DIY walk in coolers

kcult

kcult

Wish you were closer
Charter Member
Supporting Member
Multi-Factor Enabled
Joined
Dec 17, 2016
Messages
20,167
Location
ChesCo SC
Rating - 100%
54   0   0
Forgive, prease, if this has been discussed. Beers prevent me from searching effectively.

Has anyone here built or bought a walk in cooler? I'm considering something just large enough for maybe three deer (or the occasional pig). I'm looking for economical and effective and I don't mind swinging a hammer to make this a reality.

I have a 12x16 building with a door on the front and one on the side. I thought about utilizing the side door and building off of that. YouTube is showing me something called Coolbot and a window unit AC to make this happen.

I know we have a creative collective here. Have you done something like this?
 
You might could use a refrigerated truck body if you could find one.....I've thought about trying it.
 
Check out govliquidations. I picked up a nice one for about $1200 and picked it up at lejeune.

It’s 3 phase though so I never plugged it in. Olannwd I’m running it with an AC and a coldbot unit but have never gotten around to setting it up yet. Still makes a great waterproof storage unit.
 
My FIL retired from Coca Cola (machine service) and buys retired Coke machines and turns them into deer coolers. You can fit two big or three medium deer in one. He takes out all the parts that held the drinks and makes sure it's cooling good. There's a lot of Coke machines around aging deer! I think he get's $250-$300 for them. I'm not trying to sell you one, just giving you an option.
 
I use an old refrigerator. It has the old wire racks and I can fit three in after quatering them.
 
kcult said:
Forgive, prease, if this has been discussed. Beers prevent me from searching effectively.

Has anyone here built or bought a walk in cooler? I'm considering something just large enough for maybe three deer (or the occasional pig). I'm looking for economical and effective and I don't mind swinging a hammer to make this a reality.

I have a 12x16 building with a door on the front and one on the side. I thought about utilizing the side door and building off of that. YouTube is showing me something called Coolbot and a window unit AC to make this happen.

I know we have a creative collective here. Have you done something like this?
Click to expand...

Can you just hang them in the building? I have hung tons of them in an empty horse stall as long as the temp doesn't get above 55.
 
nchunt101 said:
Can you just hang them in the building? I have hung tons of them in an empty horse stall as long as the temp doesn't get above 55.
Click to expand...

I’ve done this in an old bulk tobacco barn. Works great when the temp stays down.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:
nchunt101 said:
Can you just hang them in the building? I have hung tons of them in an empty horse stall as long as the temp doesn't get above 55.
Click to expand...

Wanna try to keep them where the temp is above freezing, but less than 40.
 
wsfiredude said:
Wanna try to keep them where the temp is above freezing, but less than 40.
Click to expand...
I have found thaat the horse stalls in my folk barn will keep a pretty reliable temp range of 37-45ish when it gets good and cold at night even if it the high hits 55. That said I prefer using the fridge.
 
Last edited:
IMG_1307 (1).JPG
IMG_1313.JPG
IMG_1310.JPG
IMG_1309.JPG
The first pic is a Coke machine,of course. The third pic is before being "gutted" and the second are the "guts". The fourth pic is ours. Empty of course 'cause he ain't gonna skin and gut himself and climb in! Sorry for the crappy pics, it's 5:30 am and raining. I'll get some this afternoon with a tape measure in place, but you can get two 150 lb deer in there, or if you're like me, 3 70 pounders.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom