the power strip and connections in lightweight plastic to keep out water, then its easy to turn the motor on and off with the toe of your boot between chickens. Simply use a bread bag open on both sides for the power strip and tape the ends shut.Feathers and water will fly around more with this model than when using a Featherman or Whizbang, but it is easier to store, more affordable, and still works very well. It is perfect for two to three people doing multiple birds. In fact, it now takes longer to set up the tent, tables, chill tank and equipment, plus end of day clean up, than it actually takes to process the broilers. Two people hand plucking 12 birds, plus cleanup took us almost 6 hours (arthritic hands), but now in half the time, we can do 25 birds.Be sure to place the plucker on a support that is the correct height for your back. We used an 18-inch platform for two people 5'4" and 5'8" tall, and it was comfortable; anything higher would be hard on the shoulders and upper back. We've only used it on chickens thus far, but it should make a world of difference over hand-plucking ducks and geese in fall.Keep your scalding water at the proper temperature and add a bit of soap. Scalding is the key to plucking any bird. We use a large stock pot, keeping it covered between uses, checking after every three birds with a digital thermometer, and adding hot water as needed from the camp stove.

We processed (15) old laying hens yesterday afternoon and were pleasantly surprised with the performance of this product. For the homesteader to small scale grower, this is cost effective option over much more expensive drum-style pluckers and better than hand-plucking or drill pluckers. We have experience with all of these methods. Assembly of the tabletop plucker was simple.I rated this product with 4 stars, as I believe some improvements are needed. We are going to make these improvements to our unit:1. Mounting tabs are needed to mount the unit to a work surface to keep it from "walking" due to vibration. We simply took two small pieces of perforated metal strap and bent them into an L-shape. We then drilled the leg of the plucker on opposite corners for a 1/4" dia bolted connection. The unit was then screwed down to a 3/4" x 20" x 30" scrap piece of plywood. However, I would recommend covering the plywood with a non-permeable covering like vinyl flooring.2. The motor attaches to the housing with (2) 1/4" diameter bolts. I am concerned over time this area of the housing may weaken due to fatigue. We are going to mount a small section of aluminum angle across the inside of the housing, opposite the motor, to add stiffness.3. A shield should be supplied to cover the electric motor. This is more of a concern when hosing the unit off after processing. We may make a small guard out of plexiglass.

This is the second plucker like this that I've owned and the performance is flawless. Yes it takes a bit of tinkering, however this one took more than it should have. All the bolts were visibly loose on the bearings, not even hand tight. The mounting holes for the motor were drilled a half inch to close and new hole had to be drilled to mount the motor. The clamps holding the motor to the mount weren't attached and were floating around in the box. The motor is wired for the wrong direction and the wires arced because they weren't compressed properly in the connections so the motor needed new connectors. The grate was twisted and didn't set flat. The bolts for the bearings were to long and were hitting on the drum during rotation and had to be removed and spaced out. Workmanship and quality control was seriously lacking on this one.

it works pretty good. After having a few issue and getting them figured out i finally got to use it. It works better then hand plucking but it's not exactly easy. It makes a decent mess and it will bog down if you put the full weight of a bird on it. So it takes a little finesse.

This is a cheaper model than the big drop in round Pluckers but once you get used to all the feather and splatter that flies around when you use this machine it really does work well. I plucked 500 chickens on this in one summer and it's still going strong so I'm not going to give any complaints.

Very well constructed.

Despite shipping issues, this is a godsend. Plucks ducks beautifully. Scald at 150 for 3 minutes, quick rinse with hose, & off with the feathers!

This thing works good if you slow it down. It was spinning too fast and tearing up the birds flesh. I purchased a 6 inch pulley with 1/2 inch bore and got a longer belt to fit and it did the trick. Good machine. Just needed some taming. SV