Developing a custom-designed automatic feeder and storage tank

I’m currently working on a new project aimed at building an automatic feeder system, together with its storage tank, specifically tailored to my own, more demanding needs. The current prototype — a tank made from a 160 mm diameter KG pipe — only holds about ~20 kg of corn. With two feedings a day, in economy mode, this capacity provides roughly a week of operation. This configuration is fine as a mobile "probe" — that is, for scouting out the traffic at a new site beforehand — but it’s no longer enough for longer-term, stable feeding purposes, especially at higher animal densities.

The new system I’m designing is meant to hold 120–140 kg of feed (e.g. corn). With two feedings a day of 2 kg each, this storage unit would allow more than a month of autonomous operation without refilling.

Two alternatives are taking shape for the structural design of the tank:

Version 1 — Traditional tank with a feeder head

The tank consists of three main units:

The top is sealed with two PVC KG end caps (KGM-400), fitted onto a KGEA-400/400*45° PVC KG branch fitting. The 45° branch of this fitting will serve for convenient loading of bagged feed.

The middle section is a PVC KG coupling (KGU-400) connector, followed by a socketed, 1-meter-long KGEM-400 PVC KG pipe, which is likewise closed at the bottom with a KGM-400 end cap.

Mounted onto this end cap is the lower unit — a Eurohunt "Supply Tank for Feeding Machines", fitted with a Eurohunt Evolution automatic feeder head.

This is the starting configuration.

Version 2 — Dual-head system suited to multiple feed types

Given the modular nature of the system, an alternative configuration is also conceivable, in which the lower 400 mm KG end cap has not a single tank mounted on it, but two separate feeder heads:

One unit serves, as usual, for dispensing corn,

while the other is suited to dispensing other pelleted feed (e.g. corn gluten, flaxseed, alfalfa, meadow hay, sugar beet, or pumpkin seed pellets).
With a separate feeder head, even acorns could be dispensed alongside the corn.

The second tank, used for the alternative feed types, is formed as a 160 mm diameter KG pipe nested inside the main 400 mm diameter pipe, closed at the bottom by a KGM-160 end cap and a 45° fitting, which attaches to the upper part of the 45° branch of the 400/400 branch fitting.
This is also where loading will take place.

At the moment, this latter design is the one I favor most.

Once the structure is built, I’ll put together photo documentation of it as well.