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“Satellite Dish” Bird Feeder
“I turned an old 8-ft. fiberglass TV satellite dish into a nice looking bird feeder. It holds 6 feeders which attract a lot of birds,” says Robert Heiman, Ayrshire, Iowa.
  He bought the satellite dish at low cost from a neighbor, then turned the dish upside down and mounted it on a 5-in. dia. steel pipe.
  The dish was originally supported by a steel pipe longer than Heiman needed, and was anchored by a chunk of cement. Heiman used a welding torch to cut out part of the pipe and then welded it back together. He buried the pipe about 4 ft. deep in the ground, which leaves the dish about 7 ft. above ground.
  He welded a 14-in. dia., 1/4-in. thick steel plate to the top of the pipe and drilled matching holes in the plate and dish, then bolted the dish to the plate. “I braced the edges of the dish in 4 places to reinforce the dish to the pipe. I welded brackets onto the pipe, and then bolted on metal braces that extend to the outside of the dish,” says Heiman. “The feeders hang from no. 9 wire which I wrapped around the braces.”
  The feeders are located about 12 in. in from the outside edges of the dish to keep them from getting wet when it rains or snows. “The underside of the dish had small compartments that can collect water, so I drilled small drainage holes in them so the water doesn’t freeze during winter and cause problems,” notes Heiman.
  Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Robert Heiman, 1302 South St., Ayrshire, Iowa 50515 (ph 712 922-9686).


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2020 - Volume #44, Issue #4