- #36
OCR
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Blank_Stare said:
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Mini Electric Horse Fence, or Micro-Taser?
- Thread starter Blank_Stare
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In summary, the raccoons are damaging the feeder, and the cost of repair is going to be expensive. There is a product on the market called a "Varmint Buster", but it does not say what amperage it produces, and the design is proprietary. There is also a DIY project available on the Internet, but it is not clear if it would work for the type of feeder that I have.
... - #37
Blank_Stare
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Been busy, and addle-minded.
I did take some pictures, and I will get them posted, but I have been sleep deprived for most of a week, and I have a one-day road trip tomorrow, and then a road trip Sun/Mon for the eclipse. If I am lucky, I will see my own bed again by Tuesday early morning. If I haven't posted pictures by Wednesday or so, remind me to dig them off my phone, and load them up here. They aren't the best, but I think they will make clear what I did to modify the spreader.
I did take some pictures, and I will get them posted, but I have been sleep deprived for most of a week, and I have a one-day road trip tomorrow, and then a road trip Sun/Mon for the eclipse. If I am lucky, I will see my own bed again by Tuesday early morning. If I haven't posted pictures by Wednesday or so, remind me to dig them off my phone, and load them up here. They aren't the best, but I think they will make clear what I did to modify the spreader.
- #38
Blank_Stare
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Well, the pictures I thought I took seem to have vanished into the black hole that is my SD card. So I took a new one that should do...
Starting on the right side...
There is a black toggle switch that I have installed - it has a rubber boot. It switches the shocker device, so I can turn the shocker off for handling during maintenance, and mounting/dismounting the feed spreader from the barrel. It does NOT switch the motor for the spreader itself.
An inch or two to the left of that is the hole where the solar panel wire feeds in, to charge the on-board 6-volt battery. Also, coming out of that hole is a nylon coated stainless steel "leader", like fishermen use for fishing toothed fish, like walleye and the like. It will feed back through the rubber grommet that the charge wires come in through, and provide a nearly water tight seal. The leader attaches to a cage that is chromed steel, which completely encloses the spreader.
Just below that, you can see a blue wire nut, and a pair of blue wires that feed out from the black, rectangular shocker. One attaches to the stainless steel leader, and the other attaches to a galvanized wire that you can see "threaded" around the fins on the top half of the spreader. The shocker doesn't look like much, but I can assure you, the experience is not pleasant.
At the top of the shocker body are a black and red wire that feed into the inside. The black is directly attached to the clip that attaches to the ground on the battery, via wire nut. The red connects to the positive terminal clip, via the switch that I pointed out in the first paragraph.
The switch had to be added through a hole I drilled, and which I afterwards sealed with silicone caulk. I used the same silicone caulk around the very tiny hole where the galvanized wire exits the body of the spreader. I drilled a bunch of tiny holes, and then threaded the galvanized wire twice around - once above, and once below the opening where the raccoons might reach through to gain access to corn on the spinner plate.
Finally, the spinner plate was removed, and replaced with a metal one. as was the outlet funnel.
I think my raccoon problems are solved, but I am not counting on it - little buggers are crafty.
Previous to the raccoon issues, I had already done some minor modifications, to allow the solar to hook up in a water tight manner, yet be easily removed, should the need arise. Good thing I did, or this would have been a bigger pain in the rear than it had to be, the solar panel itself it currently 25 miles away, bolted to the legs of the barrel.
Thanks again, to everyone who helped. Even though I ended up using a pre-built module, there was a learning experience here that I appreciated the opportunity to have.
Starting on the right side...
There is a black toggle switch that I have installed - it has a rubber boot. It switches the shocker device, so I can turn the shocker off for handling during maintenance, and mounting/dismounting the feed spreader from the barrel. It does NOT switch the motor for the spreader itself.
An inch or two to the left of that is the hole where the solar panel wire feeds in, to charge the on-board 6-volt battery. Also, coming out of that hole is a nylon coated stainless steel "leader", like fishermen use for fishing toothed fish, like walleye and the like. It will feed back through the rubber grommet that the charge wires come in through, and provide a nearly water tight seal. The leader attaches to a cage that is chromed steel, which completely encloses the spreader.
