Hello people, my brothers mate has a damaged Tesco delivery van that'll be getting scrapped soon, he said the chiller box on the back is still good and working and I can basically get it for pennies if I pay for the transportation, my question is are these delivery van chillers suitable for storing deer what temperature will the chiller unit be at.......has anyone used a similar chiller for there deer?
Would a chiller box from a delivery van be suitable
shakey jake
Well-Known Member
I looked after a butchers shop that used one at xmas for turkeys, cant see why it wouldnt work for deer
The shoot I beat on occasionally uses an ex Sainsbury’s one…..
If it’s a Tesco one then I’d say no - as a starter converting any delivery van requires ALL the installation including the controller unit that’ll be in the cab, split charge battery system (it’ll all be running on 12v dc) & all associated wiring. Because it’s a Tesco van it’ll have a small side loading chiller with rails to slide the totes into that does not lend itself to easy access & will be part of the structure of the load area. I’m not 100% sure but I think the freezer storage area is next to the chiller & that the two of them are run from the same unit.
If you really want to do a conversion then look for a Sainsbury’s van - they are a ‘walk in’ box with 70% for ambient storage & a bulkhead installed for the chiller which is 30% of the area so you could make that your chiller & use the larger space for gralloching or prep work. The bulkhead could be removed to make a single walk in unit if you wanted more space. Again make sure that you get all the wiring & control systems for the chiller & better still find a van that has a blue electrical socket under the offside front corner of the box - these have been converted to run on mains & are the vans you see parked under a canopy in the car park doing the ‘click & collect’ service. It’ll save you from having to convert to run on mains or using a 12v dc supply.
If you do get a fully working set up then they will chill down to 0 degrees C but will allow you to set whatever temp you want - the law requires a cold chain temp below 5 degrees C for delivery purposes.
I wouldn’t write the idea off without going to see the van, but I would be very cautious about the amount of work that you might end up taking on.
I know a couple of people who've purchased ex Tesco chiller van backs with the intention of using them as deer larders, only to discover (too late!) that the important pipework had all been chopped through during the process of removing the box from the van chassis. The cost of repairing it all was prohibitively expensive, so basically all they ended up with was an insulated container, not a fridge.
Now that’s a much better proposition 
If it were me I’d look to increase the size of the chilled area by putting in a new bulkhead & removing the old one (put the new one in first as it is a structural element of the box!), then use the first area as you walk in for prep work.
(Edit: just seen your suggestion of getting rid of the internal wall.., DON’T - it’s what is stopping the box twisting. If you want to take it out then find another way to provide the bracing it provides. If you look at the construction you’ll see that the whole thing is made up of sheets that are bonded to each other & held in place by relatively flimsy fibreglass angle sections.)
While on the subject of structural integrity, these boxes are not the most rigid so for hanging carcasses I’d suggest a free standing kee-klamp type frame.
These boxes are not the most thermally efficient either so you may want to think about lining the inside with another layer of insulated board. Plus replace the door seals as these are usually worn out or missing. Another thing that will help it, especially in the summer, is if you can put it inside a barn or at least build a cover over the top to keep it out of direct sunlight. These units are built to a price to meet a minimum specification & that is what they do, just! - in the summer the chillers are running pretty much constantly to keep them at 5C or less.
I’d also put in a new anti slip floor covering - that orange floor in the centre has resin impregnated with glass (or similar) & is very abrasive. The side strips will not be anti slip either! And, the floor will be a cess pool of bacteria that you do NOT want in your chiller!
Hope this helps
If it were me I’d look to increase the size of the chilled area by putting in a new bulkhead & removing the old one (put the new one in first as it is a structural element of the box!), then use the first area as you walk in for prep work.
(Edit: just seen your suggestion of getting rid of the internal wall.., DON’T - it’s what is stopping the box twisting. If you want to take it out then find another way to provide the bracing it provides. If you look at the construction you’ll see that the whole thing is made up of sheets that are bonded to each other & held in place by relatively flimsy fibreglass angle sections.)
While on the subject of structural integrity, these boxes are not the most rigid so for hanging carcasses I’d suggest a free standing kee-klamp type frame.
These boxes are not the most thermally efficient either so you may want to think about lining the inside with another layer of insulated board. Plus replace the door seals as these are usually worn out or missing. Another thing that will help it, especially in the summer, is if you can put it inside a barn or at least build a cover over the top to keep it out of direct sunlight. These units are built to a price to meet a minimum specification & that is what they do, just! - in the summer the chillers are running pretty much constantly to keep them at 5C or less.
I’d also put in a new anti slip floor covering - that orange floor in the centre has resin impregnated with glass (or similar) & is very abrasive. The side strips will not be anti slip either! And, the floor will be a cess pool of bacteria that you do NOT want in your chiller!
Hope this helps
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