I am new to using feeders - had a 6 gallon feeder close to home and just went weekly and fed the bears - but now that I am on a lease - I will be using feeders - I have close to 70 acres that are protected for my access only , 3 blocks , each is nearly 20 / 25 acres - I want to dedicate my most northerly stand area to pigs - and the rest to be dedicated to deer - how big are your drums and how much do you spread (volume ) to keep them interested and such ?
if this would be too much info for you to share by typing message me a number and i`ll call ya to chat
Thanks Gary (AKA OldCrab)
:flag :pow :911
Did you find a lease?
I run 2 tripod feeders with corn only. They hold just short of 5 bags. In hunting season I run them 3 seconds at 7AM, 1 second at 10AM, and 4 seconds at 4:30PM. In the off season I cut them back to 2 seconds 2x a day, just to keep up interest. If you have hogs and have a feeder, they will take over. That's why I try to run them very minimally at my one spot with the small feeders, and concentrate more on food plots
My other spot I have 2 hanging 6 gallon feeders. I run a mix of corn and deer nuggets. 2 seconds at 7 and 4:30
yes I did near cross city a 640 acre place w 8 guys - its surrounded by leases surrounded by leases - loaded w deer and turkey and some pigs - NO BEARS
campground on site
Been using automatic feeders for a pretty good while. Tried several different feeders and settled on the On Time brand of feeder. Simple tripod, made of conduit, a boat winch, a pickle barrel and a collar/yoke to hold up the barrel, attach the motor to the bottom and your set. Made sheet metal cones for the inside of the barrels to allow all the corn to empty from the barrel. These pickle barrels are available at farm supply stores and probably hold around 40 gallons (not really sure), a gallon of shelled corn weighs about 7 lbs.. Also there are pickle barrels that are smooth sided and would not work as as easily as the one with the ribs(shows in the pic) . In the long run it saves a lot of corn compared to using gravity feeders or just pouring it on the ground as these methods require constant attention to maintain a constant supply to keep the critters interested. We run our feeder twice a day during the fall and winter, then cut back to once a day during the spring and summer. Feeders go off at 7am and 4pm, run for around 8 seconds. Volume is determined by time of run and by the distance from the spinner to the bottom of the cone on the bottom of the barrel, part of the On Time set up. From some of the post here on FOHAF, my tripods will not work where there is a bear problem. Here's what my setup looks like.
Treefarmer
If I remember correctly, my moultrie is supposed to throw out 1 lb of corn every 6 seconds. Its a 200 lb container, so I set it up for 6 seconds in the morning and 6 seconds in the evening. It lasts +/- 3 months after every fill. I have mounted both of mine on pulleys and winches now as we have 1 bear that can be a nuisance.
