So I had 3 projects this year to get going and new feeders were one of them. Even though my old feeder setups were doing ok and had worked well (enough) over the last 12 years, I'm done with hanging feeders out of trees!
This is the year of stand & fills!
The original plan was to build four of them; two for me and two for my buddy James. We ended up with three (ran out of cheap angle iron) - two for me and one for James!
Most of the materials were picked up pretty cheaply, and we're into all three feeders for right at $100/each. We have $70 into four barrels, $50 in old bed frames (angle iron used for the stands), $90 for funnels (4) for inside the barrels, and $100 for the Horse Panel fencing from TSC, plus some misc. items.
We enlisted the help of James' resident welder (his 2nd son) and product of Boerne Champion HS Welding program and got started building!
The three stands were built a couple weeks ago, and this past weekend I finished putting the wire panels on. My "new to me" rehabbed welder (previous DIY thread) worked great with this tedious work.
The small screens you see on top of the stands is rain gutter screens from Home Depot (we have a stock pile of those, but they run less than $4 each, and one piece is enough for each stand). These were used to help fill the corner gaps surrounding the bottom of the barrels.
The hinges for the access panels were made from 1/2" pipe nipples that were cut in half and then squeezed tight. The latches for holding these panels closed were made from 1/16"x1/2" aluminum flat bar (less than $4 for a 30" piece - I have about 20" left!). I found some nut clips and screws to hold it all closed.
I'm also upgrading my battery systems for these feeders based on a setup I've built for my cameras, which I've been running for the last 6 months. It's worked out well and everything will fit inside the timer boxes on the bottom of the barrels, including both batteries. Only the solar panels will be mounted outside of the cage.
Final feeder setup will be this coming weekend. So we'll see how these things run this season, crossing my fingers! They aren't the prettiest, but they're functional. And they're a heck of a lot cheaper than new ones!
This is the year of stand & fills!
The original plan was to build four of them; two for me and two for my buddy James. We ended up with three (ran out of cheap angle iron) - two for me and one for James!
Most of the materials were picked up pretty cheaply, and we're into all three feeders for right at $100/each. We have $70 into four barrels, $50 in old bed frames (angle iron used for the stands), $90 for funnels (4) for inside the barrels, and $100 for the Horse Panel fencing from TSC, plus some misc. items.
We enlisted the help of James' resident welder (his 2nd son) and product of Boerne Champion HS Welding program and got started building!
The three stands were built a couple weeks ago, and this past weekend I finished putting the wire panels on. My "new to me" rehabbed welder (previous DIY thread) worked great with this tedious work.
The small screens you see on top of the stands is rain gutter screens from Home Depot (we have a stock pile of those, but they run less than $4 each, and one piece is enough for each stand). These were used to help fill the corner gaps surrounding the bottom of the barrels.
The hinges for the access panels were made from 1/2" pipe nipples that were cut in half and then squeezed tight. The latches for holding these panels closed were made from 1/16"x1/2" aluminum flat bar (less than $4 for a 30" piece - I have about 20" left!). I found some nut clips and screws to hold it all closed.
I'm also upgrading my battery systems for these feeders based on a setup I've built for my cameras, which I've been running for the last 6 months. It's worked out well and everything will fit inside the timer boxes on the bottom of the barrels, including both batteries. Only the solar panels will be mounted outside of the cage.
Final feeder setup will be this coming weekend. So we'll see how these things run this season, crossing my fingers! They aren't the prettiest, but they're functional. And they're a heck of a lot cheaper than new ones!
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