Dang squirrels chewed through the chicken wire on one of my feeders, spun the thrower till the feeder was empty. This was the second time they got through the wire, even after I added more wire. Well, no more mister nice guy. I cut the chicken wire off and replaced it with some serious 1/2” gap wire mesh. Same stuff they put on wood telephone poles. Still have one more feeder to do. This ought to shut em down.

Eliminator plate time

I have a plate on it that’s supposed to seal off after feeding. After years of dust, rain, corrosion, it no longer seals off. The squirrels can spin it as much as they want for corn.

I use a little silicon spray about twice a year on the chain links. Seems to help a bit

Why not just replace the plate....

New plate would just do what the old plate did. Heavy duty wire mesh doesn’t need lube or maintenance. I used the wire mesh on the yard feeder maybe 5 years ago, and squirrels and coons have not been able to defeat it.

Our squirrel eat off the ground for the most part. I have seen them at the spinner plate before but have never seen a noticeable change in corn the amount of corn used.

If the squirrels can get corn by spinning the thrower plate, they will. I have two of the same feeders, and partially filled them the same day with 200 pounds each. The one the squirrels haven’t chewed through the chicken wire has about 2/3 of the corn I put in it. The one the squirrels got to is (or was) empty. I still need to put that heavy duty wire cloth on the other feeder. They can still get corn off the ground, but they won’t be able to spin the feeder empty.

Dang squirrels. I really thought I beat them by using the chicken wire. Well, the little rodents won’t beat this wire.

That’s what is already on both feeders. One works most of the time, but the other just won’t seal off any more - due to time, corrosion, dirt, whatever. Lube helps for a little while. Like I said before, the wire won’t fail, never needs lube. No mechanical apparatus will operate forever as designed. Lucky for me, my feeders are a short atv ride away, so I can check on them often. But, If you have a feeder on a lease far from home, don’t expect any feeder plate to defeat determined squirrels and coons forever. Best to have a double layer - sealing spinner plate and wire.

Lessee now. You feed the squirrels its only right they feed you. Thin them out and enjoy some good vittles .

A good cage is cheap and will save you a lot of headaches and money.

I use to build my own out of wire shelving material and they worked perfectly. Now Academy sells a square panel cage for about $15 that works just as good. I make my own mounting hardware for them but for $15 it aint worth building my own cage anymore.

Squirrels & coons show time and time again how clever they can be at keeping us humble. That said I bought a roll of some 1 X 2" welded wire at a farm and ranch supply store years ago, about $40.00 as I recall. I made a basket that fit under the barrel with a bottom of course. I made it just to fit just inside the lip using plumbers tape and at lest 5 to 6 screws. I've tried the eliminator plate also but the coons broke it so I went back to my cage. I even made a door in front of my timer so I could access the timer to check battery and such.

Set out There with your .22 and start popping em.