only 2 years but I've had no issues with my ASF stand and fill 600 from Buc-ee's. I actually like the design better than the non Buc-ee's model that comes with the wire cages. The cage hinders dispersion of corn in my opinion. My BIL has one and half the corn it throws hits the cage and ends up right at the base of the feeder. My Buc-ee's model doesn't have that issue. I wish it had a better timer but other than that I like the All Season Feeder from Buc-ee's.

I use Texas Wildlife Supply 600# feeders. They are great with only one complaint. Complaint is the broadcast radius. Cage limits distribution distance and a lot of corn falls under the feeder. So you usually have a few deer with their heads under the feeder. Sometimes hard to see the antlers with the feeder blocking, or hard to get a clean shot off with deer all under the feeder (especially hunting with kids)

Always liked the concept of the Cannon where the feeder is in a different place.

strohag said:

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Layne Staley said:

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Im on season number 3 of the 600lb pound stand and fill from Academy Surprised how well its done for as cheap as it was compared to others.

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We are on season 3 with 4 of the academy 720lb stand and fill feeders. All have been running great. Only repair was replacing a solar panel after an empty feeder got knocked over by a massive boar.

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+3 for the Academy Game Winner stand and fill feeder. No exposed wire, easy to fill and haven't had to charge a battery yet. I will say it has gotten more expensive than when I bought it at $299. They're now $549. I guess they got popular.

https://www.academy.com/p/game-winner-720lb-no-hassle-feeder?sku=brown

I sincerely appreciate all of the feedback.

At my lease, we have:
10 All Seasons feeders, including corn and protein, 600 & 1k lb capacities
5 GreenGo 800 lb
3 Lamcos - 2 600 lb and 1 350 lb
2 Capsules - 1 500 lb 1st gen and 1 1000 lb 2nd gen
1 MB Ranch King "Mighty Buck" 600 lb
1 Aluminum Outfitters 600 lb
1 Cannon 700 lb

All the above are the "stand and fill" type. Life is too short to ever go back to the tripod type requiring use of a ladder to fill or the winch up and down style.

My ranking, in order:
1. GreenGo
The best of the bunch IMO. It is all welded, heavy gauge steel construction. It has a welded hinged lid with welded on keeper chain, so high winds can't dislodge the lid and it won't leak. The wiring is all concealed. The timer and battery box is conveniently located inside at the top corner, easily accessible. The interior has cross bracing for extra strength. The motor and spinner is the only thing located underneath inside the varmint cage, and unless the motor or motor wiring fails, you never need to open the varmint cage. It has a sloped tray below the motor so that all corn falling beneath the motor slides out from inside the cage and onto the ground. The wiring between timer and motor is inside square tubing. The solar panel is located on the top corner right outside the timer box, so it doesn't get covered in corn dust and has no exposed wiring for vermin to chew on. The skids are very heavy duty, with stake loops on them should you wish to stake it to the ground. Of course, it uses the best timer on the market - "The Timer," as does all the others listed above. On top of all of that, it's pretty reasonably priced, so you get a lot of value for the money. It's by far the best, most foolproof feeder I've ever used without spending a fortune and what I'd always recommend to anyone of any I've tried or seen so far.

2. Aluminum Outfittters
This feeder is very well made entirely of aluminum, with all full seam welded construction. It has a hinged lid with welded clasp. The solar panel is above the corn throw zone and has shielded wiring. The spinner plate is the "Eliminator" varmint-proof type that seals off the funnel when not running, eliminating the need for a varmint guard that can limit throw distance. When it comes time to move it, it's very lightweight due to its all aluminum construction. That can also be a negative though, as it can easily be overturned by hogs when it gets near empty. I solved that by staking it down and keeping it full. To me it's only real negatives are that it's pretty expensive as I recall, and I rarely ever see them. I'm not even certain whether or not they're still made.

3. MB Ranch King
A nicely constructed feeder. Like those above, it has a hinged lid with welded keeper loops, but it also has a pneumatic closer cylinder to prevent the lid from slamming shut when closing. It has a varmint proof spinner, not requiring a varmint cage. The solar panel is located on the top of the lid, so your battery always gets a good trickle charge. This might subject it to potential hail damage or the potential for getting covered with bird droppings however. The timer and battery compartment is located on the underside of the lid, a nice feature, although for some reason that does seem to promote more batt terminal corrosion for whatever reason (moisture evaporate from corn?) . It has all shielded wiring. The only real negative is that it's expensive for the capacity.

