Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Property Projects & Construction What did you do at your pond today?

Caulking? Next time I have a problem, I’ll use epoxy.

I had a AquaPro feeder prior to getting the TH. I fought it for at least five years before giving up.
I’m not at our pond all the time. So, when it quit it often sat for a week or more. It was very frustrating to find it still full of feed when I’d come to the pond. Just various issues. I replaced the timer, a motor, sealed a few leaks. I was happy to see the TH threw the feed about 50% further also.
I don’t know if there is any connections with Sweeney and AquaPro.

At the pond yesterday. We had a 1.5” rain, the first one in months. It must have come down fast because I got 4” raise in the pond level. My APW is starting to come back. Still hearing a lot of gobbling in the surrounding woods. And, the CRP I planted a few weeks ago is finally breaking the surface.

Glad you got some significant rain.

We had a big band of strong storms sweeping across Kansas last night. The red and orange radar signature split apart about 15 miles west of my farm.

We got less than a tenth! I doubt that even knocked the dust off of our wheat and trees.

Good to hear you got some rain, it split right around us, again, they got a good bit south of us and the storm that must have come thru your area North of us, like FishinRod, we got about a tenth. but it was all absorbed pretty quickly.
We are in what they call Drought conditions, grass is at a pretty much standstill as far as growing goes, its almost like August in May, maybe not quite as hot tho.

Anthropic, as for caulk, I have the best luck with polyurethane, I use a commercial grade, as I get it to use on septic risers, repairs and such. it seems to last a long time and is very rubbery. but the regular Urethane caulk from a box store works well, not a fan of silicone. I tried some of the magnificent "flex seal" spray on something before and it actually leaked faster afterwards then it did before, similar results on several different leaks so needless to say I dont use a lot of it anymore.

We are supposed to get some this weekend. But……

8k Threadfin Shad added today. Bass apparently went on a feeding frenzy, hope some of the little guys survived!

Still have significant issues with one of my feeders after rainstorms. I can see where it's leaking but haven't found a permanent fix yet. Rain does nasty things to both feed & feeder. Placed order for sealant that supposed to work well on metals. We'll see!

Yay for TFS!

Boo for feeder leaks.

Can you go at the feeder leak NOT head on? If the feeder is on the dock, you could build a little rain shelter with some 2x4s and a single piece of metal roofing in a "wife approved" color.

Just thinking outside the box.

Interesting suggestion, might come down to that. One problem would be that thunderstorms are usually accompanied by high winds that would not be blocked with roof, would need complete coverage with a hole for feed to be expelled.

Even thought about putting an extra thick plastic garbage bag over the entire thing, with a hole for the feed to throw. Ugly & would be a hassle every time I need to check on feed level & mechanical operation. But I'm really getting tired of digging through the pellets after a hard rain. Will try sealant & hope that ends the drama.

And it probably doesn't help that wet fish food is about as nasty and sour smelling as anything you can get ahold of. There's gotta be some way to seal the damn thing off to prevent the rain from getting into it. Good Luck!

Thanks, gehajake! Will keep PB Forum posted on how sealant performs, I'm not the only one to have issues like this. And as you say, when the pellets get soaked, doesn't take more than a day or two before really bad things happen!

Texas Hunters consistently Leak.
Sweeney’s don’t do with that information what you will.

Thanks! By the way, do Sweeney's reliably throw 9.5 mm fish food? That's proven too large for my TH, inevitably causes a jam within a few days.

I’ve caulked around the insides and the sight windows of my THF. New motors are expensive and a PITA to install. Due to leaks, I wouldn’t buy another one.

I wouldnt know affirmatively that they will throw that size feed but I have used genuine old cheap catfish food, that has some big pellets, zero problems, there is nothing I see about them that would keep them from it, there is no spacing or clearance issue that would restrict them, as I have heard people say about the TH feeders, some opening or space thing to adjust for feed size, nothing like that on the Sweeney, no adjustments, just a time thing for amount of feed thrown.
After 25 yrs, several minor replacement parts and resealing a couple dried out seals around the thing it performs like a brand new one still. I used a polyurethane caulk around the sight glass and a couple other spots a couple years ago when it started seeping a little and clumping feed and now its dry as a bone again, havent had a clump in a yr.
I do know the only thing that stopped it from feeding is a couple yrs ago I had a big clump of feed, a couple inches in dia, worked its way down and blocked the auger off.

I’ve thrown 3/8 out of them with no problem but you do have to make a little alteration to hopper plate but it takes 2 seconds

My experience has been that some leak immediately after purchase, others don't after years of use. You just never know.

The clumping of wet feed is a big issue when it leaks, though. Had several feeders that went defunct due to motor burnout from clumps. Darn things are expensive hassle to repair or replace! As I don't live on the pond, checking daily is not practical.