First let me say we are going to do things a little different here at TFOS The Online
Magazine. We are not only going to review the various feeders as available, but we are going to pit each one against the toughest competition of all, the home-made feeder!
Now a home-made feeder, (hereinafter referred to as “HM”, so I don’t have to keep typing HOME-MADE!), can be as elaborate as any commercial job, or as simple as a bucket, almost.
Before we go further, let’s define “feeder”. We are currently discussing “broadcast” feeders in which a motor operates a throwing or broadcast plate. As corn falls on the plate , the motor spins it ‘round and ‘round at a pre-determined speed. When the plate stops spinning the corn backs up on itself in the spout and stops falling. The motor/throwing mechanism is one piece and is the most complicated and generally the most expensive part of a feeder. The other parts, hopper, legs and accessories are as little as half the final price! Prices range from cheap to expensive, like anything else. You will pay more for a programmable timer that throws corn six times a day at pre-set intervals than you will for simple twice a day unit with a solar eye that throws at sunup and sundown.
Other options include adjustments for speed, length, and distance of throw cycle, solar battery chargers, varmint cages ( these fit around the throwing mechanism, keeping ‘coons and other critters away from the feed!), viewing ports so you can see how much is in the feeder without climbing on top, and platforms- for climbing on top! Some of these are just frills but depending on your situation, may be necessities. For example, your lease may be some distance away from home. How often do you want to run down to check feeder batteries? How about a solar charger? Getting a little older?I know I am! A ladder/platform attached to your feeder will make filling it much easier AND safer, compared to a regular ladder! Custom lids and legs, kits and commercial there are a lot of options! We are trying to build the cheapest feeders available, yet still have one to be proud of.
The first feeder we did came out ok, considering we started with an empty 55 gallon drum and no plans. We whacked the top out ( this CAN be done with a wrecking or pry bar and large hammer but my neighbors didn’t like that much!), cut a hole in the bottom ,and away we went. The barrel was free, found in the industrial section of downtown Anybigcity, and fairly clean. A good wash once the top was out, and on to the hole.
We had been given a feeder motor, an old
motor with an eye, you know a solar sensor. It also came with a small funnel to direct the corn onto the spinning plate. By centering the motor on the bottom of the drum, we could see where the funnel should go, and thereby located our hole position on the drum. A couple of burned out wood bits, and a hole saw later, we were done! Now off to the store for some stuff we can’t get free. You will need an interior funnel to direct the corn into the little hole you have made. We found them as cheap as 14.95, but those were plastic! YUK! Metal funnels were 24.95, plus tax. While we were there we got a spring-loaded lid. This lid has a keeper spring to hold it in place while you fill the hopper. Think of this—you are eight feet off the ground on a ladder, with one or two fifty-pound bags of corn on your shoulder, and you’ve just removed the lid of your feeder.
Now what do you do? Throw it on the ground? Now when you finish filling the hopper you can climb down, get the lid and climb back UP the ladder to put the lid on! Or you get one of these, and when you slide the lid off, it rotates over the drum and is held in place against the side by the spring, leaving your hands free. This is also 24.95, so our total bill was fifty one and change, including tax. Next we put on the motor. Do this AFTER you have installed the interior funnel! We bring you this as a service, you do not want to do this the other way around and don’t ask me how I know! Center the small exterior funnel over the hole in the hopper and screw into place. Now center the spin plate over the funnel and screw it into place. You are doing this with the feeder upside-down by the way.
Of course we are taking you through this as it actually happened, if we were doing a how-to, I would have told you to install the legs before you bolt on the motor! That gives the feeder something to stand on other than the motor itself! Of course we learn as we go don’t we? And nothing illustrates that more than our experience with legs.
18.95 seemed like a lot for three little ‘ol leg brackets, so I decided to make my own. A 2 5/8 inch fence post and six end ties cost ten dollars at the discount place. I cut the post into three sections, each one twenty-two inches long. Taking a large hammer we smashed the posts about one third of the way up, creating a flat side (not TOO flat). Then we bend the post a little to cant the legs outward. We bent ours by shoving it between two tree branches and pushing on one end. Now we just mark the position of the brackets, drill some pilot holes, and screw the brackets on with large sheet metal screws.
Now we just need the actual leg pieces. Make your legs as long as you like, keeping in mind the higher your feeder, the higher you must climb to fill it! We found some old two-inch plumbing pipe out behind the shop that was twenty feet long. Each one gave us three legs about six and one half feet long.
So our total investment looks like this: Barrel-free, motor-free, legs-free, lid-24.95,