Terry,
I like to do it differently than I did it this year. I like to keep corn in all the feeders year round and just turn down the duration and adjust the amount of corn by raising the timer closer to the feeder. During hunting season or really about a month before I set the to about 5 or 6 seconds per feeding and I set the timer as low as possible without spilling corn so it will throw as much as possible. I think this helps in keeping them acustomed to coming around a bit. This year I filled the feeders up around the first of October and they still have corn in them. I have 2 Kenco galvanized feeders and the one 55 gallon drum. In the homemade one I cut a 2 1/2 inch diameter hole in the side of the barrel about 3 inches from the bottom and siliconed and riveted a piece of clear plastic to cover the hole so you can monitor the corn level. The hole is still showing all yellow so I guess I still have corn. Thee legs of all the feeders are pretty long I dont know how long but I'm '5 9" and I have to reach over my head to set the timers. I have used a ladder to fill feeders before but I've also had the ladder and the empty feeder fall while I was on it with a sack of corn. Now I fill the front end loader of the tractor up with all the corn sacks I can fit in it and raise the bucket to the top of the feeder and then lean the ladder against the bucket, climb it and fill the feeder that way its a lot easier than climbing a ladder with a sack on your shoulder like I did for years. I dont have any cattle on the place so its easy to drive right up to the feeder without having to open up a feeder pen or move fence out of the way. Where are you that its that cold? Its in the 60's today here in Texas and I dont expect to change batteries for a long time. I use rechargeable batteries and solar chargers. They seem to work well and I'm happy with them.