So, we have ventured out and bought a couple of these. I was only looking to get one, but a couple weeks later, we bought another one. I did as much research as I could before buying, because like others, we were concerned with the quality. We were looking for a stand and fill only and I like the fact that they are 12V motors and do not require a varmint cage of any kind. Most importantly, I liked the price point, $399. They definitely have a few minor design flaws, but I think I have addressed those as well as I could. Here is my review after the first couple of months.

It is advertised as a 600# feeder. I cannot confirm or deny. We used corn out of an existing feeder the first time around, but I will say that it is close to that number. Comes complete with everything but the battery. I like "The Timer" better than this one, but it seems to keep good time to this point, and is simple enough to set up. I think if I ever have to replace it, I will go back to The Timer. The solar panel is located on the lower corner of one of the sides. I almost wish it was on the lid. However,the battery shows a full charge every time I have checked it. I assume the solar panel is working as it should.

The first feeder is set up without a pen. I saw on another forum, where a member bought a air vent from Home Depot and attached a lid to cover the exposed motor. I did this as well. If a pig got mad enough at it, I think they could get it off. I did this mainly to keep the coons from doing their gymnastics routine off the motor and wiring. I also attached a piece of 1" square tubing with 1/4" bolts on the open side of the legs in order to keep medium-larger sized pigs from getting under it. This also allowed me to have a good anchoring point for T-post. I assume once it gets empty, the pigs and/or cows will push it around pretty easily. I have it set up on the lowest "power" setting and it throws corn at a minimum of 10 paces in every direction. I have had zero issues with this feeder throwing corn up to this point. I will say it is working as it should.

Second feeder is located inside a feeder pen. I also attached the vent on this one to protect the motor as well. I did not attach the square tubing or use T-post to secure it. It is just sitting in the pen. Again, setup was fairly simple and we had it going in no time. This one is set up on the lowest setting as well and kept all the corn inside the feed pen. On the second trip out after the initial set up, when I tested it, it worked as it should but something didn't sound right. I tested it again and the motor was laboring to spin and finally just stopped short of the complete feed spin time. The corn was piling up around and under the spin plate to where it wouldn't allow the motor to spin. I cleaned it out and tested again. I was hoping it was just a fluke. On the third trip out, same problem. After I tested it, the motor bogged down again. I cleaned it out again and bumped the power up to the medium setting and tested it until the ground was gold with corn. Hopefully this has fixed the issue. If not, It will be hard to fix with it full of corn. I am not sure what the solution will be. Only problem with it on the medium setting, it throws a small amount outside of the pen. As long as it continues to work, I will be OK with this.

I will continue to update if anyone is interested. I will also get some pics when I can. I wish I would have done that this weekend, I didn't think about it.

Thanks for the report. I'm going to have a couple of stand and fill feeders by Fall.

I�m interested... you can text the pics to me if you have problems posting them.

Thanks for the report. I've had mine set on high power all of last season and it ran flawless. I don't think it's a good idea to turn down the RPM's with the spinner being sandwiched between the two steel plates

Thanks, I just haven't taken any. I'll get some next time I'm out.



Only reason I set it set on low was to keep the corn inside the pen. The other feeder is running fine on low. I think for some reason, the second one has more room between the bottom metal and the spin plate. I'm curious to see if the added RPM's will keep it clear.

I�m looking for two of them. I live in the San Antonio area so if anyone knows if the New Braunfels store has stock let me know.

Varmint cages are soo 2017 ..The newest feeders @ buccees have a metal cover that closes off the exposed motor wires. I have been using these feeders last season and they work well. Battery stays charged, coons and pigs haven't messed with it yet, on high rpm throws great inside a 10 panel pen and a decent entry level price point. On a side note if you fill it all the way up to 12bags you will notice a lil sagging near the spinner..it hasn't affected the throwing distance yet..

Good info in this thread. Does anyone know if these feeders are a regular long-term stock item at Buccee's are just a temporary thing? I'm in between leases at the moment and don't want to deal with moving/storing any more gear at this time.

They tend to carry hunting stuff year round, I've seen them there since deer season around here.

The new store in Denton has them year round. They had quite a few last time I looked.

