Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Feeding New Aquapro Feeder Test!

I'm giving the Aquapro feeder a try for the first time in about four years. There were some issues with the old ones, so I'm interested in how the new ones performed.

Putting the feeder together was easy enough. Everything went smoothly. The battery that was provided was essentially fully charged, so the first "test" was a resounding success.

I carefully deployed the feeder on a slope on the south side of the pond so that the prevailing winds would allow the feed to drift across the main body of the lake. The first evening feeding was met by excited hybrid striped bass and yellow perch.

I was using a feed provided by Purina that was the equivalent of a 500 size. The feeder has been up for a few days now without any jamming of feed.

I'll provide periodic updates.

Digging a hole so the feeder sits level.




Increased fish biomass is just around the corner!



Beautiful evening on TJ's pond.

I was gonna say Bruce, you're starting to look an awful lot like TJ!

We have had good success with our new test feeder from aquapro as well. I hope you got this one from Shaun (with a new baby at all he needs the extra money, :)).

I have 5 of them up and running. They are working well. I think all the old bugs are worked out.

I also have had excellent sucess with my refubished ADF 75 feeders.
Customer service cannot be beat.

+ 1 on the customer service.

Who sells refurbished feeders? I'm going to be purchasing three or four feeders in the next couple months, including one this week, so I could use a good deal.

Who should we contact if we have an old timer that is having trouble? I sent an email to "feederman" on Friday but I haven't heard back from him. Maybe I haven't waited long enough. What are some of the symptoms that were occurring when the old timers went bad?

Blaine try this:

Feederman said,

"We will be glad to replace your timers. As Bob stated earlier we tested the redesigned timer extensively- we had them going off over 24 times a day at 90 seconds each time for about a month.
Please call us at 800-847-8269 and we will get your timers out to you and let us know if we can do anything else for you. "

Glad to hear all the positive comments. I bought my ADF-200 simply because it had a longer warranty than anything else I could find locally, and I have had it throwing for around six weeks now, and it ain't missed a beat.

My parents used to always feed by hand, so for the first two weeks I had the feeder going, my Mom would call me every day and tell me she went out to watch it run! She thinks that feeder is the best thing since pockets on pants!!! I get tickled at her!

If I should have any problems in the future, where do I go for service? Are they local here near Dallas?

I purchased an ADF 75 the end of May. I've had a myriad of problems, out of 6 weeks of operation, it's been down 2, batting around 67%. Initially, the battery would not charge, called Aqua Pro customer service and they asked where I bought the battery, I advised it was one of theirs. "How do you know it's one of ours??" uh, because your label is on the battery and it came with the feeder???

I suspected the problem was the solar panel, but they seemed adament it was the battery, so drive the 60 miles round trip and swap out batteries. Check on new battery a week later, same problem. Pull out solar panel and drive back to the biz and obtain a replacement, because the cs rep advised it was a bad solar panel, very helpful observation.

Check on the new set-up, it's working great, full battery, run a test-works great. Fill feeder, check timer, timer is no workee. Drive back to business, find out a fuse had blown, because possibly fish food had maybe gotten into the blower.

Now, I'm certainly no engineer but really, a blown fuse caused by fish food getting into the blower of a fish feeder??? I'm driving up tomorrow to set up the timer again and I suppose remove the full amount of food in the bin in an effort to clean up around the blower.

If that does not work, Aqua Pro can have this piece of **** back.

PFV, they're located at 602 Fountain Parkway, Grand Prairie, off of HWY 360 and south of Green Oaks, look for the large warehouse with BA products on the north side of the road and park in front.

Thanks Mike, I hope I don't need that address.

Sorry to hear about the problems you have had.

Mike call 800-847-8269 and ask for Ron Ferguson and tell him you are a PB member. See this thread. http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Main=13051&Number=152924#Post152924

This is the same feeder I have and it has been very good. The battery was just a midget too small and after the increase it has been very good.

Update: After blowing through 4 fuses on the new timer, my patience was exhausted. Drove back to BA products and spoke with Logan, he agreed to exchange my complete unit. It was set-up yesterday, and tested positive with varying degrees of food. Hopefully, this will resolve the issue.

Candidly, with the exception of Logan, the CS at BA Products was poor, the advice given both in person and over the telephone was not relevant to the problem.

I'll give the new unit a couple of weeks, and report back.

I switched out the old timers, batteries, and solar panels on 21 aquapro feeders that did not work properly last year, and they are all working as good as possibly can be expected this year.

I am with Mike on this one. I do appreciate their willingness to replace the defective timer. However, twice did they say that they were sending me an email for confirmation with RMA information and twice did they fail to follow through on that commitment. I was required to spend $12 to send a worthless timer back to them before they would get around to sending a replacement two weeks later. They said that they needed the old timer to verify that it was indeed faulty even though they admitted that the symptoms were consistent with the known defect.

