• The SH Membership has gone live. Only SH Members have access to post in the classifieds. All members can view the classifieds. Starting in 2020 only SH Members will be admitted to the annual hunting contest. Current members will need to follow these steps to upgrade: 1. Click on your username 2. Click on Account upgrades 3. Choose SH Member and purchase.
  • We've been working hard the past few weeks to come up with some big changes to our vendor policies to meet the changing needs of our community. Please see the new vendor rules here: Vendor Access Area Rules

My coolbot deer cooler

redsquirrel

redsquirrel

Administrator
Staff member
SH Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2014
Messages
14,954
Location
NJ
Joe.. As promised here are some pics of my cooler. I only had to put 1 in it this year but it worked great :D . In hindsight I only wish I could have made it bigger! The interior dimensions are 2' wide, 4' deep, and 5'7" high. I was limited by the height of the spot available in my garage. It was originally intended to fit 2 deer but I will most likely limit it to 1. For my personal use that shouldn't be a problem. I currently have the deer hanging in the middle of the cooler but I plan on moving that towards the back. I will also trim off the legs just below the knee joints to save some space. When I put a large deer in there the head will probably end up laying on the ground a bit. I'm ok with that though. The main purpose of building it was so that I don't have to worry about rushing to get to the butcher when I get one.

I love the coolbot. It is an amazing little device.

Frame
12959516884_816fe1d7f3.jpg


With gambrel
12959087835_3f0a1c7bac.jpg


Insulation
12959238393_dda3ab0993.jpg


Almost complete
12959091995_00350f1fa1.jpg


It is finished now I just don't have any more pics. I'll have to take a few more. I just want to get some sort of linoleum to line the inside. I was using a tarp this year.

I think I am way over powered for the size of my cooler. I set it at 38 and it actually cycles down to about 29, back up to 38 and on and on.
 
Very nice!

Just make sure you have enough insulation in there otherwise it will "cycle" too much. i built mine with R13 roll insulation in the wood frame and added 2" of Dow Super-Tuff R rigid foam on the inside of the cooler. I also insulated the floor as it is built on a concrete slab in my garage.

I can hang abut 4 deer in my cooler. The cooler is 7' tall x 6' wide x 8' long. You should be able to quarter a 2nd deer and hang the quarters in there along with a full deer. It looks big enough for that. You would just need to skin it first but that only takes about 20-30 minutes (less, if you use a golf ball, rope and a truck!).

The Coolbot ROCKS!!!

"Aero" Joe
 
That is Bad Ass. Lucky for me I have a giant wlk in at work for deer donations so I'm good, but if I ever needed to build one that would be the ticket.
 
joaxe said:
Very nice!

Just make sure you have enough insulation in there otherwise it will "cycle" too much. i built mine with R13 roll insulation in the wood frame and added 2" of Dow Super-Tuff R rigid foam on the inside of the cooler. I also insulated the floor as it is built on a concrete slab in my garage.

I can hang abut 4 deer in my cooler. The cooler is 7' tall x 6' wide x 8' long. You should be able to quarter a 2nd deer and hang the quarters in there along with a full deer. It looks big enough for that. You would just need to skin it first but that only takes about 20-30 minutes (less, if you use a golf ball, rope and a truck!).

The Coolbot ROCKS!!!

"Aero" Joe
Click to expand...

I ended up insulating the entire thing with rigid foam. I have both the floor and the ceiling insulated well, all my insulation is at the levels recommended by coolbot. I think the cycling is because I'm either overpowered or because my a/c unit is not one of the recommended units. I got the unit for free and figured I would go for it. I have run it a lot and it keeps it real cold in there.

You are definitely right that I can fit another deer in there if it is quartered. I really probably can fit 2 deer hanging in there as well as long as they are not 2 monster bucks :lol:

4 deer! So do you get everyone trying to keep their deer in your cooler??
 
Bigburner said:
That is Bad Ass. Lucky for me I have a giant wlk in at work for deer donations so I'm good, but if I ever needed to build one that would be the ticket.
Click to expand...

As Joe said, the coolbot is AWESOME!! and I would highly recommend it if you ever need to build a walk in cooler. They have lots of information on their website and there are some links to other helpful sites as well.

http://www.storeitcold.com/
 
So do you get everyone trying to keep their deer in your cooler??

