I've been thinking of setting one up. Are they worth it?

Whats some brands y'all use with success or without...

I have had great success with Moultrie solar panels. Been using them for 7+years and never a problem. The batteries wear out in 3-4 years but I have never had to replace a solar panel.

Yes they worth it.

I dont know what kind of setup you have but as as little-mister know-it all let me tell you solar panels are great when done right. What I mean by right is that squirrels love to chew on the wiring. To combat this over this years folks (myself included) have come up with all sorts of ingenious ways to protect the wiring. Since I build feeders and Have installed more than a few timers, my solution is remove the wiring by mounting the panel directly to the panel. I mount them for my customers and like HCR but lets face they are made in china, I will say this this that I have replaced 2-3 panels for folks using other brands. Back to your original question once you start using a solar panel you will wonder why you waited. Check out my mounting on my facebook page at BH Outdoors.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/BH-Outdoors

totally worth it most you buy come with shielded cable already and all you have to do is drill a hole or most boxes come with a knock out hole made to fit it... and like bholt said you'll wonder why you waited haven't had to charge batteries in a year and a half and I run my feeders all year long.

wildgame innovations has some good ones i bought at acadamy. the issue is with squirrels, etc bending and damaging the base they mount to though. Overall I am happy with them. i use six volt stuff and they seem to work fine. they have the shielded cable stuff that helps the wires from getting chewed off.

If you only feed during deer season then you probably dont even need one if you are using a 12 volt feeder.

I run my feeders from August till the first of January and never charge the batteries and they are still slingin hard when I shut them down at the end of the year. I do have one HCR with a solar panel on it but on my 4 other feeders I dont have a panel.

Definitey

The only thing you need to protect the wire from the solar panel to the control box is flex conduit. Not a squirrel born that can chew throught that.

I run panels on all my feeders. If you can get the coons to leave them alone they are great. Mostly prevents that unwanted surprise of the feeder not going off due to dead battery.

I've had good luck with the Wildgame Innovations.

I bought mine from Academy also. 6volt and is still working continuosly after 2 years.

Yes totally worth it!!! Even if you don't feed year round you still have less worries about it going dead and not feeding.

As mentioned above all you need to do to solve the varmints chewing thru the solar panel wire is to run the wire thru flex conduit to the feeder motor. All my feeders have the solar panel conduit setup.

The only feeders I have that don't use solar panels are the On Time units that run on AA batteries. Everything else gets a solar panel. Ditto on the metal flex conduit shielded wiring.

The solar panels are great. I have built my own feeders using flexable copper tubing to shield the wires. The last one was attached to the side of the timer box which then was enclosed by the basket.

Mount the panel to the side of the timer/battery box. Flat mount, no tilt bracket, and cover the whole shebang with a good critter cage.

Why flat mount? Because I have both flat and tilt mounts deployed and the tilt mount collects massive quantities of corn dust over time and reduces output of solar panel. You will a damp cloth to clean that sticky mess up.

Everything I do is to be as close to zero maintenance as I can design.

My solar panels have the flex conduit made on to them and they are great at keeping the batteries up. Beats the crap out of getting in your blind on opening day and the feeder doesn't go off

This thread is almost 3 years old, bet he took care of it, either way, lol.

Run the wires from the solar panel/12 volt barrery through top of lid where you have them setting through..yes i said THROUGH the lig..down through the barrel before initial feed fill..problem solved.add a varmit cage around feeder motor..your in business..did this and it worked great

I would never have a feeder without a solar charger and eliminator type plate. I also agree that the wildgame innovation solar panels are very good. I have some in use right now that have been going for 5 years.