Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Feeding Raccoons and feeders

I am planning on purchasing an automatic feeder to use this spring. I was wondering if anyone has had any problems with raccoons interfering with their feeders. If so, what are some reccommended steps to prevent this from becoming a problem?

Grease up the legs with petroleum jelly and then liberally coat them with cayenne pepper...you will have to do this from time to time as the mixture will wear off...mind you, I'm not a tree hugger, a .22 is a sure thing, I just can't seem to be down there when they are !...besides I get a mental image of one of those little scoundrels "hotfootin'" and makin' faces and it cracks me up!

Invest the money in a Stren Feeder. It has two motors the first cast the food the second motor comes on indside the hopper to distribute food down to lower motor that runs a full 2 seconds after inside motor. This ensure there is no food in the lower housing making it basically impossible for "coons" or other critters to get to the food. Look under link for information on feeder if desired.

Greg advise is sound Stren is a good feeder if the coons are coming with the whole family hang a bug zapper close to feeder and it works very well.

Scott thanks I mention the feeder b/c I honeslty think it is the best for the money, but Sweeney also has two motors and should dispense food so really tough for coons to be a problem there as well. Past Stren models could have been a problem, but I personally have not had client call with associated Raccoon problmes.

Hey Greg, it's been a while since I posted.

Actually, the Sweeney doesn't have two motors. It has a motor to dispense the feed, but a solenoid is all that is used to open the gate to drop the feed on the dispenser. In my experience, it is the weakest part of the design, as the solenoid is not able to overcome the extra weight of food buildup or extra friction on the gate pivot. Keep in mind, this is just my opinion, based on the Sweeney feeders I've sold and serviced. Keeping the gate clean, etc. does a good job of preventing that problem. The 300 lb model does seem a lot more prone to this issue than the smaller AF1100, perhaps because the food is resident in the feeder for a longer time and picks up moisture.

Otherwise, the Sweeney is a fine feeder and their customer service is great. I especially like the digital timer. For most pondowners the AF1100 is a solid choice.

Gonna check out those Stren feeders though . . .

fishman thanks for the clarification. Any advice on the best way to get a Sweeney fixed? I have a few clients who just have them sitting on the bank and have not ran for a couple of years. They are the really big ones and it would be worth $200 or more to get them running. thanks

Well it depends on what's wrong with them. I would assume that the timers still work as there's not much that can go wrong with them. Are they all digital? If the solenoid, gate, or motor is bad, you can get those parts from Sweeney. Other than that, there's not much else it could be.

On the AF1300 the solenoid and gate is fairly easy to get to via the access door in the side. Four screws hold the gate assembly on. The solenoid is easy to test of course. The motor requires access from the bottom and that panel is easy to remove with a few screws. It can also be tested quite easily.

I would suspect the problems are associated directly or indirectly with feed buildup or clogging. Sometimes the gate or pivot can be damaged by an over aggressive approach to unclogging a problem No problem, just call Sweeney and ask to talk to Barbara or Louis and tell them the parts you need. Remember, the units do have a three year warranty.