Just below that, you can see a blue wire nut, and a pair of blue wires that feed out from the black, rectangular shocker. One attaches to the stainless steel leader, and the other attaches to a galvanized wire that you can see "threaded" around the fins on the top half of the spreader. The shocker doesn't look like much, but I can assure you, the experience is not pleasant.
At the top of the shocker body are a black and red wire that feed into the inside. The black is directly attached to the clip that attaches to the ground on the battery, via wire nut. The red connects to the positive terminal clip, via the switch that I pointed out in the first paragraph.
The switch had to be added through a hole I drilled, and which I afterwards sealed with silicone caulk. I used the same silicone caulk around the very tiny hole where the galvanized wire exits the body of the spreader. I drilled a bunch of tiny holes, and then threaded the galvanized wire twice around - once above, and once below the opening where the raccoons might reach through to gain access to corn on the spinner plate.
Finally, the spinner plate was removed, and replaced with a metal one. as was the outlet funnel.
I think my raccoon problems are solved, but I am not counting on it - little buggers are crafty.
Previous to the raccoon issues, I had already done some minor modifications, to allow the solar to hook up in a water tight manner, yet be easily removed, should the need arise. Good thing I did, or this would have been a bigger pain in the rear than it had to be, the solar panel itself it currently 25 miles away, bolted to the legs of the barrel.
Thanks again, to everyone who helped. Even though I ended up using a pre-built module, there was a learning experience here that I appreciated the opportunity to have.
- #39
Blank_Stare
- 111
- 66
I was back in the field this afternoon, checking to make sure things are all going as planned.
Here it is, deployed in the field...
I wish I had trail cams set up to see the Raccoons when they first tried to reach inside that cage - MUAHAHAHAHAH!
The legs are painted orange, because a local rancher has the landowners permission to harvest the field, to feed horses. It grows wild, and he harvests 2-4 times a year - so we went with high-visibility orange paint to make sure he could see it, in the high grass.
(The corn on the ground was spilled when we initially took the spreader off the bottom of the barrel, to take it home for modifications. I expect the Raccoons and deer will be quite pleased about that smorgasbord, while it lasts. I usually spread a couple pounds, twice a day - that's about 30 or 40 pounds of corn laying there... It was a lot more, a week earlier. Good thing corn isn't terribly expensive.)
Anyways, thanks again for everyone's input!
Here it is, deployed in the field...
I wish I had trail cams set up to see the Raccoons when they first tried to reach inside that cage - MUAHAHAHAHAH!
The legs are painted orange, because a local rancher has the landowners permission to harvest the field, to feed horses. It grows wild, and he harvests 2-4 times a year - so we went with high-visibility orange paint to make sure he could see it, in the high grass.
(The corn on the ground was spilled when we initially took the spreader off the bottom of the barrel, to take it home for modifications. I expect the Raccoons and deer will be quite pleased about that smorgasbord, while it lasts. I usually spread a couple pounds, twice a day - that's about 30 or 40 pounds of corn laying there... It was a lot more, a week earlier. Good thing corn isn't terribly expensive.)
Anyways, thanks again for everyone's input!
- #40
dlgoff
Science Advisor
Gold Member
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Me too. Thanks for sharing and keep us posted should you get a trail cam.Blank_Stare said:
- #41
Blank_Stare
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- 66
Good trail cams are pricey. Cheap trail cams are unreliable, short-lived, and don't get very good pictures. I probably won't be getting any this year, unless someone loves me extra-lots at Christmas. Even then, the raccoons will already have learned their lesson, and I wouldn't expect to see them in any "starring roles" that late in the season.dlgoff said:
But we'll see what happens. Whenever I manage to get a trail cam, that feeder is the first location it will be posted, because, after all, that's where I expect the deer to be coming. If I get any Raccoon cameos, I'll be sure to add them here.
- #42
sophiecentaur
Science Advisor
Gold Member
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Well done! A great thread and a really worth while project. Lucky deer and tough luck, racoons.Blank_Stare said: