I have fluctuating water table and steep shorelines on my 13 acre pond. I have three Texas Hunter feeders and am looking into options to move my feeders from the shore to offshore or at least at the water bank to get 100% of the feed into the water versus wasting feed on the shore.
Other than building out floating barges / rafts (minimum of
$250 in cost plus 3 - 4 hours to build and to accomdate the 200 lb. feeders and 70 lbs. of feed), has anyone made up anything out of barrels or floats? Texas Hunter doesn't make anything like this (they should).
Any help or ideas would be appreciated.
Thanks!
Dave
I was discussing this just yesterday with TJ and there was a very recent thread started by Bullhead about this. I'll try to dig it up.
No info on that chain that will serve my purpose. I am trying to get my Texas feeders that weight 270 lbs. full ot on the water. You mentioned in your last post about a friend of yours who built something. Any results on that?
Texas Hunter or someone should make a legs that attach to the 4 corners of their feeder that when they come to the ground do a 90 degree for 3' with some width on the flat sided legs These angled 90 degree legs could be then bolted to a piece of wood that is clamped to connect to say four 30 / 55 gallon plastic barrels.
Water could be added to the barrels to make the feeders sit lower in the water so they aren't top heavy as an idea.
That is one idea I have come up with.
I am sure someone at this site has put feeders off shore in a pond or lake before? Anyone?
What TH feeders do you have? DF125 or DF425?
Another thing to try:
Find the high water mark. Place the feeder there. Place it on the side of the pond where the wind will carry the pellets out into the pond. Angle the feeder top back, so it throws the pellets higher up in the air and farther out.
You can also build a platform on the shore, at the high water mark. Get the feeder feet 4-5 feet up in the air. It'll throw the food further, and very little will land on the shore. unless the water is out 15-20 feet from the feeder.
The feeder my friend has on his lake is much smaller than the one you want. That sounds like an excellent idea to develop something like this and I'm sure there'd be a market. What do we have to do to talk you into building this to show us how it's done?
I have DF125.
Water level flucates and bank is steep. High water mark is where they are now and angled as high as possible and throwing down wind..already doing that easy no brainer stuff.
Thought of platform, issue with that is if the water comes up before I move the platform the feeders go under.
Thinking out load hear..maybe stack pallets up to get the height above water level and bolt the legs down on 2 x 4's nailed to the pallets. Tie the pallets together with poly rope.
Quick fix.
Someone needs to make float system for Texas Feeders (Cody..hear this). Buyer here and others.
Anyone with any photos of setups they have made?
Not sure if this helps. I am looking at these for potential goose nests. Drive four metal posts (6-8' long) at each corner into the bottom of the pond. Bolt the feeder down.
Platform will move up and down on the posts with the water level changes. There are lots of manufactures. I just copied the pic from the Home Depot web site. The 2x4x1 is rated to 450lbs and I couldn't find the float rating for the 4x4x1. The cost was listed at $170
The DF125 doesn't weigh what you think it does. It's shippable via UPS in 2 boxes. One for the body/battery, the other box for the legs and stakes if it requires stakes. I'd say full of food, 200# max. The thing about floating platforms is that you have to make it wide enough so it won't tip over when you get on it to fill it. Been there, done that trying to fill a feeder that was on a post from a boat. The boat wouldn't stay close enough to the feeder without 2 people in the boat.
Also, the platform has to be anchored or tied off in such a way that it stays facing a certain direction.
My vote is for short docks (floating or fixed) just for the feeders.
This past week I have been thinking about this very same idea. I need to get a feeder going this spring and have been considering the cheapo version of a feeder, but it's famous for dropping the feed onto the ground. So I have been thinking of ways to turn it into a floating feeder so it all gets into the water.
Thankyou esshup for mentioning how hard it is to fill this setup on the water. I was wondering about this. And of course the many maintainance issues with cheap feeders, I was considering making it so it could be pulled to shore easily for repairs and filling. As esshup mentioned, it sure can't be top heavy, and the weight changing as feed is added/used, changes the buyouncy and how it will sit in the water.