Easy...I just tell them they need to give me cash to cover the electricity bill (which is minimal since my cooler is insulated pretty well). :D

Then again, nobody was getting any deer. I got 6 this year. I even helped a friend bag a doe on private property I hunt because he didn't get anything all season long. I showed him some processing techniques, too. When he got his deer, it was 9 degrees out. I suggested that he could either keep it in my cooler (which was shutoff at the time due to extremely cold temps outside) or hang it in his garage and process it as his leisure. He opted to keep it in his garage and do the work there. He only lives about 5 minutes away, though.

As far as more information on building a cooler, check out this 30-page thread on ArcheryTalk.com. My build is on there!

http://www.archerytalk.com/vb/showthread.php?t=1317200

"Aero" Joe
 
joaxe said:
So do you get everyone trying to keep their deer in your cooler??
Easy...I just tell them they need to give me cash to cover the electricity bill (which is minimal since my cooler is insulated pretty well). :D
Click to expand...

Sounds like you got the situation covered ;)

joaxe said:
Then again, nobody was getting any deer. I got 6 this year.
Click to expand...

And sounds like you had a banner year! Post up some pics!
 
dennism said:
Is that just a normal AC unit? A guy at work was talking about wanting to build something like this.
Click to expand...

Yep...just a standard AC window unit. Mine is a 10,000 BTU LG air conditioner. As long as you size it to the cooler room you build (and insulate properly), it will work perfectly.

It always amazes people (especially HVAC guys) when I tell them how good it works.

"Aero" Joe
 
Yea the cooler is awesome! I've been running it for the past week. Kept some beer in it for easter and then I put my turkey fan, beard and spurs in there yesterday to keep them so I can clean them up today.

The ac unit I am running is not one of the ones recommended by the company but I have had no problems with it so far. I was given it for free so I wanted to try and make it work.
 
redsquirrel said:
Yea the cooler is awesome! I've been running it for the past week. Kept some beer in it for easter and then I put my turkey fan, beard and spurs in there yesterday to keep them so I can clean them up today.

The ac unit I am running is not one of the ones recommended by the company but I have had no problems with it so far. I was given it for free so I wanted to try and make it work.
Click to expand...

Sweet!!!

"Aero" Joe
 
joaxe said:
redsquirrel said:
Yea the cooler is awesome! I've been running it for the past week. Kept some beer in it for easter and then I put my turkey fan, beard and spurs in there yesterday to keep them so I can clean them up today.

The ac unit I am running is not one of the ones recommended by the company but I have had no problems with it so far. I was given it for free so I wanted to try and make it work.
Click to expand...

Sweet!!!

"Aero" Joe
Click to expand...

Exactly! I build it so that if the unit dies I can pop one of the recommended ones in. But until then... :D
 
Scott,

That's good thinking! Start saving those pennies just in case...my 10,000 BTU LG window air conditioner was $323 online (free shipping). If you need one duing the summer, they can be very tough to find. I looked ALL OVER at the end of August and NOBODY had them in stock. I can let you know the site I purchased mine from. It was a great online experience with them.

From the looks of what you built, you could probably get away with a 6000-8000 BTU unit. Check the requirements on the storeitcold.com site.

"Aero" Joe
 
Thanks Joe. If I need to get one, I will reach out to you for the site. I am really hoping that this one keeps running for a while! Its been on for a week straight and running like a champ :D
 
redsquirrel said:
As Joe said, the coolbot is AWESOME!! and I would highly recommend it if you ever need to build a walk in cooler. They have lots of information on their website and there are some links to other helpful sites as well.

http://www.storeitcold.com/
Click to expand...
Are you running your ac inside a closed garage or basement. Was wondering if there are any problems with CO gas or any other dangers to having the unit indoors. Guess it’s the same as a heater. Probably no harm.
 
swampsnyper said:
Are you running your ac inside a closed garage or basement. Was wondering if there are any problems with CO gas or any other dangers to having the unit indoors. Guess it’s the same as a heater. Probably no harm.
Click to expand...
I am in the garage. I'm not aware of any dangers. The only thing is it does give of some moisture. I have a drip bucket underneath the runoff for the AC. I have run it for a week at a time on a couple occasions to keep some stuff cool, but typically for a deer I only have it in there for a night or 2 at the most. I built this mainly so I did not have to worry about cutting one up or getting one to the butcher in the middle of the night when I get home in the early season.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top