I am heading out this weekend, I will update with pictures.

How much do they weigh? I�ve been thinking about getting one of the 300lb guys, but I need something a single person can move around.

I loaded/unloaded this by myself. They don't weigh much, just bulky.

I have been thinking about getting one of these feeders in a couple of weeks. Let me know how they have been working out for you.

I've had one for about a year on my lease. Bought another for our ranch. We plan to replace a couple more of our feeders with them this summer.

I bought one back in January and it sat in my shop until yesterday. Finally got it out to replace an old cheapo tripod feeder. I was also concerned with exposed motor, so I took an old coffee can and covered motor using liquid nails. I also made additional braces for the two expos d sides using tin and self tapping screws.

I didn�t fill top cuz I wanted to test for a bit first, but did put in 300 pounds and it was right at halfway full. On test, slung corn the advertised 40� at least. Easy set up and fill.

I used a tin can to cover as well. The new ones have a better set up.

UPDATE....

All in all, everything was status quo. They were both working as the should. I took some pics to show the setups.

Feeder #1 (no pen).





This is the 2 pcs. of 1" square tubing I added to keep some of the larger pigs out from under it. I placed them below where the corn is thrown to keep from deflecting.



This is the vent I added to cover the motor. I also added a sprinkler valve box lid to the bottom to keep prying hands off.



This feeder is set on low. It throws just over 19' in all directions.


There is a hole inside here where the wiring for the timer comes through. It is quite a bit bigger than it should be, so this allows some corn to come up through. I have since added some duct tape to fix this.

Feeder #2 (inside a feed pen)


Same motor setup as feeder #1


According to my phone, this pic was taken at 821, so time is fairly accurate and battery has stayed full charged.


I didn't take a picture, but this feeder is set on medium to correct the issues I was having before. It throws just over 25'.

So, in a nutshell, all is good. If something changes I will update again. hope this helps.

jrfan - quick question. Curious why you added vent hole for "motor box"? I thought about this as well, mostly thinking about moisture, but then did not add because I didn't want to give mud dobbers, wasps, etc. access. I can easily add a vent hole, but again, curious on thoughts to why.

I didn't add a vent "hole". The motor and wiring are exposed from the factory. I was concerned about coons/pigs being able to get to it and damage it. The "vent" that I added was just to help protect/cover the exposed motor. Someone mentioned above that ASF has redesigned to fix this. I have not personally seen one yet though.

jrfan, and others for that matter........do you happen to have a link to the vent cover you guys are using? Home Depot's version isn't avialable, and not sure what you call it? Thanks, and thanks for the great pics. Looks like this will serve my purpose exactly.

My feeder came with the actual ASF timer. Both of yours has this timer?

I think this is it. However the one I bought did not have the damper. I din't pay that much either. All in with the lid I think was less than $15.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Speedi-...d-Gasket-with-Damper-SM-ATD-06/206199004

I used the lid off of this and screwed it to the bottom of the vent to close it off.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/NDS-6-in-Plastic-Round-Box-with-Overlapping-ICV-Cover-107BC/100377386



I don't think so. I think they are a "EZ Timer"?? But when I googled ASF's timer, it looks identical to the these.

On edit.....
I re-read your question. I didn't add any holes to the vent covering the motor/wiring. I think the one you're seeing is for a damper that can be added for its original purpose. Sorry if I am missing something else, let me know.

I bought one in January from the Denton store, mine was labeled ASF.

Your good - gotcha. Yes, I see now that the hole was already there. And yes, my question was more about the possible need to add some type of opening for moisture to escape, but at same time did not want to create the ability for bugs to get in and nest. Probably not an issue, but something I thought of when I was making the motor cover.

I stopped in at the Denton Bucc-ee's this morning for fuel. They did have some of the new models with the box covering the wiring. However, the motor is still exposed. I'm not sure that's an issue though.

jrfan- thanks so much for taking the time to get the pictures and for posting them along with the information.
It all takes time and we appreciate that. If anyone could get a picture of the new feeder with the wires covered - that would be greatly appreciated.
I would like to buy one of these but I also would like to get one of the newer models so it is important to see the differences.
Many thanks

Here 'ya go Bman, stole the pic from another site.