If I go this route I will be sure to take pics.
If it's a directional feeder, how will you keep it pointed in the same direction all the time, and if you can pull it to shore, how will you get it back out in the pond and anchored in one spot?
David, have you tried just tilting the front of the feeders up a little on your current pads? Mine throw a little higher this way and cut down on shore loss.
Having the feeder on a tripod worked well for me untill the bears started swimming
I could paddel the canoe up between the tripod legs and fill the feeder easily, but if your pond level has large fluctuations that would be a problem.
I use a platform, angled upward and into predominant winds as suggested here. Water fluctuates 2-3' annually and have very little feed on shoreline. Works great for me and I can move the platform as necessary down the bank if water level dropped further. Cost $40 in materials and took 2 hours to build.
TJ, I was thinking WITH the predominant wind so the feed will be carried out into the pond further. Do you see a lot of powder on the front of your feeder or do the 'coons lick it off every night?
Sorry, I meant to say I angle my feeder slightly to the west and north [NNW] as majority of our winds are from the South and West. The west winds kinda knock it down a little right by the dam, and blow it to the east away from the dam, which is exactly where I needed it, and allows a really long drift [300-400'] across the pond in case some pellets aren't hammered right away and they don't end up on shore. We never get east winds, so this works great, but on those periods with sustained strong North winds I will sometimes shut the feeder down as 50% of the pellets end up as tadpole/coon feed on the shoreline.
Coons love the dust...but I haven't seen any around for a while since my spree last year! I'm sure a new family will move in and we'll be back to the carnage again this Summer. Got kinda fun after a while, especially dispatching the ones that hiss and lunge at you.
If it's a directional feeder, how will you keep it pointed in the same direction all the time, and if you can pull it to shore, how will you get it back out in the pond and anchored in one spot?
A boat to bring it in and back out. I was thinking about two lines with anchors to keep it in place. Just thoughts at this point. The feedback given on this feeder says it vibrates so much bolts loosen up!!!! May sink itself
.
Has anybody had a feeder sink under water, and did it still work? Are the electronics messed up after that?
I could paddel the canoe up between the tripod legs and fill the feeder easily
Like that idea.
TJ had the idea to employ a pulley system to guide it on and off the water.
Keep all those ideas coming. The crazier the better. I'm relaying to the wife all the things that could be done to accomodate the cheap feeder. She is beggining to accept the fact that it might just be better to splurge on a good one!!!!!
I measured out from the bank 5-1/2' and drove a 2-7/8" tubing pipe into the pond with a post hole driver about 4' deep and with 4' stick up above the water line at highest level.
Next I took a 1/2" 24" x 24" steel plate and welded a 2.5' long 2-3/8" tubing in the center of the plate. I then slipped the 2-3/8" tubing inside of the 2-7/8". The ID of the 2-7/8" tubing is 2.44" and the OD of the 2-3/8" 2.375".
Then I took another piece of 2-7/8" tubing and placed it across the center of the plate sticking out 5' over the water and 5' stick up back toward the opposite end and welded it in place.
Next I welded me a frame out of angle iron that would hold the Texas Hunter feeder inside of it and welded that on the end of the 2-7/8" tubing that would be over the water.
When I want to fill the feeder, I take the end toward the bank and spin the feeder from over the water and then over the bank. I fill the feeder and then spin back over the water.
I then then took a torch and cut me a hole through & through both pieces of tubing and slid a pin in it to keep the feeder from spinning.
This keeps the animals from getting to my aquamax and prying eyes from eyeballing my feeder with less than desirable intentions as they pass by. Oh, and I have a pad lock on the pin in case some coon gets smart enough to slide the pin out and spin the feeder back to the bank. lol...
Coupe
Couppedeville:
Can you take a picture of what you built and post it?
Very good systems you came up with!
I knew there would be some good creative ideas to be found here.
Question - Why do people on this site not use their real names?
