From pictures of a friends loft I saw a good idea. In his loft, in front of the trap he had a tray where he would have peanuts for the birds when they returned from training or a race. One of those little extra things that can shave seconds off clocking time. The design of my loft did not allow for me to install a fixed tray as he had. It would be in the way and probably hit my head on it often.  I decided to make a tray that could slide under the lower roof section where I didn't walk except when cleaning the loft. I'm use to bending over in that area so a few more inches of less head room wouldn't make a difference. It will only be used when the birds return from a training or race. After they arrive it's returned to the in position and hopefully my head will be bump less.

The outline sketch of the loft end view gives an idea of the design and the problem. A picture can be seen at this page.

No dimensions are shown as they would be determined by where it would go in your loft. Mine are 18 inches deep x 34 inches long. That was determined more by the material I had on hand than any other factor.

To the left of the trap and and about waist high from the floor is a shelf for the clock.

From the time the bird is on the tray, it's caught, the countermark removed and in the clock very few seconds should be lost. Far less than what I was doing previously. Very often it's only a couple of seconds that make the difference between first and second place in a race. Little things that can be done to save time are important.
 
 
 
 
 


If you would like to have a tray and would need to fold it out of the way here is a sketch of something that might work.

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