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Keeping feeders from sliding/falling when hung on a line (1 Viewer)

tedmielczarek

New member
Hi there,

In the course of battling both black bears and squirrels over the years I wound up stringing wire rope between two trees in my yard 15 feet off the ground, with a pulley on one end so I can lower it to refill the feeders. This has mostly kept the bears at bay, although the squirrels are still a bit of a problem (it's actually pretty impressive to watch the acrobatic feats they will perform to get to the feeders).

One thing I haven't found a good solution to is keeping feeders from sliding around or even falling off when hung from a wire like this. When raising and lowering the line with the pulley it dips quite a bit and they tend to slide towards the low point. Additionally the squirrels sometimes knock the feeders off the line (I can't tell if it's intentional or accidental). I've also found feeders on the ground in the morning, which I suspect is due to a bear climbing the tree and pawing at the line until something falls. I've tried attaching blobs of Sugru to the line at a few places to act as stops and that works reasonably well, although it doesn't hold up to the weather as well as I had hoped so it does eventually crumble and fall off. I've also tried replacing the hooks that the feeders come with using a variety of things but I have yet to find something that actually works well.

Does anyone have suggestions for something they've used in this situation that has worked well for them? Attached are a few photos of my current setup.
 

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Assuming this wire rope is not easily tied into knots where you could tie a loop at specific intervals to latch a feeder onto, what about trying to line your hook or attachment point w rubber band wrapped around it so there is a bit more friction and less sliding around? My thought is that if you go around the hardware store enough there is probably some tool or attachment that you can slide onto the wire rope and tighten it so it doesn’t move.
 
Doubling up a couple of clothes pegs/pins on the low side? Maybe gripping onto a bit of fabric/rubber/rubber band if you need more friction.
 
Assuming this wire rope is not easily tied into knots where you could tie a loop at specific intervals to latch a feeder onto, what about trying to line your hook or attachment point w rubber band wrapped around it so there is a bit more friction and less sliding around? My thought is that if you go around the hardware store enough there is probably some tool or attachment that you can slide onto the wire rope and tighten it so it doesn’t move.

Wire rope is definitely not easy to tie, although I am thinking about replacing it with monofilament fishing line since the squirrels will not be able to walk on that. If I do that tying some loops into it sounds like a good idea!

I have tried wrapping rubber bands around the hooks in the past but they didn't hold up very well to the weather. After a few weeks they'd just crumble apart.

I have looked for wire rope accessories in various places but I couldn't find anything useful. It might be that such a thing exists but I don't know the right terms for what I need!

Thanks for the suggestions!
 
These should do the trick - I’m sure they’re readily available in the US

https://www.absoluteindustrial.co.u...MI77XW84_p4QIVLLHtCh2UbAj3EAQYCiABEgJ2GfD_BwE

Yes, those are exactly the sort of thing I was going to suggest. Commonly and inexpensively available in hardware stores and, for the perfectionist, if rusting is encountered (due to electrolysis between the different metals), stainless steel versions are available in marine supply stores- or online of course.
 
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