Does anyone know about availability Madisonville or anywhere within a couple hours of Houston? I looked at Baytown, none there last week. I tried to use the Buc-ee's website to send them a message, but the first time they sent an automated reply about deer corn, and the second time there was no reply. I know companies these days make money by not hiring workers, but Jeez, sure would be nice if someone at Buc-ee's could tell me about inventory.

thanks so much Jgraider - I will look for that when I purchase one.

Katy usually has them in stock.

Bought one at the Baytown store yesterday. They had 7 left. Just make sure that they give you the right timer. They told me that it didn't come with a timer so I bought "The Timer" at an additional $58, because that's what they brought to the counter. Just did't sound right so I contacted ASF. ASF handled it in a hurry. Had a reply back within minutes of sending the email and shortly after that, Bucee's corporate called me. Long story short, they do come with a cheaper ASF timer, but you have to ask the cashier for it because they don't leave them inside the feeders.

The three feeders I've seen purchased came with the timers in a cardboard box inside the feeder.

Was told that they take them out and keep in store to prevent them being stolen, I'm sure some get missed.

Finally got around to getting one of the feeders. Removed the metal cover from the wiring and placed a cover over the wiring and motor as jrfan did. All in all it looks good. Will placing it at the lease next weekend.

How they holding up?

Dimensions on these? Will one fit in the back of a 1500 with a Leer topper?

Great, so far so good. I have not had to do anything other than what I described above.



I did not take any dimensions, sorry. I will say I laid them down in the back of my short bed with the tailgate closed with no problem. I cannot confirm they will fit with a topper though.

Mine is working well. Since off-season, I have it dialed down to very short feed times. The cover I installed around the motor is still intact.

Not sure on fitting in truck bed with topper, but thinking if laid on its slide it would work.

Native Outdoors is selling these now for $419.

UPDATE.....

After the first full season we have had zero issues with any of these feeders. We are running 3 of them now. I would not hesitate to recommend or buy more of these if I needed.

We made it through the first year with ours and my experience is the same.......I'd buy more.

Yep. All season with mine and no issues at all.

Mine works great. No problems at all.

Planning on picking one up this week.... any recent photos / comments on them?

Here's another thread on the subject.....my experience is the same as others, great feeder, great price, no problems. Have bought two so far and every feeder I buy in the future will be the same.

https://texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/7846366#Post7846366

I took these pics 2 days ago at the Buc-ee’s in Ennis.

Got mine today, taking out tomorrow!

Hey guys how are these feeders holding up with heavy hog usage.

One mistake I made on this feeder -------- put it in the back of my pick up and the top blew off,,, use some duct tape to secure the lid if you are going to haul it that way, the bunji cords I used were not enough.

I bought 1 the past year and hauled it in my pickup but loaded it with the
top part down on the pick-up bed and legs up. I tied them down with some ratchet straps too.
This kept the large top from blocking my view out the back window and having the legs up
kept the wind resistance lower. It traveled real easy. It was real easy to load and unload too that way.
Walked it up to truck bed and tilted it over into bed of truck and slid it forward into truck bed.
Then when I got home I slid it back to tailgate and tilted it back over on its feet. It was a 1 man job
that way since kids are grown and gone and no one to help me. Just a little information that might help others.

thanks

Same thing happened with me. All Seasons have threaded holes with wing nuts to hold the lid and the wind blew one side loose and ripped out the connection when the lid folded over. I was able to fix it good enough though. .

Just like the day I put them out. Other than the initial issue I had with the first feeder mentioned above (low vs. med setting), these have run flawlessly. I filled them yesterday and had to adjust the time a bit, they were running 2-3 minutes fast. Other than that, no issues.

Bought mine a couple of weeks ago and its been running about a week. So far it's been great. Easy to load, easy to set up.

So I have not seen these in person, and can't tell how this from the pics here. How the heck do they throw the corn? Where does it come out of? Is it a one-directional stream or a in a circle like a regular tripod feeder?

In a circle. The spinner plate is between 2 sheets of metal. Flings corn about 40'.