Dave
Many of the people on this site think they are Elvis. It just makes more sense to have everyone take an assumed name.
Glad to be of assistance.
Has anybody had a feeder sink under water, and did it still work? Are the electronics messed up after that?
Keep all those ideas coming. The crazier the better. I'm relaying to the wife all the things that could be done to accomodate the cheap feeder. She is beggining to accept the fact that it might just be better to splurge on a good one!!!!!
Your wife is a smart lady!
A friend of mine has a DF425 Texas Hunter on a small trailer. IIRC it's an old single place jet ski trailer with a small platform on it. He can move the trailer closer/further from the water providing the bank isn't too steep. A large storm was coming that was supposed to dump a LOT of rain, so he told his ranch foreman to move the feeder up to high ground. That was 3-4 days before I came down to visit. We're driving around the ponds, and see the handle on top of the feeder sticking out of the water. Needless to say, he's not a happy camper. The guy that was supposed to move the feeder got it out of the water later that day. It was a mess, as it was full of food. I got all the food out of it, hosed it out, and cleaned it up. Removed the battery and timer, put in the pole barn and set a fan on it for a day to dry it out. In the meantime, he runs over the top of the feeder with his truck, turning it into a semi "U" shape. Things are going really well...........
He's got an old blacksmith's anvil, and some hammers, so I'm able to get it beat back into shape. We put a new battery in the feeder, and swiped another timer from one of the other feeders that he has. It fired right up and it's still working, 4 years later.
Scott...this sounds like a day at my farm! Somedays anything that can go wrong, does. Good job getting him back into the game, though.
Has anybody had a feeder sink under water, and did it still work? Are the electronics messed up after that?
After the bear swam out and pulled the tripod over the digital feeder was toast, but it was a cheap feeder.
Thanks AP and Esshup.
To all that have bears and feeders.
I don't expect a bear, but there may be a 5-10 percent chance at this point. Have any of dealt with bears? If a feeder is NOT protected and a bear comes to it for the first time, what would be the probability that the feeder would get destroyed beyond fixing. I know there isn't any accurate answer to this, but is there a track record of sorts of what damage the bear does to get the feed out?
If it happens once, I would then protect it of course. Just don't know if it warrants the time ,trouble, and money for a possibilty.
Thanks, Jim
EDIT; my question pertains to Texas Hunter feeders, not the cheap versions.....
Has anybody had a feeder sink under water, and did it still work? Are the electronics messed up after that?
My experience with TH-
If under water a couple days-dry'em and clean'em, they'll run fine.
My last one was under for a couple weeks, thanks to some uninvited guests. No go, but Cody at TH sent me the motors, which were not expensive, and everything's back like new. Really easy to dissemble and replace the motors, much easier than the old AquaPros.
LOTS easier than the Stren! I'd wager that both motors combined cost less than the timer.
Coup:
That is one bad ass swinging feeder design!
Dave
DavidB,
Thanks for the compliment but to me it is real basic but stout enough to get the job done. The only thing I have left to do is put around 100 lbs on the opposite end as a counter weight to take the strain off of the 2-3/8" that is inside the 2-7/8".
Coupe
Great fabrication and idea, well done coupe!
I love it.
And, I also like the idea of the wood frames around the trees. I see them as both structure for small fish and protection from beavers. What do you have in mind for them?
Dave D,
I use them as structure to hold the smaller fish in about 2-4' of water. Looking at the pond bottom and moving back toward the feeder, it drops off to 10-12'. The feeder cast out the food in the deep part forcing the smaller fish to cross from shallow to deep thus giving the LMB the opportunity to feed.
With 3 sizes of aquamax being thrown out and one being the sink/float type, I imagine the LMB are taking advantage of the situation.
I haven't seen the beavers come around in awhile but did have a nutra spend a few days at the pond before making the transition into the next life....
Coupe
Sounds like a plan to me.
I have no idea if it is working but it sounded good anyway, lol.
sorry, did not mean to hijack your thread....