Cheap 75LB Feeder w/ Rain Guard

[Little Bear Game Farm]

Hey All - I figured I would post some pics of the outdoor feeders I built.  I needed about 50 of these things for the upcoming season and couldn't invest $5000 into feeders.  They were pretty easy to build, took about 20 minutes each.

If you live near any bigger dairy operations, you should be able to find the plastic 15 gallon and 55 gallon drums.  There is a farm service business a couple miles from my house and they had hundreds of these two sizes that they need to ship out to have recycled.  They were more than happy with me taking what I needed.

1.) Cut the bottom and top off of the 15 gallon drum.  Diameter is about 14.5".
2.) Cut a piece of plywood (treated, preferably) with a 16" diameter.
3.) Srcrew a piece of 20 gauge steel to plywood.  I used 51.5" long x 1.5"
4.) Attach a large funnel in center of Plywood.
5.) Install L Brackets to hold barrel up
6.) Attach Barrel
7.) Cut 55 Gallon drum in half
8.) Cut 2x4 to fit in 55 gal drum
9.) Cut grooves in 2x4 to fit on top of 55 gallon drum
10.) Attach 2x4 inside 55 gallon drum

[Little Bear Game Farm]

Guess there won't be any pics.  Have them resized to 56KB and it says they are too big to post even one.

[Little Bear Game Farm]

Now I don't know what going on...

[Little Bear Game Farm]

Total Cost for Feeders

Sheet of Plywood - $20 enough for 18 Feeders = $1.12 Each
Box of 50 Screws - $1.89 enough for 10 Feeders = $0.19 Each
Funnel - $1.39 Each
L Brackets - $0.39 Each - Need 3 = $1.17
15 Gallon Drums - Free
55 Gallon Drums - Free
51.5" x 1.5" 20 Gauge Steel - Free (Buddy works at Machine Shop)
Labor - Free!!

Total Cost / Each = $3.87

Alot better than the $100 to purchase new!