This is my version of "doing with what you have". I have slightly modified a Moultrie All-in-One Hanging Deer Feeder (Part # MFG-13074). The only real mods are a chain tether so that the lid does not end up in the pond and I added a shield so that the feed does not get thrown back onto the dock. The shield was made from a gallon bucket that drywall mud came in. It could not have fit better. I may have to silicone in a washer to act as a reducer at the outlet of the feeder so that the small feed for my soon to be stocked fish does not just run out. I will remove the reducer once the feed size is increased. It will hang about 18" above the water and will be able to be pivoted back over the dock deck for refilling and such.

Any concerns that I should consider before getting my hopes up that it will plug and play?

thats a great idea for the deflector! I'm interested to see how well this works!

Me too! The weather is supposed to be such that I can't get out and work this weekend, maybe I'll do a test run with dog food.

Keep us posted on how it works..... looks good!

Neat idea! I will be interested to see how much feed the deflector causes to drop straight down.

That qualifies for the word contraption. I love it

I managed to do some testing over the weekend. The throw pattern test will have to wait until it's hanging at the pond. I used a barrel in the garage and when the feeder is going off, it is like a tornado with all the food bouncing around and going crazy. Best I could tell the deflector did a very good job, but the question is...how much just drops straight down and how big if a deal is that really?

I ended up getting the following results (and food everywhere)...

Given: Moultrie 5 gallon All-In-One feeder with Optimal Junior (3.5mm), Optimal Starter Feed #4 (2.5mm), and a 50/50 mix (by volume).

Each test was run for 1 second with about a 1/2 gallon of food to start with. It does not take much time to throw a lot of food and a full feeder may change the results some.

The bags in the photo are for regular ole sandwiches for size reference...

Junior for 1 second threw 1/4 lb (about 1 cup),

Starter #4 for 1 second threw 1/3 lb (about 1-1/3 cup),

the 50/50 mix threw 3/10 lb (about 1-1/4 cup).

This tells me that if I feed the 50/50 mix twice a day for one second each that I should be using about 18 pounds a month. This is pretty close to my expectations and I am sure to do some hand feeding that would get me to 25 pounds a month. Should I need to feed more, I will have to test the 2 second cycle which could easily put me over what is needed and it may have to be set for once day or put a restrictor in to slow the feed from coming out. This feeder only increments in one second settings. I am still concerned about the feed falling out on it's own with some wind action even though it did pretty good with me simulating the wind over the barrel. Actual observance at the pond may prove one way or another. That will start next week after the pond is stocked with HBG, HSB, and RES.

QA
The amount you are throwing would depend on the number of fish that are feeding I would think. Try it and see how long it takes for them to eat it, then adjust time accordingly

Just a thought ....will racoon try to get at the food..do you need to make it racoon proof?

I have used this feeder for deer in a similar configuration and have not had any problems with raccoons. The game camera would show the raccoons climbing the tripod poles, but once they got to the top of the feeder, they could not get down to the feed mechanism. BUT, now that I have added the bungee cord down the side this may change. I may have to set the game camera up to keep an eye on things.

I have started using the automatic feeder. It took longer that I expected to get the fish feeing enough in the evening to be comfortable setting the feeder up for morning throws. The feeder is about 2-1/2 feet above the water surface and barely throws any feed out on the deflector side and throws about 8 feet out on the open side. (EDIT: I thought is was throwing some to the deflector side, but it must have been an allusion because it's not doing it now, it just deflects it straight down on that side) I am happy with it so far. It does drop a fair amount straight down, but it spreads out fast even without the action of the fish. I am only putting in a few days worth of food (one pound) at a time until I get confident that it won't let loose a lot of food, or all of it, by accident during some windy days, coon attacks, etc.

Sidenote: The morning feeds are less exciting if I do not go out on the dock (just watch the auto thrower from the bank). The sound of my feet on the dock really gets them excited as I have been hand feeding from the dock in the evenings.

Here is one I put together in 2016 been working great!! Only downfall is I have to go out to it to fill it with boat. Or if water is low enough I can wade out there and drag it in and then fill it and take it back out. I have a rope on the middle brace with a anchor on it to hold it in place. Works great fish love it and I don't have to refill very often as it holds about 125lbs of food no problem.

Gorgeous water!

Thanks Ant.. The other pro to having a feeder like mine is you can if you want move it. I leave about a foot in a half of slack in the rope for water lvl, but I can pull anchor and move it wherever I want.

RC

Here is another shot of it from the deck. The other cool thing is when the kids are at the cabin they can actually cast towards the feeder from the dock and they have a blast catching BG that way. I personally don't fish around the feeder a bunch but I let the kids do it for the fun of it. Lets face it were trying to get them hooked on fishing right??

Deck view of feeder.

Of course this pic is before the dock was put in.

An update to the thread...I switched to Optimal Blue Gill Pond feed this year to accommodate the larger mouths of the growing HBG. This feed is 4.5mm diameter pellets compared to the Jr that was 3.5mm. The larger pellets caused some missed feeder throws as it was bridging above the outlet and not flowing. I had to open the hole in the feeder up by using a die grinder so that it was about an 1/8" larger in diameter. I also had to turn the throw time back to one second as the larger hole puts out more pellets per second. All is working very well now.

My only complaint about the Moultrie feeder is that the lid has small tabs that lock it in place and they have broken after 4 or 5 years of periodic use. I now use C clamps to hold it on.

I have purchased a spare set up by getting a...Moultrie Feeders All-in-one Timer Kit - MFHP12367...which is basically the same timer/throwing mechanism without the hopper. I used a 5 gallon bucket and a spin-on lid from Menards as the hopper and had to modify the handle so that the spin-off lid did not interfere. I still ended up at the $40-$50 mark and some fab time, but am happy to have a spare on hand.

An additional feeder was put together for feeding corn to the wildlife and squirrels/raccoons ate through he plastic spin-on lid which required a metal top shield (popcorn tin lid) to be added.

I never saw this thread before. Very cool project/solution!