Bottom line is that they ultimately made it right, so I won't be to too hard on them. I may even give them another chance on future purchases because of that but not if they consider it a bother when it cost them $$.

Update, feeder has been working fine for several weeks now, knock on wood. Hopefully, the first feeder was a lemon and not representative of the product. I'm definitely on the fence about purchasing another, may give sweeney a try.

About two weeks after I purchased and installed my new Aqua Pro feeder I had a problem with the rubber impeller that drops the feed down to the slinger plate. I had mounted the feeder on a dock, low enough to make filling the feeder possible without a ladder. This also made it possible for racoons to get their grubby little paws on the impeller in an effort to obtain a free meal. That was my fault on the installation. After being unable to find a replacement parts list on the BA products website I sent them an e-mail asking if the part was available for sale. They asked for a mailing address and sent the replacement at no cost, even after I told them the damage to the part was no fault of theirs. I consider that outstanding customer service. I have installed a cage over the feeder/motor to keep this problem from happening again.

Thanks for posting that FR, it's always great to hear good stories about customer service.

Also have ATX timer problems with my little hangup unit. Solar panel and battery work great. Impeller jammed once, was easy to fix. Fuse never blew.

I jumped the battery directly to the motor, and the motor works, so it's got to be the timer. It counts down just fine, but doesn't put out current.

I'm very disappointed that it quit after only 3-4 months, but if the service is good I guess I'll be happy.

same old story. No quality control on the Chinese built timers. Their wildlife cameras have the same kind of bad reputation. I have one that I have not even hung up yet, due to seeing samples of the pics they take.

Jim, I talked to a guy that builds deer high quality feeders. He told me that all timers are now made in China.

Guys, Texas Hunter Fish Feeders are American Made. Our Timers are made in San Antonio, Texas and include a 5-year limited warranty. Buy American and experience the quality difference of a patented Texas Hunter Products Directional Feeder. Contact your local lake management professional for more information.

http://www.texashunterproducts.com/difife1.html

I have to agree with THP there is a noticeable difference in quality. The bigger question is , is that quailty worth the difference in cost. For my clients that depends but if absentee landowner that knows it is secrie from theft the peace of mind knowing it is always working to feed the fish is priceless.

Bobad you wrote "but if the service is good I guess I'll be happy." I think the best customer service is no need for it, get my point.

I love my TH feeder.
I love my AquaPro 75ADF feeders.
My TH feeder has performed flawless since they corrected their spin plate problem.
My AquaPros have performed flawless for 5 months 24/7 since they replaced their timers.

Question remains as to whether TH is worth the additional cost.

I have no dog in this fight. But I can relate my experiences. My ADF75 has worked very well in the few years that I've had it. I visited a freind in Texas that had a Texas Hunter feeder submerged in flood waters, motor, timer, etc. while it was full of food. His hired hand dumped the food out and brought it to the pole barn where it sat for a day before we tried to get it to work. After taking it apart to see why it wouldn't turn on, I noticed that all the food that was down by the impeller was still there, soggy and packed tight. The feeder was very easy to take apart and clean, mainly due to the clear plastic parts that allowed easy sight of the jam. Once the soggy food was cleared out, we hooked it up to a good battery and it worked just fine, even with the timers that were submerged. He let it dry out for a day, and it's still working 4 months later, same timer and all.

I've never had to take apart an ADF75, but the Texas Hunter was a breeze to clean and fix. I even repaired the lid that he flattened by parking his Suburban on it.

I've owned both, adf75 from may12 to august12 and sent it back to where I bought it. The same day august12 ordered the Texas Hunter fish feeder. On august 17 I set up the TH and so far it has worked exceptionally well. Not one pellet of food has fallen on the bank. Can you say that about the adf75, I couldn't.

If you take both feeders and stand them beside each other there is no comparison in quality. TH is superior hands down. No comparison what so ever. I would pay the extra 230.00 just for the superior quality. Shipping was a little more because SanAntonio is farther from me than Grand Prairie. That dollar amount is including the shipping as well.

The extra money is worth the peace of mind that it's going to work for me.

My experience would tell someone in the market for a good feeder to go with the TH.

Total agreement IF running one feeder.
In my case running multiple feeders for more than five years experience - not so sure.

I do like the feed pattern on the TH but better concentration on AQP if that is an issue.

Our Aquapro has had no problems to this point. So far, so good.

Greg, I agree 100%, but I already bought one. Nothing I can do now but try to get it working. I'll fix it one time. If it fails again in an unreasonable time I'll change brands.