4. Capsule
These are interesting feeders in that the corn exits from the top of the feeder rather than the bottom by use of an auger that pulls the corn up. The power head with timer and battery is in a nice compartment on top with a screw-on lid, and the solar panel is on top. I was initially skeptical of the reliability of the auger, but my first-gen 500 lb Capsule has been running reliably for 15 years now. The disadvantages: it is mostly fiber reinforced plastic construction, so varmints can and will chew on the edges. It sits directly on the ground and water can seep inside above the base to shell seam, so if you set it somewhere that water can pool beyond 6" or so, water will get inside and turn your corn to mush, locking the feeder up and requiring complete disassembly and clean-out. It's also very expensive. But, it's an interesting, unique design, and it's almost impossible for critters to turn it over due to its wide base and low center of gravity.

5. Lamco
This is a pretty nice feeder at a reasonable price. I like the "dual disk" varmint guard design that doesn't restrict throw distance. Although the lid is completely removable, I do like the latch design pretty well, and it seems to do a pretty good job of securing the lid against high winds. My gripes: the timer and battery compartment is too small on all of mine, requiring you to use a smaller size 12v gel cell rather than the larger sizes that have higher Mah capacity and longer life. It has riveted sheet metal construction; a little less sturdy and less well sealed than the welded construction units. I don't particularly like the motor being inside the corn hopper, with corn poured directly on top of it, but so far this hasn't been a reliability issue for me.

6. All Seasons
These are decent feeders overall, with galvanized steel sheet metal and pretty decent hardware. Mine have served me well for 10 seasons. They are fairly reasonably priced except for the fact that for about the same price you can get a GreenGo which is a far better built feeder. They ASFs do have one big glaring weakness: most of them have flimsy lids that are completely removable, held in place by weak spring clips that are riveted to the sides and leak around the rivets. My lease is in West Texas, where there are very high winds. I've had the wind rip the lids of, breaking the cheap spring keepers off in the process. I've had to put ratchet straps across the lids of mine to keep them in place in high winds. In addition, water leaks through the rivet used to secure the springs against the side walls of the feeders. I've seen some higher capacity ASFs beyond the 600 and 1000 lb ones on my lease that have hinged lids, better latches, and heavier duty construction, but most have the cheap spring clips. The lids also have very short skirts, so if the wind is blowing hard while it rains, water can blow inside. The varmint cage underneath restricts corn throw distance somewhat. These are ok but there are much better, more foolproof options like the GreenGo.

7. Cannon
Although these are very innovative feeders with some "out of the box" thinking, IMO they suck. I love that due to the fact it shoots corn out a "barrel," the area where critters eat the corn is separated from the feeder location, so the feeder doesn't end up in a mud puddle where animals walk around it. It's pretty heavy duty and has a wide base, so it won't get turned over. You can build a pen at a distance from the feeder and have it fire the corn into the pen, with no feeder inside the pen to obstruct your view of deer.

Unfortunately, despite its innovation, the one sample I have has proven to be very unreliable and plagued with issues. The feeder requires running an air compressor to fill a cylinder before each time it goes off. So, not only does it make a lot of noise that spooks animals, but it draws a lot of amps that requires a larger battery and reduces battery life. Then it also requires a solenoid valve to open the compressed air cylinder to throw the corn. The distance it throws becomes progressively shorter as corn level in the hopper decreases, because shot distance is partially dependent on back pressure above the corn "chamber" in the barrel. It's just way too complex and power hungry, making it unreliable. In addition, when it fires the corn, it's very loud and I believe it could injure an animal if it were standing directly in front of the barrel when it fires. On top of all this, it's extremely expensive. The benefits just don't outweigh the disadvantages IMO. Too gimmicky and unnecessarily complex for me.

Whatever feeder you buy, make sure it has "The Timer," a heavy duty, high torque 12v motor, a decent sized solar panel, and a heavy duty spinner plate, as all the high end feeders nowadays seem to have.

I highly recommend taking a look at the GreenGo. A lot of feeder for the money.

Here is what I'm talking about with the spring clip latches and leaks on most of the ASF models (unless the design was recently changed). I've had to put silicone around the spring attachment point to keep water from leaking inside, and I have to use ratchet straps to ensure the lid stays in place during the extremely heavy wind events common to west Texas. Note how cheap and flimsy these latches are, and note the evidence of leakage on the inside, despite using silicone around the spring attach rivet.

Great write up. Thanks.

Exactly. We have big rocks on top of our ASF lids. And leaks where you photographed. Lids suck.