During the summer of 2007 I lost the entire population of fish in a 7 acre shallow pond. This fall after having a four to five foot canal dug along one side of the pond it was restocked with 700 brim and 300 shell cracker. These fish were approx 2" at the time of release.I do not intend to put any other fish in this pond. It my intention to catch the fish when mature and ditribute them to adjacent ponds to repopulate ponds that have become deficent in brim due to predation by bass.

The two feeders that I am considering are the Moultrie MEMFHFP30 and the Aqua Pro ADF-150DX. Any pro or cons on the feeders would be greatly appreciated. I realize there are better feeders on the market. But, do to budget constraints I am trying to strike a happy medium. Also typically how long will the 6 volt batteries last and are the solar panels a worth while investment?

lastly, is it to early to begin fedding as far as the size of the brim. I do realize i need to wait until the water temps reach 60 degrees.

Ive heard that there have been alot of problems with the aqua pros the past year or so. I don't know anything about the moultrie. but the last deer feeder that I got from them wasn't near the quality that they used to have. It stopped working about a year after I got it. I use texas hunter feeders, I know they are a little bit more expensive but ive never heard of anyone having a single problem with them. I don't like to work on things so thats why I went with the texas hunter.

I have experience with both. I used to sell aquapro. I could not keep the 150dx running. I had trouble with the paddlewheel staying jammed and timer issues. Currently sitting inventory with broken timer. I sell Moultrie but not this model. I basically do not make enough money to make it worth handling. Also do not want to handle complaints since it is not made the same as thier higher priced model. It is ok for the money but eventually feel moisture may become an issue. They both retail for around $120 so not a bad price but I feel better off upgrading to the F30 metal feedcaster, it does not require hanging, build tougher, has a remote and way to keep varmits out, PB customer price is $375. I have been impressed with the small solar panel keeping the 6 volt battery running.

The On Time model with the solar charger is a good one,cost $199.00,and comes with the battery.Just my .02

I have had problems with AquaPro – I have had problems with Texas Hunter.

My new Texas Hunter feeder has driven me nuts not feeding timed amounts of feed – in fact presently I have to set it on 60 seconds to feed 1.5#’s.
The good news is that I was finally informed that it has problems handling large AQMX 600 pellets and there is an adjustment on the spin plate that should take care of the problem.
They sent me a tool and battery UPS overnight and I will attempt to correct the problem later in the week.
I might add that they have knocked themselves out trying to correct the problem and I appreciate their customer service.
I am mechanically challenged and don/’t like to have to work on new equipment.

I own three AquaPros, one old workhorse Stren and two newer AquaPros that had timer problems which they replaced, but continue to have problems with feed jams. I believe the jam problem to be the result of oily high protein fish food crumbs.

AquaPro will repair/service all three of my feeders as soon as I can return them, which I will trailer to their plant on Friday.
Fortunately their plant is in my area.

I cannot be more pleased with their service and believes that everyone deserves a second chance.

All in all, I’m tired of spending my fishin’ time worrying abut feeders so hope my feeder problems will soon be behind me.

George

I'm about to invest a significant amount of capital into feeders and was going with Sweeney and Texas Hunter. Now....I'm not so sure. Can you please keep us in the loop regarding your issues with TH - for some reason I was under the impression they were supposed to be the most reliable brand. I trust your feedback.

Thanks!

Guys I would wait a couple weeks to decide on this issue. So far it looks like the Aqua Pro fixes are working. I will know more in a week. Assuming the fix works , as it appears so far that it will, you will then have that option to consider.

TJ, my only issue with TH is that they should advise their customers there is a problem with larger size pellets OR correct the problem.
I've worried with this problem for six months, believing all the time I was too dumb to set the timer - I'm not happy having lost prime feeding weeks for my prized OTS CNBG.

I cannot place the "jam" problemms entirely on AQP since I was negligent in leaving feed in the hoppers over winter shutdown.
They were working well until that time, other than intermittant timer problems.

I agree with Eric, let's wait a couple of weeks and see how all this shakes out.

ps: TJ, the problem with my Texas Hunter jam was caused by a large "chuck" of AQMX fish food that "jammed" the spin plate and was not the fault of TH.
I found the problem when TH provided me the tool to loosen the spin plate for adjustment, and discovered a large piece of fish food that caused the jam.
My apologies for mis-information.

George I understand 100% from your point of view, you got my kinda lucky. Also, if fixed, aquapro is a great option especially considering the price. However George you are the only one I know of who has had an issue with TX Hunter. I have sold probably 50 units and nothing but complements about them. Yes in your case it stinks royally. However until furhter testing of AP I stand behind TX Hunter as the best feeder. Keep in mind I'm a sweeney and Moultrie dealer as well.

Greg, I have found it was common knowledge AQMX 600 was pushing the size limit for the small TH feeder, and adjustments were being made lowering the spin plate on the motor shaft.
I don’t believe it should be the responsibility of either the vendor or customer to have to QC a product.

If I had checked with you and Todd, I could have avoided this problem.
But as I said previously, everyone deserves a second chance.

So does Aquamax 600 work fine with the 200lb fish food TH feeder?

Hi Jakeb, great question - thanks for your inquiry.

Our Texas Hunter directional feeders were designed to handle feed up to and including the AquaMax 600 pellet. And they work great. We are aware of a small adjustment with the top motor's spinner plate that dispenses the feed which, in a few cases, has needed to be lowered about 1/8" in order to accommodate the AM600 pellet, but this is a simple adjustment that takes a few minutes and is not necessary in most cases.

We have many lake owners and professional lake management companies throughout America that rely on both our smaller DF125 feeders and the larger capacity DF425s and they are feeding AquaMax 600. AquaMax 600 is a great feed, and our feeders love it!

And fyi...Our patented blower system is the exact same in both the small and large capacity units. Only the hopper capacity size is different. You'll find that the feed pattern provides a broad feed distribution and our exclusive, reliable EZ Set timer includes a 5-year limited warranty and will feed up to 9 times daily.

Complete details can be found here. http://www.texashunterproducts.com/difife1.html

We encourage you to talk with Texas Hunter fish feeder owners and the pond management pros who use them daily - and find out what they think. Feel free to give us a call with any questions you may have and to locate a dealer near you. We maintain a large inventory and usually ship the same or next day that you order.