Well, I'm interested in these. Buccees makes it hard to contact the stores directly, just one number listed for them all and that msg just says go to our website.

If anyone happens to be passing thru Temple, Bastrop, or New Braunfels and happens to see one, drop me a line!

foodieguy, reach out to ZK-315 (my son) on here, he lives in Temple and gets his fuel there ... he can likely check on availability within a few days for you.

Thanks PMK, PM sent!

Thanks to PMK for the tip and to ZK-315 for doing a recon of the Temple Buccees. Will be up that way this weekend to grab one of these and some corn.

You're more than welcome. Good luck with the new feeder!

How much are they going for now?

Temple has about 20 of them at the store,,, $400 each,,, you have to buy a 12 volt battery to go with it,, about $20 more.

Buccees in Temple has 10+ in stock. Take a close look though, they are a mix of the variants. All of them seemed to have the housing underneath to protect the wiring and the spacers that fixed the sagging issue. But not all of them had the collar by the spinner to protect the wires. And some of the ones I looked at (with the collars and without) had the gap between the funnel and the bottom of the base

Corn was 5.99.

Hard to beat their corn prices

Ice might as well be free.

Interesting thing about the one in Terrell, Tx was that they had several deer feeders available but also
had some deer blinds they were selling. I had never seen that before and I did not have time to go and look at them
as I had a an appointment I could not be late for.

Is that feeder as good as the “new” feeder at Academy? Just asking. It’s $399.00 but you know they will reduce it. It has the spin plates on the bottom.

The EZ feeder at Bucees is far superior and it's Texas made by All Seasons Feeders from what I've seen at their shop.

Just picked one up I’m Mellissa. Gentlemen helping me said they have sold 14 in 3 days

Has anybody done any research on how much corn these throw at a given motor speed?

I haven't had any issues. It doesn't dump corn under itself like a caged spinner normally does. The corn is thrown out in about a 40' diameter, so the critters spend more time eating corn that was scattered around, rather than right at the feeder.

That’s the truth

Not sure on exact pounds per throw. I set my Bucees feeder at 7 seconds to equal my other 12 volt feeders with eliminator plates that are set at 3 seconds.

Most flat spinners will throw about 1.5# per 4 seconds of throw, like I said, about..

Eliminator plates tend to throw a little less, so if you throw for 4 seconds with a gate plate, up your time to 6 seconds for the same amount of corn. The centrifugal force from the gate plate really chunks it out.

Has anyone swapped out the flat spinner plate on the Bucees feeder with the "gate plate" version? I think they are far superior to the flat ones and would like to do so.

I agree on the gate-plate being better! The problem is space, you don't have that under there for the gate plate, that's why the spinner that's on the EZ has the hub above the plate. The other issue is the gate plate benefits from a conventional funnel, not just the hopper bottom like the EZ has.

There’s a 1 inch gap between the plate and the bottom of the feeder you’ll have to open that gap up considerably to use the gated spinner plate which will allow enough room for the damn coons to reach the corn believe me I already tried but the flat plate works just fine I should have just left it alone.

Thank you KK. Looks like you saved me a bunch of time.

Anyone been by the Melissa Buc-ees and see if they have these in stock now? Apparently you can't call the location and ask. I don't want to drive 30 minutes to find out they don'r have any.

JR

You can’t call the buc-ees stores but on the bright side I’ve never been to any of the stores that didn’t have dozens of the feeders

Thanks KK. That's good to know.

JR

I went to Melissa this morning and got one. They had 4 onsite before I reduced the inventory. Due to time constraints, I just carried it to the farm - I'll set it up next week when I'm up there for a few days.

At least 4 employees asked to verify that I had the timer before I left.

I'm excited to get this thing working!!

JR

You will like it. I have had zero issues since I initially posted this. We are running three of them now.

Any chance anyone has been to any of the Buc ee’s around the DFW area lately and seen them in stock ? I am wanting to pick up one or two of these feeders. I’m afraid this time of year none of the stores are going have any.

The store on 35W between Fort Worth and Denton had a bunch late last week.

The location in Ennis has PLENTY in stock. Just was there Thursday

Word to the wise. The legs look like sled legs. Do not try to drag it when it is full. My dad learned the hard way.

