If you would like to keep using those motors could you just put a better spin plate on there?
I would love to, but see their response below...
The bent spin plate problem has occurred to over half of the On Time's I USED to use and this occurred every season. I played this game for 2-3 years and then changed to Texas Hunter Products and Boss Buck. Texas Hunter are awesome (worth every penny) and the Boss Buck are still good (as we use these on the Boss Buck feeders because TX Hunter hole patterns don't match up)
Dump those On Time and get new feeders. You will be VERY happy you did
I think I will certainly be looking for different ones when its time to replace.
This was their response to my email....
Dear Tyson,
I appreciate the time and effort that you made in emailing me about your concerns for the spinplate that you have been having and hope through this email address this issue.
We do not have control over the size of grain that is distributed by the spinplate. Most of our competitors have a motor that runs on a 6000 rpm range. This offers poor distribution as far as distance from your feeder is concerned. If you are using our Elite or digital feeder, those units carry 3 speeds at top speed of 10,000rpm , medium speed of 9,000 rpm and low speed of 6,000 rpm. This problem will not occur at below 6,000 rpm speed like our competitor.
The high speed over a period of time can cause fractures in the wings. Generally this occurs in one year at top speed, due to so many different variables for the weight of corn on the spinplate, size of corn, the rpms of distribution, length of run time and other different factors. Kind of like your tires on a car, you can run it at 90 mph or 50 mph.
So our recommendation would be to run if you want large distribution a smaller run time of 5 seconds at top speed. Then for addition output drop the speed down to 50 percent.
We also have a spinplate that is made of galvanized steel as used on our bumper buddy spreader. We have had no fractures on this spinplate but the ramifications of using this spinplate is lower battery life and it runs harder on your motor and plus the galvanized spinplate has 3 times the weight of the regular aluminum spinplate.
As you can see there are many different variables available. But perhaps in understanding of how the rpms and material that we have chosen (steel or aluminum) have a great deal to with the longevity of spinplate.
At on time On Time we offered a poly carbonite plate which we never had problems using. But many customers complained about the varmints chewing on it. So we went with the aluminum to alleviate the chewing problem. In our opinion that was one of the best ever that we made. We have made these under special requests but rest assured there may be some chewing! The lifetime guarantee was on those many years ago. The aluminum spinplate for which we replaced it with which was over 10 years ago are not covered.
Last but not least we recommend on all feeders to have a gap between the funnel and aluminum spinplate to be 3/8 inch. That is where you get the maximum performance out of your feeder. Where if this is not followed only 1/8 inch different will cause 50percent more out put of grain causing more wear and tear on the motor.
If you have any further questions you can call 318 255 1834 Hours 8-4 Monday thru Thursday Central time. We will be closed Friday and Monday for the holidays. Thanks LaVerne On Time customer service representative
So, if I am reading this correctly....
1. Their product is better because it runs at a higher RPM.
2. Because their motor runs at a higher RPM, it causes the spinner plate to fail.
3. To fix the issue, I have to run the motor at a lower RPM. So now, according to them, I have an inferior product.
4. I can also solve the issue with a steel spinner plate, but this causes the motors to fail.
5. They have something that will fix the issue, but the squirrels and coons eat it.
6. This is not covered under the "lifetime" warranty.
Please tell me if you read it differently.