Controlled Protein Feeders

Looking for real-live reviews for timer controlled protein feeders. So far The Hammer Feeding System looks like a pretty reliable setup. Anyone using it?

I have the Lamco ones and they work great.

We are big Lamco users. Work awesome for our needs

their timed ones seem to all be trough based - any issues with big racks impeding the ability to eat?

^^^^^^^ nice problem to have

We have 3 hammers on 3- #3500 protein feeders... they are great! This year we are adding a 4th.

I have two hammers and love them. My budget doesn't allow free flow 24/7 so The Hammer is great.

Only issue is be sure that your feeder hopper/funnel has a large enough opening for protein vs corn. You do not want any chance of moisture causing a clog!

Thanks. I Was going to go with 4" ID which should be plenty. i'm assuming the closing force (i think they said 225lb) is more than enough to break thru anything in its way and shut tight.

Yes the closing force is not a problem and 4inch tube is what The Hammer has. Key is to make sure your funnel down opening tapers to 4" opening as the clogs generally occur in the funnel port. I wish I had 2 more of The Hammers.

All timered or trough feeders have good and bad sides. The Hammer systems is a good one to control when the feed is available and how long it is available. The deer can eat as much as they want when they are there so you can not really regulate the amount fed per day like other style feeders. The trough or timered feeders that dump at a certain time and a certain amount they you regulate are going to feed the same amount every day. The Hammer system is going to change greatly depending on time of year, rainfall and amount of deer at the feeder. My concern with the Hammer is getting good antler clearance for larger bucks as they get later in antler growth. I used Lamco Feeders in the past and was concerned about a facing a blind spot while eating. Priefert makes a trough style feeder that is free choice after the lid opens and has a rain sensor that will close if it rains. You can regulate the length of time open as you wish. Bad side of this is trough size for deer numbers eating and the cost. If I were going to limit feed I would probably use the Hammer style feed system over a Lamco or All Season or Outback. I own my feeders now that would adapt fine to the Hammer system. I would want to put my hands on a Hammer system to see if it would have any issues with "fines" clogging the slide gate over time.

Good info stxranchman

"I would want to put my hands on a Hammer system to see if it would have any issues with "fines" clogging the slide gate over time."

So far, have not had any issue with side gate being clogged. I did have a clog issue but it was upstream in my funnel system and not the Hammer system. I added the Hammer to an existing corn feeder which did not have an adequate enough opening in bottom of funnel hole for protein drop.

I'm trying my hand at a home-made Hammer style control system... 225lb linear actuator and a smart relay... results pending

Only eight seconds left. Do I cut the green wire or the red wire?

Have you really evaluated the cost difference between controlled and free choice? I just don't see how controlled can give you any significant improvement in antler size.

I guess I'll let you know after trying it. I'm also hooking up the latch relay trigger to a SMS receiver so if I see a [censored] ton of coons at the feeder from my cell cam I can text the actuator closed. Protein is expensive and if I can help control cost, I will.

I made a great dog feeder by using an electric window motor to run a worm drive (a 3" garden auger) to move feed down a 3" pipe. I just used a regular feeder timer setup (solar cell, battery etc.) to activate a relay, I was afraid of running full current through the timer. I never thought of using it to move protein, I am gonna give it a try.
It worked flawlessly for four years till our dog passed, it is just sitting there now.
By just extending my dump pipe a bit, a coon could never reach the auger.
I need to get pictures, and a patent

that was my first instinct but i passed on a auger style design because i don't want to push a pre-determined amount of protein, but rather give them the free choice model, when i want to allow it. that was the biggest design issue i had with an auger style for the goals i was trying to accomplish.

Brings back some bad memories from my first EE class in college.

Hope it works out!

I think for a predetermined amount it works great. I was surprised how much food it would move. I only had to do one second and feed twice a day.

I am a dealer for The Hammer. I have not personally ran one on my lease yet but I am very impressed with the quality of this unit

can one of you post a picture or two of this The Hammer feeder?

http://www.thehammerfeeder.com/products.html

thanks, how does the mechanism work? like a rolling block or slide or swing?

Questions not a review

I’m having a hard time seeing how you are benefiting your deer herd by limiting the amount of protein feed you are feeding. Everything I have ever read says this is a 3 year investment before you will start to see the benefits of feeding protein. So if you limit there feed intake what are your expectations and when do you expect to see results assuming your hoping to see improvements.

Just finished our first year feeding L&E Jan. - Sept. and didn’t notice any change in antlers did see a change in the body condition but we had better range conditions last year so it’s hard to say that was a result in feeding protein. It does look like feeding has helped with recruitment, saw several bucks at the protein feeders that we hadn’t seen in the past.

A linear actuator pushes a gate that slide in tracks. It is controlled by a timer

A lot of people are doing this not to control how much the deer eat but control when they eat. Making it available only in the daylight hours to attempt to train the deer to do more feeding during the day

I purchased and deployed a 500lb Lamco Trough feeder last June. My #1 problem is rain. A few weeks after putting it out, we went on a 2 week vacation and it rained a good bit while we were gone. When I made it out to the lease on return, you wouldn't believe the stinking, worm invested mess I had to clean up. A rain sensor would help, don't know that it solves the problem.

It is a very nice unit no doubt, but a rainy season will be a major pain in the azz to manage with it. I'm either going to cut-out the bottom portion of the trough and replace with a screen/mesh or sell it. I have it turned off right now.

Dave, the SMS cell control thing would be awesome to add. Can you post some specifics on how to add that?

Thanks!

I'm still working on it but basically the SMS notification would be processed and send a trigger pulse thru a GPIO pin that would trigger the latch relay. I'm leaning towards arduino vs. RasPi but the new Raspi Zero is attractive