Thanks guys I’m going to Fort Worth tomorrow for work, I guess I’ll shoot up to the north FW location. Then head to the Denton store if they don’t have any in Fort Worth. The Melissa store is closest to my house I just hate heading up there and get pissed off if they don’t have any. It’s that time of year I’ll be lucky to find one anywhere.

Melissa store had quite a few early last week. My son lives very close to there and he verified this.

I was at the Melissa store yesterday and they had a good supply

It can be done without damage. Lift each corner and place a 1 foot piece of 2X4 under pointed the direction of the drag. Moved mine once when 3/4 full and it did fine

The welds on the brackets broke when pulled

Thanks guys ended up shooting up to Melissa they had 8, I ended up just buying one. I thought about it I think I’m gonna play with this one for a little while before I commit to buying a second one.

Could use some troubleshooting help here....

So we got one of these in AUG but this last week it stopped throwing corn. I was wondering why we stopped seeing stuff on the cellular trail cam. I didnt realize any of this though until Saturday when I went to reset the timer. When we opened it up the battery level indicator had no bars. When we tested, it seems like the motor is firing, can hardly hear it. But the spinner plate barely moves, maybe just like a quarter turn. It didnt seem jammed up, we cleared of any thing and it was feeding well from the hopper. We disconnected/reconnected the battery and the battery level showed fully charged? I have another battery on the way but if that's not it was hoping to get suggestions on how to troubleshoot any other potential electrical issue. Maybe the solar charger isn't doing it's job? The battery was new from the store in August (game winner, academy).

Was also thinking maybe the spinner plate came loose from the motor shaft? How is that attached?

Thanks in advance.

Not that brand, but mine didn't go off Saturday evening and come to find out it threw the set screw attaching the spinner plate to the motor shaft. You might look close at the base of the spinner plate and see if there's a hole in it.

I always try to hit that set screw with some Locktite before they hit the field. So far so good.

Mine didn't have the solar panel hooked up to the battery leads & my battery ran down to half charge. Couldn't figure out why until I traced the wires & the solar panel wasn't wired in. Plugged it together & all is good.

On ours the connectors for the battery come from the timer, and the wires from the solar panel go around the right side of the hopper, maybe down to the motor? We tried pulling on them to see where they went to but there isnt any slack in them at all. The quick connector bundle goes down the hole like the black cabling in this image I stole from another site. Maybe we have the whole thing connected wrong? I dont recall seeing a connector like the one in this image on a red/black wire.

We're going out tomorrow will take some pics.

Control panel (I believe) connectors have a male & female. Wires come from motor to control panel then to the battery. The solar panel wires jump in line w/those.

You have a bad battery, the battery level showing fully charged is because it was plugged into the solar panel at the moment, you are seeing the panel voltage. More than likely the connection to the battery wasn't good enough for the panel to charge. Connect the solar panel connections to the battery first, then piggy back the timer off of the solar panel and it should be fine. Either way that battery needs to be charged at home before it's back in use.

^^THIS^^ - It is ALMOST always the battery.

Yeah, we swapped the battery out and it fired up just fine. The battery level on the original one was at like one bar on the display.

One thing I noticed, before i changed the battery, the battery display said 6V. Plugged the new one in and it swapped to 12v. Did it say 6v because it was dead? Sorry, still learning about the batteries and voltages.

I'm still not sure if the root cause was a bad battery that would not hold a charge or maybe a fault someplace in the charging system/wiring.

thanks for all the help.

Yup, the battery was in need of replacement. once the battery discharges down to about 7v it will swap over the reading 6v.

Well, after 2 full seasons, I have had ZERO issues other than the initial clogging I mentioned in the original post. Not clogs, no missed cycles no issues what so ever (I may have just jinxed it). We topped them off first weekend in September and didn't touch them until Christmas. I still highly recommend.

Yep. I have one that's been out over 2 years and one over a year. Zero issues. Cows bent one cross-arm a little but nothing major. I have added-just recently- remote activators to both.
Did recently buy a stand-and-fill at the local feed store- Green-go feeder. Well made, but it uses a standard Eliminator plate and cage setup and doesn't throw nearly as evenly or far as the Buccee's do.

