Does anybody know where I can get some general plans for home built walk-in coolers??? Big enough to store a deer or elk...

Hey Whiplash, I don't know about Plans to build a Walk-in Cooler. But, I do know something else that works real well - retired Frozen Food delivery truck bodies.

You can get these in any size you want including Trailer Truck size. Some of the places I've hunted use them and they do fine for "temporary storage". None of the places had them cooled to the freezing point. Most were around 36-38deg and did fine.
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And I have a buddy who has a Restaurant that bought a Walk-In Freezer from an old grocery that was being torn down. It didn't cost him much because they were glad to have it taken down and hauled off.

It is simply a wooden building within another wooden building with about 12" of spray in insulation. It is setting on concrete, so the bottom is not insulated. He keeps it below freezing, but I do not know what the temperature is in it.

When Hurricane Hugo went through, it made it through 4 days of no power and kept everything frozen solid. Then the guy that supplies his Fish brought Freezer Trucks by to take the stuff back to his HUGE Freezer(back-up generator) until power returned.

Thats kind of what I was wanting to build was just something simple cheap and home built. I have seen some people or establishments in the mountains offer cooler space in their trucks. I will have to keep my eyes open. The truck wouldnt even have to run, but just enough to keep the cooler running. And it only needs to keep cool, not freeze. And it would be used just for hanging/butchering game.

whiplash, if you are going to insulate it properly it won't be cheap.

Hey Whiplash, The ones at the Hunting Camps I visited were off the frames, no truck around, just the body. Same with the Trailers, the rear axles were removed and they were setting on rocks, blocks or concrete.

Die Ou Jagter might have a very valid point. It would be interesting for you to get one of the inexpensive House Building pieces of software or even do it on a piece of paper to see how big you would want the thing and cost it out.

If you can locate someone razing a building, they may give you the wood for hauling it off. The plywood on the roof would be like striking gold.

And if you built it yourself, you could design the space between the walls wide enough for the shredded blown in insulation or what ever is the cheapest. I've no idea.

Just heard from a buddy two nights ago that had the Insulation guys come by his house and blow two feet of it into his attic. Price didn't come up, so again, I've no idea there.

You might get some ideas on the various insulation costs by visiting Hone Depot, Lowe's and making a few phone calls to your loacl Insulation folks.

Best of luck with it.

We have an old milk truck, We put a rail system in the ceiling so we can hang the sides. Just plug it in and forget it. Steers, hogs and deer it works perfect. When just drive it around back and it is out of sight.

When I used to work construction the company I worked for built Kansas Cold Storage. We put down a double layer of foam insulation and pored the cement floor over it. If you are going to build a walk in locker you might check into what is necessary to insulate the floor.

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sierrabravo45, PM sent...

whiplash,

How big a cooler are you talking about?

If you only want to hang up a single carcass, perhaps an old drinks chiller will do?


Its shown with a 70lb Sika stag carcass...The guy who built it thinks it will hold a carcass of up to 100lb...Considering he has about $60 tied up in the unit, it looks like a good deal..

For a larger truely walk in unit, the easist option is one of the chiller units off a lorry or van as already mentioned.

If your going to build something from scratch, I don't think you need excessive insulation; look how much insulation is used on a typical drinks chiller for instance...

Over here you can buy 8' x4' x2" polystyrene sheet insulation from builders merchants for next to nothing and I would imagine a 4" thickness between the walls would be plenty..

Using a thicker insulation might allow to use a smaller chiller unit and the whole affair will be more efficient, but 4" will work unless it gets blisteringly hot where you hunt...

Regards,

Pete

Make a well insulated "closet" paint the inside with epoxy paint. Look around for an old "coke" cooler- find the kind where the condenser and motor are one unit that sits on top of the cooler. The kind I'm thinking about just blows the cold air down through a hole in the top of the cooler. Mount this on top of the closet you have built and voila!! The temperature is controlled with a switch right on the unit --so no thermocouple needed.

the chef

Temperature should be held at 34-40F.Carcasses should not touch, there should be room around them for good circulation.