Own Your Own Locker Plant

Own Your Own Locker Plant SPECIALTY/SERVICES Specialty/Services 1-6-14 If your community doesn't have a locker plant, you may be interested in teaming up with several neighbors to get a new walk-in Polar Poke freezer from Emmert Mfg. Co., Inc., Audubon, Iowa. It's portable and prefabricated, ready for instant use. Or, you may want to set up your own sideline business by retaining ownership in a Polar Poke freezer unit and renting out locker boxes to rural and urban families in the community. If you feed cattle or raise hogs, you could keep customers supplied with your own brand of "home grown" beef or pork. "Currently, we have six units in use; however, they have only recently been offered for general sales," Fred Schapler, assistant general manager, told FARM SHOW. Super Market specials and garden surpluses are naturals for the new freezer storage units. With meat, Schapler notes that the normal procedure would be to have animals butchered and the meat packaged and sharp frozen by a custom butcher-freezer service, then transfered to the Polar Poke freezer for storage. The units are not designed or equipped to handle the initial "sharp freezing" operation. Two models are available: The largest is 10 ft. by 40 ft. and has 238 locker boxes (119 on each side with a 36 in. wide center aisle). Individual locker boxes are 161/2 in. by 171/4 in. by 301/4 in. deep (5 cubic ft.) and hold approximately 250 lbs. of meat. The unit comes with a 5 hp Recold-Bohm freezer, positioned in the rear end wall, which maintains an inside temperature range of 0? to -10? F. The smaller Polar Poke freezer is 10 ft. by 24 ft. and has 128 locker boxes. It uses a 3 hp Recold-Bohm freezer unit and maintains the same 0? to -10? F temperature range. The Polar Poke freezers are well insulated (6 to 8 in. of urethane insulation) and will hold below-freezing temperatures for several days in the event of a power failure. They require a 60 amp, 220 V electrical hookup. Made of all-welded I-beams, they're heavy yet portable and can be placed on concrete piers or slab. The insulation is covered both inside and out with 1/2 in. sheetrock; the exterior is aluminum shake siding in a variety of decorator colors. The center aisle is warmed by infra-red heat lamps which the customer switches on when entering. They go off automatically after a preset time interval. The basic Polar Poke package includes the portable prefabricated building, freezer unit, locker boxes, aluminum shake siding, lights and heat lamps, aisle carpet, outside light, and a safety alarm. Optional shelves instead of locker boxes are available for bulk frozen food storage. Each renter of a locker box provides his own padlock for his locker, assuring him that no one else has a key to his private locker. Schapler says the going monthly rental rate for a Polar Poke locker box is $5 for long term rental, and $6 to $10 for short term. Monthly expenses for electricity, taxes and insurance generally run from $175 to $200 for the larger 238 box Polar Poke freezer. For more details, including price or lease information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Polar Poke Freezer Unit, Emmert Mfg. Co.. Inc., Box 153, Audubon, Iowa 50025 (ph 712 5634271).

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