Bobad agree 100% and I also agree 100% that Aquapro guys try as hard as possible to make things right. Bruce remember the free parts I got you at the PB conference, they are great folks. Bruce glad to see now you got aquapro issues at bay, awesome. It is just something I wanted to state in case folks did not realize.

To be 100% fair I have had much more issues getting a Sweeney fixed than any aquapro in the past. However only one issue with Texas Hunter and it was fixed pronto. The fact I do not have to report problems at all though is so nice. Folks we have also had great results from Moultrie they are paid advertiser in PB as well and they seem to get no love,

I use their products for deer feeding and game cameras. I LOVE their game cameras!

Cj, Moultrie I40 is my best selling deer camera. 4 months of battery usage on one set.

Yes, I use the one Moultrie makes for Cabela's. It is basically the I40 but instead of being 4.0 megapixel it is 5.0. The battery life is one of the big reasons I like it so much. I set one up last year in late August. I finally replaced the batteries in January after 8,000 plus pictures had been taken! I just bought two more of them. So I now have 3 and a few other cheaper not IR models that are older. I have a couple Stealthcams as well, but I do like my Moultries. So you deal in them Greg?

I had one small hiccup with a TH feeder. One of the timer buttons was stuck and wouldn't let us adjust anything. Now HERE is good customer service, I made the call to TH. There was no "send us the timer to assess it and then we'll get around to sending you a new one". They shipped me a new timer that day and asked me to please put the defective timer in the box containing the new timer once it arrived. Oh yeah, they included a pre-paid shipping label to slap on the box.

Sure, TH's are more expensive but I believe if you buy one, then you only cry once. Buy a cheapy, then you'll cry multiple times. TH has an excellent product and excellent customer service. After reading this thread, I was very happy to learn that their fish feeder timers are made in the U.S. To me, that's just icing on an already delicious cake!

Cj it will make you cry when you find out what I would sell it to you for. Anything wildlife for the most part I can get but even better deals when going st through manufacture as with Moultrie.

I own a TH and AP - both from Banks. I've been using the AP seen in the initial pix since June [using Aqua Max 500]and have had no issues apart from a qty of pellets falling short of the pond which is about a 3 foot shot. The pellets sit, rot, stink and attract tons of flies...but you're all probably used to that - not sure if this is just an issue inherent to all feeders. Obviously this would be less of an issue once it's sitting on a dock, which will hopefully be installed next year. I will be setting up the TH next Spring and will compare performance. I do know the pricing on the AP was only 25% the cost of my TH.

No timer issues yet - seems they've addressed that issue successfully.

TJ, my son Jeff has two Great Pyranese livestock guard dogs that clean up the left over pellets.
They even get in the water to eat the wind blown pellets.
Beautiful dogs - huge..
Uno and Belle will run up to me and roll over so I can rub their belly.
When they were puppies they would almost knock you down

Great Pyranese? I'm checking them out now...WOW - those are brutes! I love the part about dominating a passive owner...this is from a website I found:

The Great Pyrenees is a capable and imposing guardian, devoted to its family, and somewhat wary of strangers - human or canine. They are often used to guard livestock. When not provoked, it is calm, well- mannered, and somewhat serious. Courageous, very loyal and obedient. Gentle and affectionate with those he loves. Devoted to family even if self-sacrifice is required. It is very gentle with its family and children. It does best with children when it is raised with them from puppyhood. It has an independent nature, and may try to dominate a less secure or meek owner, and/or an owner who treats the dog as if he is human, becoming stubborn or territorial. Owners need to be firm, but calm, confident and consistent with the dog. Setting rules the dog must follow and sticking to them. A serious worker, but very independent. Be patient when training the Great Pyrenees, as it may be slightly difficult. It is important to socialize and train this breed properly to insure good citizenship. The Great Pyrenees is good with non-canine animals, and usually loves cats. These dogs do not reach maturity until they are about 2 years old. Some are not good off the leash and may wander away. The Great Pyrenees tend to bark a lot and some tend to drool and slobber.

TJ, they don't like otters - I was finding half eaten fish on the bank and Jeff had seen what he thought was a otter.
At that time he had two of his other guard dogs in the pasture, one named Brutus came in one night all bloodied up - never had otter problem again.

They are the most gentle dogs I have ever been around - they are born with the goats, and lead them to and from the pasture.

Guess we better get back on feeders - huh?
They love fish food ...

Yes George between three dogs they can't wait for feeder to go off and compete. Fish come and feed between their legs. Brody the golden lets the feed hit him in the face and all. THey will walk by dog food to get to fish food that is for sure.

