Coons are vandalizing my feeder and unplugging my solar panel. I'm going to try the cheap route first. I've heard of putting grease on the feeder legs does that work?

Yes until the grease wears off. Are you using a cage around the timer? Eliminator spinner helps a lot.

Best way to keep them off is to trap them with foot hold traps then kill them

Coon cuffs

Can of sardines with golden malrin mixed in it.

You might kill animals you did not want too with the golden malrin.....

Buy 1 X 2" welded wire and make a cage that goes around the underside edge of your barrel.

Cages a pretty dang cheap and permanent fix IMO.

Yea, I Bought a couple eliminator plates this year after hearing all the fantastic reviews. Well lets just say I have industrial strength coons. they got up there and I guess used as a May Pole because they broke one side of the bracket, put my cage back up no problems.

I think I've heard just as many bad reviews on eliminator plates as good ones.

I'm not saying they are bad, they just didn't work for me. The plastic insert also came loose but oh well. I must admit Hunters are like fishermen: put a new gadget out there and it will sell, we all want to have new miracle stuff.

I used to use grease and it never wore off but dirt from wind,animals, etc just caked on the grease and it eventually just hardened up and left a perfect climbing surface for critters. Plus I hate grease.

all i do is a 5 gallon bucket with the bottom cut out, place over the motor and wire it to the feeder, as for the solar wire i run a small pvc pipe with elbows in from the panel then down to the motor, nothing has gotten to my motor in almost 2 yrs yet. simple and cheap.

Buy one of these cages and never look back. Easy access door and heavy duty rubber coated steel.

Cages listed on page 14 @ www.usafeeders.com

Brandon when you put the cage up, mount the solar charger to the timer box. Then it is enclosed and should solve that part of the problem.

This

Hang PVC around the feeder legs so that it can spin. The coons aren't able to climb it.

Get some of those Green Blocks - Rat Poison. Drill a hole in the center of them. Hang around the feed motor with clothes hanger type wire. After a few coons eat it and get sick or die, the others will stop feeding there.

That's a good idea

Rat poison...I'll try that, hope it works.

we use carpet tack strips.. Silicone to the legs.. coons cant climb then

Cages made from 1x1 that are the diameter of the barrel have worked for me 100%.

Are you worried the crumbs will fall to the ground and be consumed by non target animals?

The only long-term solution in my view is to trap, trap, and trap some more. Cages, Eliminators, PVC, etc all have their drawbacks. But, once you trap them down it's been our experience that they will leave the site alone. We used to lose alot of free-choice protein to coons. Not anymore.

Make a feeder cage from Grid Wire Modular Shelving. Cheap and easy to assemble

http://www.kmart.com/stor-floor-standing...mp;gclsrc=aw.ds

This seems to work pretty good for us. Except we don't put them all the way to the ground. We drilled a hole about 2 feet off the ground and ran a nail through it (or other type of pin/rod) for the PVC pipe to rest on. We have pics of the coons grabbing onto the nail, next pic trying to reach up on the PVC and next pic lying on their backside.

Thanks for all the replays there are some good ideas in the thread.

The duke dog proof foot hole traps does well. Put them on trees or little t posts around the feeder and you will be able to tell a difference.

We use carpet tacks, we have square tubing for our legs and it's easy to zip tie

buy a few packs of carpet tack strips at home depot ( used when laying carpet) They are cheep! Wire tie to your poles! After the coons get their feet stuck they learn quick. Have a cage as backup but havent had a coon hang on the cage since been using this method. A company makes some called shark teeth.

Slinky's zip tied to the feeder legs near the top...works better then anything I have seen ...

I've got Barrel feeders with flexible metal tubing running from my battery to the solar charger which is mounted very near lid on my barrel. That has eliminated my coon problems. Motor is in a Moultrie cadge. Coons get a real good workout trying to get to spinner or solar charger.

I put petroleum gelly on the legs anx wires. Nothing ever bothers my feeder and it has been up over a year.

From now on, all my feeders are 55 gallon barrel units. Mount your 3 legs right in the middle of the barrel sides (do not mount the legs at the bottom.) You want to keep your legs as far away from the digital timer as possible where they cannot reach it. A basket around the timer just adds a place for them to hang and get to the corn. Also, have legs that are about 10 feet long each. You will have to use a ladder to fill it. I place my solar panels on the bottom side of the barrel, right between 2 legs and keep the conduit tubing layed up against the barrel(sides and bottom) where none of it is "dangling." I use claps to hold the conduit right next to the barrel.

I just throw extra feed and they have no reason to climb and try to get extra corn

That's a great plan but..... it's about an 9 hour trip including filling my feeders so I can't drop that much corn twice a day. I hope to have large stand and fills at some point but not right now...

understandable luckily I leave my house and I'm at my feeder in under 30 min. Lots of coons on Ft Hood to especially where I'm at bc we have multiple ponds and creeks. I shoot everyone I see even if I'm waiting for hogs. Would love to trap them but can't.

http://cannonfeeder.com/about-us/

I want one of these, coons will not be an issue after that....