Belle Fleur 50351 Bird Feeder Station, Four Hook Design

 (7 customer reviews)

I reviewed many different feeding stations and decided to try this one. I followed all instructions carefully, including watering the lawn to soften it before pounding in the ground stake. I used the rubber cap that came with the station, but even following all the instructions, pounding the ground stake in caused the pipe pieces (at the joints) to "flare out". The ground was soft enough that it took very few times hitting it with a mallet to get the fins to ground level. But the damage was already done. The flaring was bad enough that the threaded ends didn't want to support the weight of the rest of the feeder (it was trying to lean only at that joint because the threads would not hold). I went to the hardware store and bought some wooden dowels to insert into the pole that solved the problem completely. The manufacturer should consider using stronger metal with longer threaded sections -- or perhaps just stronger threaded sections.

I also wish the hanger arms were...Read more

First what I like. It's a very nice pole for the price. Exactly what we were looking for without spending a huge amount. Many other poles on Amazon cost 2-3 times as much. We've spent that much before just to see them rust out or break, so even if the Bella gets us one or two years, that's fine. The adjustable arms are a decent size for most small-medium feeders and the threaded sections make it easy and inexpensive to ship.

HOWEVER, as the other reviewer noted, the threaded sections also are the achilles heel. I would suggest 4 things if you want to avoid the "flare out" pounding problem. 1.) Make sure of your location to avoid putting it into the ground more than once 2.) use a wood block to sit on top of the stake fins and pound it most of the way in, then use the pounding cap only for the last inch or two 3.) check it with a level for plumb about halfway in then finish and 4.) make sure you soften the ground by watering the area thoroughly beforehand. Don't try and...Read more

Just follow the directions from the other reviewers and you'll be fine. I got lucky because I installed the pole when the ground was very soft, but if it had been harder, I'm sure I would have wrecked the pipe. The pole looks nice and holds my 2 feeders nicely. I did not use one of the arms, so I left it off, which is a nice option. I would say this pole might be a little lightweight for a big feeder. If you have one of those big platform feeders, a stand alone might be better.