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- Verified Buyer
I have lots of birds and have used a traditional tray-bottomed feeder for decades thinking that was necessary to accommodate them all. The feeders hung from an iron arm off the side of the house in sight of the kitchen window. Even with a baffle above, the squirrels had no problem accessing by jumping from the house. Finally got tired of chasing them off when I noticed them and refilling so often, so I started bringing the feeder inside the sun-room overnight. (Much of the theft occurred early morning). The buggers saw the feeder inside and chewed thru a window screen to get at it. My wife was really surprised to see it in there when she got up! The next night I hid it in the sun-room and the same thing happened to a different screen. The 3rd night I moved it into the house and it chewed thru the newly repaired screen! Finally decided to get a squirrel-proof feeder and after much research bought the Legacy. Couldn't be happier. The birds love it and all the familiar ones returned, including both sexes of Cardinals. Only issue is some bullying over turns on the 4 perches. The squirrel pack leader tried his hand but gave up after a couple of minutes. I guess he spread the word and they don't even try anymore. PS. dropped it a couple of times on my composite stairs and slightly bent the screen cylinder. Called Brome to order a replacement part and they agreed to send a new part free of charge. What's not to like?I have had this feeder for two plus years and it’s still in great shape- no rust at all. Last year, a neighbor’s large tree branch fell on our roof and part of it snapped off, flipped, and landed on our wrought iron Shepard’s hook that held our feeders. The hook was destroyed, bent in half, but this feeder didn’t even sustain a dent. It is kept out all year (we live in cold Chicagoland) and never an issue, until recently- the metal tube gets stuck in the down position. I’ve tried lubricating the mechanism to no avail. I plan on contacting the manufacturer- as they support their products. I just can’t see how you can go wrong with this feeder-every bird eats from it.I'm a pretty hyper-critical person that picks apart every product I find. However, this product is extremely well-made. The mechanism and its housing, the shroud itself, and the hook that goes into the top of it and smaller shroud piece that covers the connection between the two are all made expertly. The pamphlets that are sent with the feeder are even high-quality. They're not just thin paper but like full on plastic-coated pamphlets that will last forever. And there's a bird identification page which helps you to identify the birds that visit your feeder.I have not had birds visit the feeder. Nor have I witnessed how a squirrel interacts with it. This is a review based on the build quality. However, I would come back to this and change my review if those qualities in the product end up lacking. So if it remains a 5 star review, you can assume that it excels in pretty much every way. If not, I will definitely come back and make it known.Happy shopping, and happy bird watching :)Finally found some truly squirrel-proof feeders that don't cost $100+ like the Droll Yankee ones do. I picked up 2 of these a few weeks ago just to test them out, and they are outstanding. Funny as hell watching the squirrels spend a few days trying their best - eventually, they just give up, haven't seen a tree rat on the deck in over 10 days. Highly recommended - buying 4 more.I don't mind squirrels at all, they are great to watch all season long. But I don't buy premium seed to feed them, I do so to attract the picky birds that tend to visit a lot more when u put out the good stuff (indigo buntings, rose-breasted grosbeaks, red tanagers, cardinals, etc. Been fighting a losing battle for 20+ years before picking these up. Should have bought them a LONG time ago.Finally arrived but is good quality and looking forward to trying it!We started with the mini version of this one, and liked it for the most part, so decided to get this larger version. The neighborhood birds are enjoying their free buffet and our two indoor cats are enjoying their favorite "Cat TV" from the backyard sliding glass door. Minus 1 star because the unit we got was slightly dented on the outside (probably damaged from shipping, as it was shipped directly in the original box and did not have any additional protection) despite that the box was otherwise fine. The ventilation holes at the bottom are good but unfortunately some of the smaller seeds do fall out from the ventilation holes periodically. Overall easy to set up and fill with seeds. Can't say if it's good against squirrels as so far we haven't seen any squirrels attempt to steal any seeds yet.This worked pretty good on the squirrels. They would still climb on it all the time but couldn't really get much seed from it. However, the local raccoons have figured out how to remove the feeder from the hanging pole. They've taken it off a few times and eaten all the seed overnight. Tonight the feeder is just gone. Searched the whole yard. They must have dragged it off somewhere. It would be good if there was some way to better secure the sliding hangy pole thing to the body so it can't be lifted up by animals with nimble fingers.This is a nice solid product that does what it says it does. My only regret is not buying the larger Squirrel Buster Plus. I have to refill this feeder once a day. (Same as my older feeder which held 4 times as much seed - I was feeding the squirrels much more that the birds). These units definitely pay for themselves in bird seed savings. Very clever design! The design and construction of the feeder is significantly better than alternative products I could find at local retailers.It is a good product , but you have to use certain bird seed because the squirrels can jump on it and some of the feed drops down. But I think the problem is it not the 18 inches away from a wooden post, but I will have to observe how and what type of squirrel grey, black or red. I do have a suet and a larger bird feeder from the Brome company and I can attest those are squirrel proof because I have seen squirrels try and have not success trying to get the bird feed.
