Feeder power

What are the pros & cons of using a 12V vs 6V feeder timers?
Thanks
Semper Fi.
Once & Always

With 12V, larger throw radius, more corn per throw, less funnel to plate clogs, louder so animals hear from farther away. Some cons of 12V may be, more expensive battery than 6V, wider throw radius may not always be desired due to pen size, etc., more corn thrown per throw may not be desired. That said, a well charged battery in either 6V or 12V should do about everything you would need.

Ive always used 12v so Im not sure, but I think DQ summed it up pretty good. I wonder if they hold a charge longer or if the overall life is longer.

I used to have a combination. Changed all my 6V to 12V and much happier.

Thanks. I have always used 6V but thinking of going 12

DQ and others did a good job in providing pro's and cons. I would add a couple more things.
The 12 volt definitely throws the corn a lot farther so it takes the deer a lot longer to graze and eat
all of it up, therefore deer normally around your feeder a lot longer. When the 6 volt eventually gets
low on voltage (all batteries will get there over time eventually and not take a charge) the corn ends
up in a smaller pile under the feeder and the 12 volt will throw out corn into a smaller radius and not the small pile.
If you are close and change out batteries before this becomes an issue then this is not a problem. We have gone to all 12 volt
feeders but do not have pens around our feeders.

I don't have any experience with 12v but I had a hunter that did change to 12v and he liked it much better. For me, I had two feeders in a pen that threw corn 44ft. from the center of the feeder motor(radius of 44 ft.). I baffled one feeder on one side to keep from throwing outside the pen. As far as making more noise ...I think is a disadvantage as your neighbors can set their feeders according to when your feeders go off. I didn't silence mine but you can buy a silencer kit for a feeder. Rest assured, some hunters do listen for feeders. I change my feeder times from time to time for various reasons.

Wow. My hearings so bad I cant hear my own feeders going off. I cant imagine being close enough to a neighbor for them to hear it go off.

At one spot I can hear TWO of my neighbor's feeders go off. They're all of about 300 yards from each other.

His property, his right though.

Yall got me curious now on just how bad my hearing is. How far away can yall hear a feeder go off?

On a calm morning, I have one particularly loud feeder that I can hear go off 700 yards away. Most of the other feeders, 200-300 yards away, I can hear them.

I have a combination of both ... I use 6vdc in my penned feeder to keep all the corn inside, my unpenned are mostly 12vdc.

Do they even make an eliminator that runs on 6V?

Think Wildgame Innovation 6V sold at Academy has some eliminator plate types, spring activated.

I bought this from West Texas Feeder Supply for the one 6V motor that I found on the place. (1/8" shaft.) I use it for a pig trap feeder, with the Wildgame Innovations timer set on low, so it just goes "poo". right around the feeder. 'Crammed it up against the downspout with just enough room for corn to drop in the tray and the feeder sits on a coon-proof cage, but the squirrels are free to go nutz in there.

On a real calm crisp morning I can hear a hunter's feeder on our place about 500 yards away. Most mornings I can hear his feeder but not in the afternoon.

Sound travels farther in the cooler air, but you knew that.

and I thought it had more to do with moisture levels

Faster and farther are two different things.

The cost difference in 6v vs 12v............if that's a factor you shouldn't be hunting considering on solar they could last two years.

Started with 6 volt in 2011 on 7 different feeders and have stayed with them. Seem to work fine. Have replaced 3 sets of batteries and one set of solar panels each over the 12 years. It appears the 6 volt batteries and motors are more available then 12 volt, With the benefits defined I'll probably not change in the future.

I prefer the 12v due to the reasons DQ kid mentioned.
I wired a Solar charger to my battery and that kept it charged up.

I run 12v feeders for many reasons, but for me, 12v is the standard when it comes to my hunting gear.

I have game cameras in boxes that all take 12v batteries, I have hog lights that take 12v batteries, so for me, my feeders need to be 12v batteries. I just want one style of charger for all my batteries if needed. Plus if I buy a spare 12v battery, it can be used in all my stuff if needed. If needed I can take my spare ATV battery (I have a spare ATV Battery and a Spare sealed 12v battery) and put it on a feeder/camera/lights, etc if I need to in a emergency and it will keep things working until I get a sealed 12v battery. If needed I can buy two 6v batteries and wire them in series and make a 12v battery (I have never done that because I have a spare 12v). My 12v systems seem to last longer than when I had 6v feeders. Also if I need to charge a battery and I don't have a 12v charger with me, I can simply put jumper cables onto my battery and hook it up to my battery on my travel trailer (plugged in). The trickle charger on the the battery on the trailer will charge the feeder battery up over night.

I have 1 spare 12v motor, all my timers are 12v, etc... Made sense to me.

LarryT, someone may have already addressed, but there is essentially no difference between 6v and 12v TIMERS (many, if not most, are dual voltage)...

Where the difference lies is in 6V and 12V MOTORS - faster spin rate, larger throwing radius, etc.

Switched everything over to 12v with eliminator spinner plates. Much happier than with the 6v. Whatever you do get either one so you don’t have to have double the number of spare parts lying around.

Thanks, My mistake on wording, The Motors was my actual question. Just didn't think about it .
I do appreciate all the info from everyone & will definitely go all 12V.

A motor's rpm and hp is not determined by voltage. You can get, for example, a 1/4hp motor at 1,000rpm in 6v and 12v (arbitrary numbers of course) and they will both do the same amount of work. The only difference is beyond that is, the 12volt motor will consume half the amps that a 6 volt motor will to do the same amount of work. Then when you consider that these motors run for a few seconds a couple times a day, and the difference is pretty much a non-issue.

Now in a practical application and looking at the norm of what's commonly out there for sale, yes, a typical 12v motor you find will have more rpm and hp than the little rc car type 6v motors offered with most cheaper feeders out there today. That's not an apples to apples comparison though. There are 6v motors out there that match the performance of the common 12v motors being sold.


Here, for instance, these motors are very likely to have the same hp and rpm rating, they just have different internal windings and one uses 6v while the other uses 12volts. If the 6 volt motor pulls 5 amps the 12v would pull 2.5amps per Ohm's law. But both do the same amount of work.

https://www.amazon.com/Elusive-Wild...eder+motor&qid=1685548822&sr=8-5

Have been running the same, “On Time” feeders for twenty plus years. They have lifetime warranty, have had to replace one trigger “limit switch” on an analog feeder. Called them, explained what issue was, had a new switch in hand three days later. Only other thing I have done is convert a couple from analog to digital, personal preference as the digital units, well you can set your watch by them. They run on ten double A batteries, so 15 volts, and will run on one set of batteries for 12 months.