Build your own multi-feeder tree

 

    We love setting up feeders for the birds, and watching them through our picture window. As we set up more types of feeders, it became quite a task to find ways to hang them without the squirrels getting at them. Baffles are not always adaptable to various hangers, and it can be quite an expense to purchase baffles for every feeder.
    
    I decided to construct my own feeder tree, using a little ingenuity and about $35 for a trip to Home Depot. I purchased some PVC pipe, some corner pipe, and some T connectors. I brought my materials home and began constructing my feeder tree.

    I cut the PVC to the required lengths according to my design. Realizing that the main vertical PVC pole would not support the weight I would be demanding of it, I hammered a 6 foot steel pole ( which I had lying around) into the ground and slid the vertical PVC pole over it. I then attached a T connector to the top of the pole, attached the corner pipe, another T connector, and then some short pieces of straight pipe extending from those.

    I drilled a hole through each joint and put a screw in each one for strength. I then drilled a hole and the end of each short extension which allowed me to insert a S hook onto each hole. From these S hooks, I can hang my feeders.

    The design (picture) supports four feeders, but I would think with the proper design and support, many more could be added.

    Don't forget to mount a baffle on the tree – you will need it.

    It will be easier to build the top of the feeder tree on the ground, and attach it when complete.

    Shown in the picture: 2 suet cakes, a wood house feeder containing black sunflower seeds, and a peanut feeder. (I buy unsalted shelled peanuts; the woodpeckers and nuthatches love them!)