I'm going to be in the market for a feeder if the economy doesn't get too much worse. I've fixed things all my life for a living so I tend to spend the xtra bucks to get something less likely to cause problems. Sounds like the TH is what I'm looking for in a feeder. Can you mix different size pellets? How about LM pellets?
Greg, do you sell TH?

Ric:

I may be wrong, but I think Sweeney is the only one making a feeder specifically for the LMB AquaMax pellets. George1 mixes Aquamax 500 and 600. I've done it as well with the ADF75. I think if you had a feeder big enough for the LMB AquaMax it would throw a LOT of the smaller sized feed. I have a smaller sized reducer plate that I put in the ADF75 if I run straight AquaMax 500 to keep it from throwing too much food out on it's lowest setting. I just let the 500 run out when switching to 600 and then remove the plate. I used a Uni-Bit to enlarge the hole until it threw the amount of 500 that I wanted.

Ric sell more TH than any other at this point. yes throws diff sizes and esshup is right not the largemouth nuggets. All PB Cclients get discounts

Ric: I'd take a good look at Sweeney before I made a decision to buy anything else. I bought two of them three or four years ago, use then from spring until fall each year with multiple feedings each day and have yet to have any problems of any kind. My feeders stay outside all winter and all I do is take the battery out and store it inside. I generally feed a mix of AquaMax 500 and 600, but sometimes 400 and 600. I don't know the current difference in price, but if Sweeney is competitive I'd certainly give it a go. For one thing, I think they are the real originators and innovators of feeders and timers and probably have the most experience. I feel confident in going with the folks who made the investment in doing early development, rather than those who might just buy a competing unit and attempting to copy it.

Bing

Ric, you sound like me. I'm tired of tinkering with "stuff" but still have to. I have now decided that I want things to work with, not work on.

Thought I'd bump this thread.

Due to the coldest October [thus far] in NE meteorological history I think feeding times have come to a close. I'll be storing the Aqua Pro for the season this weekend.

I fed with the AP from June - October and only had one negative issue arise when it jammed the first time I increased pellet size and used AP 600 which was easily addressed. Timer had no issues, pellets were throw consistently, and I'm satisfied overall.

I will be employing another AP and my TH next year but am in the market for three more feeders. I need two belt feeders [or something that can broadcast fry powder] and one more AP or TH or might try another brand.

FWIW, I currently have three different Aquapro ADF-75s running on two ponds and one large lake, and every one of them drops several pellets each cycle right at the base of the feeder. And, the one time I tried feeding a mixture of Aquamax 500 and 600 from one of them, it jammed so badly that it took several adjustments by someone more mechanically-inclined than I to get it finally working right again - and that was just a mixture, not straight 600. I have one of Moultrie's 6-gallon bucket feeders running on another pond, and two 30-gallon barrel models running on the large lake, and they all drop a bunch of pellets right at the base of the feeder every cycle. I just bought one of Moultrie's commercial-grade models and haven't tested it yet (don't have fish in that pond yet), so the jury is out on that model.

All of the above were purchased due to their economical price. If I had it to do again, I'd sell blood or somehow find a way to get a TH or Sweeney. I've fished more than one body of water that had Sweeney feeders installed several feet up the bank from the water's edge, and have never seen a single pellet land on the bank. I don't have any personal experience with TH but have read nothing but glowing reviews on here of them.

Feeder Update. If you are in the market for a fish feeder, Texas Hunter is having a Winter sale on feeders up until Mar 29th 2013. For those DIY people they have a game feeder kit for $99.00 (reg $149, 5 yr warranty) that you can mount on the bottom of a bucket, barrel, big plastic taper bottom flower pot, or other container. Other models are also on sale. TX Hunter advertises in PBoss and is a sponsor at the Conferences. I don't own an auto feeder but if I needed one and for $99 I would try the kit and mount in on something and set it on my dock similar to what djstauder did to feed fish in a fish cage.
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Main=25107&Number=317955#Post317955

I have to tell you that I've had two feeders on the two ponds I manage for our local clubs -- a Sweeney that has performed without fail for over 15 years with only one problem from just normal wear and tear, and an AquaPro Fat Cat for about 6 years that has been nothing but trouble since the first year. We've replaced the solar panel (was defective after a year and told "sorry, not under warranty", a thrower wheel that came off the arbor, a motor unit that went bad, a timer that went bad (all paid for by us), and regularly had to take it apart to clear the jams that come where the thrower wheel has too much space and lets food dump in the shoot as well as the wheel. The service has been horrible. This one will make an excellent habitat for fish as soon as I can dump it in the deepest part of the lake. I have to go out now and get another feeder, and I plan on using Texas Hunter this time, or possibly another Sweeney. Spend the extra money on one that lasts, unless you want to make a hooby out of repairing a feeder. I'd rather spend mine fishing.