Assembly Instructions Metal Feeder
Packed inside the feeder is a plastic bag containing a 10" long metal bracket, the instructions, a wire link, two short bolts, four fender washers, two ¼” nuts, three ¼” lock nuts and one spring. One 4” diameter counterweight, and one treadle assembly is packed at the top of the package. Your feeder was assembled, had the wire link set to the right length, and tested, then disassembled and packed for shipping.
Set the feeder in the upright position. Put one of the large fender washers on a bolt then reach inside the swinging door into the feed tray and insert the bolt through the side of the feeder, add one large fender washer and one ¼” nut on the outside. Do the same for the other side then tighten the nuts firmly using a wrench or crescent wrench. The inside bolt head is 7/16" and the outside nut will the same or 11mm.
Place the counterweight bolt in the end hole of the right side treadle arm using one of the lock nuts. Just snug it up to prevent breaking the concrete counterweight. The small metal pin sticking out of the counterweight should be on top of the treadle arm to keep the counterweight from swinging down. Place the treadle arm assembly over the bolts protruding out from the sides of the feeder while making sure the counter weight is on the same side as the door crank and add one lock nut on each side. Tighten the lock nuts down lightly then back it off 1/16th turn so that the treadle will move freely. You will have to bend the treadle arms to line everything up and tweak it so nothing rubs.
Insert the wire link with small bent end into the hole in the end of the door axle crank rod and stick the large L bend end through the right side treadle arm Bend both ends of the wire link either up or down to keep link from popping off then clip off the excess wire on the bottom end. Not too tight that it binds and prevents the door from opening. If the swinging door doesn’t open up all the way back take a pair of pliers and put a kink in the wire link till the swinging door opens all the way back. All you are doing is shortening the wire link by putting a kink in it.
If the counterweight bolt rubs the side of the feeder, bend the treadle arm out slightly till it clears. Using a pair of pliers hook the short end of spring under the wire link that is going through the heavy door axle crank and the long end in one of the series of holes drilled in the top panel. Be careful working with the spring, protect your eyes by wearing safety glasses! Pull the spring up, not down, in case it breaks. The are a series of holes are to adjust the spring pressure, lightest operating pressure is about 1.5 # is using the far right hole and the pressure increases about 1# for each hole you go toward the left.
If you have small chickens you can just use the spring, remove the concrete counter weight.
The feeder should be fastened to a wall or post for stability. The sheet metal bracket included with the feeder is for attaching the feeder to a wall. Set the feeder against the wall, mark a pencil line across the top of the feeder, move the feeder out of the way and attach the sheet metal bracket about 1/4" below the pencil mark. Then lift the feeder and drop it down over the bracket so the lid axle catches the bracket.
The feeder can be fastened to a plywood base if it needs to be freestanding. Fasten a wooden block to the plywood base, then put a couple of screws through the side of the feeder. Usually the lid must be pushed to one side to get it to close completely.
Make
sure the feeder is securely fastened to a wall or post and that the
treadle is bottom out on something solid so the bird can stand on the
ground with one foot and have the other foot holding down the
treadle. A couple of patio blocks makes a great base that can be leveled into the dirt floor and keeps the feeder up out of the mud and mire while still allowing the treadle to bottom out.
Email us at
[email protected] if you have any problems, send pictures please! Don’t call, email with pictures so we can see the problem!