Cheap Aggie Feeder Indicator

[Dusty Britches]

I have been trying to think of a cheap, easy to install, indicator for determining how empty my feeder is. I had added a cone to ensure all of the corn made it to the spinner plate. Before I did that I could easily thump the bottom of the barrel and determine how close it was to empty. The cone kinda' makes that difficult.

Every now and then I come up with a pure genius idea and time will tell if it works.

I took my dogs' large hard plastic chew ball that was originally a miniature Jolly ball with the handle on it. The dog chewed the handle off and little pieces of red plastic were coming off from his powerful chewing. It was time to throw it away. I ran a piece of wire through 2 small holes and tied the wire ends together. Then I grabbed my paracord, drill, lighter, and 1/4" grommets.



I tied one end of the paracord to the wire and burned that end so it would not fray. I don't know what it would be afraid of, but it won't be now.

I drilled a 3/8" hole at the top of the feeder and pushed a grommet in. Then I dropped the ball into the empty feeder, measured out the paracord with enough tail to tie off.




I ran it through the grommet and tied a knot on the outside of it.



I took the ball and flipped it out and filled my feeder. Then I placed the ball on top of the corn (and protein). That's my filling apparatus on the right side of the photo.



Then I pulled the loose end of the paracord out. I made the knot super big. It so happens (ok, maybe I deliberately) placed it on the side of the feeder that faces the camera. The extra large knot and bright line is very easy to see in the photos. When the knot gets close to the top, it is time to refill.

[EastTexasTiger]

stealing this idea. awesome

[Dusty Britches]

A few things that people asked about so far -

- Did you think about adding a weight to the outside line. Yes. It was too much for the ball and it would not fall into the feeder. I'm not really concerned about the string moving in the wind.

- How do you keep rain from getting into the hole? Well most of the hole is covered with the thick paracord, but the feeder cover that overlaps the top also covers it.

- What about squirrels taking joy rides on the string. Squirrels cannot get up the legs or over to the string. The legs are covered in shark teeth that are wired on.

- How do you know the string didn't just fall into the feeder or the ball got sucked under the corn? Two things - I know that the topped off feeder lasts about 3 months and I can always pull the string to pull the ball up and drop it to double check the indicator.

Anything else?

[gigem95]

Pretty neat!


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[DaveC]

I like it, please update as season goes along so we can see how it worked long term.
I can’t see a flaw, but some shortfalls take time to reveal themselves.


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[Plainsman]

Ok now that’s a keeper idea. Nice.

[Dale Moser]

I'm a cynic until I see it work. It's not my fault...

[texan4ut]

Sounds logical that it would work.

[2BigMethod]

What kind of feed you running...premixed or mix yourself

[Gunnyart]

you madam, are a genius!

[3ChordTruth]

You write: “I'm not really concerned about the string moving in the wind. When the knot gets close to the top, it is time to refill.”

While the “Cheap Aggie” Feeder Indicator name is not bad, why not call it the “Dylan”? The question “When to Refill?” can be answered by these Bob Dylan words:

“The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind”

[texan16]

Pretty cool idea, in theory it should work (and I hope it does), but I’m gonna wait for some feedback before I start riggin one up.

[Dusty Britches]

That's cool that yall want to see the long term results. I totally understand. Yall were rightfully skeptic about my hog trap, too. I'm willing to make improvements.

[chehunt]

Pretty neat idea...but why not just fill it up in 2.5 months before it runs out?

[Russ79]

Silly me....I just generally know on the side of the barrel....