Which remote? Does it work well??

The Moultrie. Super easy- clamp on the two wires using the provided taps on the wires to the motor, alligator clamps on the battery. They come with a thin antenna wire. Since the coons tend to pull on everything, I left the wire antenna inside the battery/motor compartment. If you do that, the remote will work only about 25 yards. If you leave the wire hanging out of the door it will work almost 100 yards.

So, I had our first issue this past week. I contribute it to the poor design on the original feeders with the exposed motors and wiring. This particular feeder had the modified cover with the plastic water valve cover that I used to secure the motor and wires. I’m guessing a squirrel chewed the finger hole enough where he could get inside the cover and chewed up one of the wires. I’m not really sure why, I didn’t find a nest or anything, just the one chewed wire. Luckily it was an easy fix. I also cut a thin piece of sheet metal to cover the plastic, so hopefully all is good now.

I think All Seasons has a cover for that, it might work better and I think it is metal.

Why would they use a eliminator plate with a cage?

Because some raccoons have long arms. I've seen them reach in there and spin the plate.

I used a one gallon paint can, L brace mounts, and self tapping screws and it worked great to cover the motor.

I like the idea of not having a varmint cage to allow the corn to spread out better around the feeder instead of piling up near/beneath it.

I am seriously thinking of buying this feeder at buc-ees with reading all the reviews here as it seems to be a good value for your dollar.
I have a fellow worker here that has bought 4 or 5 of them in the last couple years and he said the first ones they had issues with the wiring shorting out as it was run from inside the feeder through it to the motor through just an open hole in the metal and it rubbed the insulation off that wiring. He said the last 2 they purchased ASF fixed that problem by using a small tubing/conduit to run the wiring through.


Thanks to the OP and all posters here for all this great info posted!

Yep good call

Im seriously thinking of buying several of these. Ive read all yall have said. Does anyone have anything to update or add? It sounds like they had some very minor issues but maybe they were corrected?? What changes from the original should I make sure have been done?

My All Season 400lb version has almost 2 full years under it's belt. It's my pig feeder, not a single problem and the hogs and coons haven't been an issue. Thinking of getting a 600lb Buc-ees one soon.

Trying to figure out how many of these I can get in a trailer. Not a big deal cause I think I can make it work, but does anyone know what the dimensions of base are(foot print?)

Not getting much feedback, or maybe im just too anxious to write a big check for a bunch of these. ANOTHER question--I heard they started out with some different timer and then they switched to The Timer. Not sure at all thats correct, anybody know?

Flip them upside down when hauling them to get max capacity on a trailer. Just take the lids, timer and battery and put them in the back seat of the truck. I takes a few more tie down straps but this is how I hauled large capacity feeder with a wider leg base. You can arrange them when they are upside so the legs blend together. It is another anchoring or tie spot also.

You need to tie these down especially well since they aren't the heavy gauge steel like a Ramball made feeder.

Thanks Stx and Jimbo.

Just leaving Bucees Terrell. The feeders timers are not The Timer. Kept behind counter for the feeders in unmarked box that’s not sold separately. Says “All Seasons EZ Feeder” timer. Looks complete diff from The Timer. Anyone know if these timers are good or great. All Seasons so I figure good but maybe cutting costs to keep price so low. I just love The Timer an thought they used that.
Also the changes they made to protect underneath look solid. Not indestructible but solid. As others said very easy to add a little protection.

My All Seasons timer has been flawless for almost 2 full years now. As for underneath...I screwed on a couple of braces and ran a string of barb wire around it to keep the pigs from going underneath.

Just pulled trigger on 4 Bucees feeders. Probably get two more but may add another hunter so let him do that. Headin to da cuntry. Corn 8.99.

Hope you made sure to get the timers that go with each unit

I may have to try one of those someday. 'Wish they'd at least start the Buccee's by my house (Boerne), but the highway's been under construction for years in front of the site, and there doesn't seem to be any end in sight. It's more convenient to get stuff in Kerrville on the way to the ranch instead of fighting the mess that is Boerne nowadays.