GR8 Up 16 Upgrade Kit
Already own a GR8 8-Unit Gourd Rack and wish you had room for more Purple Martins? The GR8 Up 16 Upgrade Kit lets you convert your existing 8-unit GR8 into a 16-unit gourd rack, doubling the number of available nesting sites without replacing your entire rack. The GR8 is also the rack used in our popular Smoking Hot Deal, making this an ideal upgrade for landlords who started with that system and are ready to expand their colony.
Upgrade Your Existing GR8
This is an upgrade kit, not a complete gourd rack. During the conversion, your original GR8 is disassembled and many of its existing components are reused. The original 8-unit hub is replaced with the new hub included in this kit, while the original rack components are combined with the additional parts supplied in the upgrade kit to create the finished 16-unit system.
This makes it possible to expand the rack you already own rather than purchasing an entirely new 16-unit gourd rack.
What's Included
The GR8 Up 16 Upgrade Kit includes:
- 1 Aluminum Hub
- 4 Aluminum Gourd Hanging U-Shaped Arms
- 4 Aluminum Braces
- 8 Horizontal Straight Gourd Mounting Arms
- 8 Stainless Steel Hitch Pins
- 24 Stainless Steel Bolts and Nuts
- Installation hardware
- Detailed installation instructions
The additional eight horizontal straight gourd mounting arms provide the mounting locations needed to increase the capacity of your existing GR8 from 8 gourds to 16.
Use Your Favorite Purple Martin Gourds
Once converted, the GR8 Up 16 offers excellent flexibility when choosing your gourds. The completed rack is compatible with:
You can use all one style or any combination of these gourds. There are no restrictions requiring a particular gourd to be placed in a particular position, allowing you to create the 16-gourd setup that works best for your colony.
Consider Adding the 2-Foot Pole Extension
When sixteen gourds are installed on the original 14-foot GR8 pole, the lowest tier of gourds is positioned near the lower height threshold at which Purple Martins will normally continue to occupy housing. For this reason, we recommend considering the optional 2-Foot Pole Extension when converting your GR8 to 16 units.
Adding the extension raises the entire hub and gourd assembly approximately two feet, providing additional height for the lower tier of gourds. This can help make all sixteen nesting sites more attractive to Purple Martins and may improve the opportunity for full occupancy as your colony grows.
Important: When adding the 2-foot pole extension, the original 45-foot rope will be too short. A 55-foot replacement rope should be used with the extended pole.
Add Eight Additional Gourds
The GR8 Up 16 Upgrade Kit can also be ordered with 8 additional gourds to complete your 16-unit setup. Choose from Troyer Vertical Gourds, Troyer Horizontal Gourds, or SuperGourds using the drop-down menu on this page.
Customers who purchase 8 Troyer Vertical Gourds with Conley II entrances at the same time as the GR8 Up 16 Upgrade Kit receive a $10 savings on the gourd package. This is the same style of gourd originally included with our popular Smoking Hot Deal, making it a natural choice for landlords who want to keep the expanded rack consistent with their original setup.
Expand Your Colony Without Replacing Your Rack
The GR8 Up 16 Upgrade Kit is a practical way for an established Purple Martin landlord to increase housing capacity as a colony grows. By reusing the major components of your existing GR8 and adding the specially designed hub, brackets, braces and mounting arms included with this kit, you can transform the rack you already own into a spacious 16-unit Purple Martin gourd rack.
