Propane tank “Stand N Fill” x2

[SwampBuck]

Well, sold off some winch ups I had and have a stand that’s pretty much sold as well. But true to my nature of making **** complicated instead of taking what should be enough money for two brand new larger sized stand and fill feeders. I decided to see if I can just save a chunk and take on a project. New with timers/motors I believe I would be looking at $1200-1600 ish for two 600lb units. I think I can beat that and get some welding practice while I’m at it.

Yesterday I had a random thought and did some digging. Some quick googling confirmed that a few TBH brothers had done what I want to shoot for.

The plan is to pick up a approximately 250 gallon propane tank. Believe I have one in decent shape pegged down already. ($100)

That will be my two halves for my feeders.
For timers and motors I have that covered already with the two ladder style tripod feeders I will be replacing with these.

I’m going to shoot for making them just tall enough to fill from the ground but in all honesty even the one stand and fill I have now I fill it out of my truck bed. So bare minimum I want to be able to fill it out of the bed of the truck.

Pics to come.
Anyone with any thoughts or suggestions please chime in.

[UncleBubba]

In for the outcome!

[bowfishin fool]

Tagged, always love a good project


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SwampBuck]

I plan to have a steel panel style cage around the bottom with a hinged door on one said that folds down for access.

One thing I am considering is figuring how to run some small tubing from the box up the side of the feeder and be able to wire my solar panel up hiring on the side of the feeder rather than on the side of the box down low and in the cage. Will likely have some sort of bracket for the solar panel to attach to. Hopefully out of reach of any critters

[RWB]

This is not a propane tank but similar idea. You will have to come up with a lid. I made mine out of plate and flat bar.
Build the skids out of 2x2 1/4 walk.
Built in varmit cage with hinges makes access easy.
This thing is bullet proof and holds somewhere between 25 and 30 sacks.

[CentralTXHunter]

I plan to have a steel panel style cage around the bottom with a hinged door on one said that folds down for access.

One thing I am considering is figuring how to run some small tubing from the box up the side of the feeder and be able to wire my solar panel up hiring on the side of the feeder rather than on the side of the box down low and in the cage. Will likely have some sort of bracket for the solar panel to attach to. Hopefully out of reach of any critters

My suggestion would be to run some 1/2” conduit inside the feeder and run the wiring internally. Elbow near the top where you want to mount the panel. Drill a hole in your funnel to run it all the way to the bottom. You can throw a grommet in the hole just to make it tight with the conduit. Then mount your solar panel up high, run the wiring through the conduit, and drop it out the bottom of the feeder into the control unit.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Michael]

In for the pics!

[eastover53]

The plan is to pick up a approximately 250 gallon propane tank. Believe I have one in decent shape pegged down already. ($100)


Anyone with any thoughts or suggestions please chime in.

It will be extremely heavy. But will last a lifetime.

[highspeed]

Great minds think alike! Got this 250 gallon tank to make 2 feeders with and a 150 gallon propane tank to make a steak cooker by cutting one of the caps off and use the rest to make a bbq pit.

[RWB]

Just mount your solar panel to the side of the motor box. Mine has charged just fine like this for 4 years.

[SwampBuck]

My suggestion would be to run some 1/2” conduit inside the feeder and run the wiring internally. Elbow near the top where you want to mount the panel. Drill a hole in your funnel to run it all the way to the bottom. You can throw a grommet in the hole just to make it tight with the conduit. Then mount your solar panel up high, run the wiring through the conduit, and drop it out the bottom of the feeder into the control unit.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Good idea. Should be easy to do. Much cleaner Installation also.
I like to have remotes on my feeders to but I know feeders with the heavy cages around them interfere with the signal, so I will likely have a spot to feed my remote antenna to and extend the wires to the box. Have the solar panel and the remote antenna next to one another.

In reality I guess a fella could relocate the whole setup minus the motor up onto the side.

Something to think on

[SwampBuck]

Just mount your solar panel to the side of the motor box. Mine has charged just fine like this for 4 years.

Good to know. I have a couple like that now but the feeders are much taller. I figured getting close to the ground I may loose some light

[Palmetto]

I use 1/2" EMT conduit for solar panel wires, and mount the panel to a 1/8"thk plate that I cut out & drill holes in. Drill a 13/16" hole in the timer box, and mount a EMT adapter fitting for the conduit. Tough as nails, and zero problems with varmints.

Both of these feeders I built, and have had run year around with no issues. The protein feeder has been in service since 2013.

EDIT:
The first pic i used the solar panels bracket, and I havent had any issues with it. But since then I have built about 5 using the method in the second pic. They are much stouter.

[SwampBuck]

I literally just looked at these this morning while
I was researching.

I’m still considering running ATLEAST my remote and my solar panel up the side of the barrel in some fashion. But if I’m doing all that it makes me feeL like I may as well have the timer and battery up there too and have it all boxed together with just the wires running to the motor under the barrel.

My only reason I’m considering not doing any of that is because we generally only have our lease around and through the season, during the off season I normally pull all my boxes and plug the feeder funnel hole off. Being able to pull the box as an entire unit is always nice.

Still debating.

[Rick]

Good to know. I have a couple like that now but the feeders are much taller. I figured getting close to the ground I may loose some light

the solar panel is only replenishing the battery draw from the motor running 10 seconds in the morning and 10 seconds in the evening, you don't really need much sun to do that. most timers run off AA bats and even if they run off main battery, they draw very little