Yard Butler No-Dig Mole and Gopher Bait Applicator, Standard

I am so excited the gophers are gone (for now). I know new ones will come but when that happens I'll be ready. Some history: I had pocket gophers destroying one of my garden beds, digging underneath and eating the roots of the plants from below, then emerging on the surface at night to eat the plants from the top, completely destroyed my plants. I tried other methods like smoke bombs and traps not wanting to use poison. But after the bed was completely decimated, I finally broke down and purchased this Yard Butler Gopher Bait Applicator and the Go Die gopher bait (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07L3MPCL1/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) to make sure I do the job right. Using this applicator, I was able to poke around the mounds until I found the den. It was over 2 feet down and huge! I made sure I dispense plenty of the bait. Then I dug open several of the surface tunnels. If the gophers are alive, they will usually repair the damage the very next day. Well, it's been a week they are as I left them. There is no more gopher activity. I have even replanted the bed... and so far, so good. Additionally, I feel good about delivering the poisonous bait so deep in the ground that the bait pellets themselves and the dead poisoned gophers cannot be accidentally be eaten by other animals, or come to the surface when I put plants down. I have to say that this applicator in combination with the bait was SUPERBLY effective. This applicator seems like it will be around as long as me. And I have bait for years in case a new family of gophers decides to take up residence in my beds again. Looking back, I should have done this sooner. I might have been able to save some of the garden before it was destroyed. TLDR: I highly recommend this applicator and get some Go Die bait while you're at it. Sometimes you need to just spend some money to make sure you're getting effective tools for the job at hand!

This was my second purchase of a yard Butler bait applicator. My first one was stolen off my front porch. The Gophers moved in and I ordered a beautiful stainless steel bait applicator. When it arrived I was impressed with the beautiful craftsmanship but when I went to use it I found that it was way too short and two large and diameter. I was not able to force it into the lawn except with very great effort. I returned that one and was careful to order another yard Butler version. This unit is so much easier to use that it's almost fun. I've enclosed pictures of this unit and the beautiful, but useless (for me) stainless steel unit that I returned so you can see the difference in length and shaft diameter. The butler surpasses the stainless steel version and every regard except, perhaps beauty. But this is a gardening tool not a beauty contest. Even the capacity of the bait holder appears to be larger.

The reviews are correct- this applicator functions as indicated, and applies bait/poison into subterranean pest areas. The sliding door at the tip does get clogged with soil, and requires clearing out occasionally. For the price, this is a worthwhile tool

It arrived quickly and is very easy to use. I have had a big gopher problem in my yard and did not want to dig up my lawn and flower beds to set traps. We did not have any success with the Gopher Hawk and my yard was getting destroyed. You have to be patient and persistent in locating the tunnel and a good spot to apply the bait. For me it was a lot of trial and error but YouTube videos were helpful for this. I have used both Bonide gopher tox and Monterey Go Die gopher bait separately to treat different areas. The Monterey seems to be working better but is pricy for what you get.

I really like this tool. Been struggling with moles for years! purchased well over $100 in various traps, multiple gas type products (exhaust and the smoke bombs). I've tried the sonic repellents, as well as sprays and powders. Heck I even tried a home made version of the rodentator (search for the video). I just could never get correct gas mixture for my device work. At $2,000 for the rodentator I was tempted. My mole problem was so bad I had to purchase a lawn roller to flatten down the tunnels. I think my neighbor breeds the things. It finally looks like my mole problems are going away. This is a very easy product to use. The mole poison I use has very small pellets. It works very well with this tool. Moles love worms, so when I use poison and traps I add a little nightcrawler fish attractant. I believe the moles smell the fish attractant and move in and eat the bait better than bait alone. Punch a hole, use the crank to drop the pellets, and then add a bit of the fish attractant. The tool allows me to get into tunnels that are tough to reach (like my neighbors bushes) on the property line. The only downside, is I can't watch the dirty buggers die. My favorite product was the gas type products. They never killed anything I knew about, but I sure felt good about lighting the fuse and watching the smoke thinking the mole problem will finally be done. Traps were always hit or miss. You need a bunch of them to cover any space. You never really know what runs they will return to. With a good amount of poison (on my third 1 LB bottle) you can hit a lot of places pretty quickly. Have not seen new tunnels in my yard for a few days. Finally!!!!

Don’t make the mistake like I did and leave it outside in the rain. The tube and box that hold the bait became solid. I’ve tried everything but it still barley distributes the bait and you can’t take it apart to clean. Otherwise it worked like it should before getting wet.

OH YOU GUYS. I was literally loosing my mind and sleep over this gopher issue we were having in our yard. This is the firs time I've ever had to deal with them. I was trying to play nice, but they are waaaay too smart and I lost my patience every time a huge mound would appear. I tried gassing them, flooding them, then put down some traps, and was completely unsuccessful. A bigger mound kept appearing every time I tried SOMETHING. It was almost like they were were saying, "TRY ME AGAIN LADY!". So, I bought this mechanism with the "Amdro Mole & Gopher Bait". I agree with others that filling the bait was a bit tricky. I wore gloves the entire time, and carefully deposited the bait into the mechanism, and have to maneuver my way onto get the lid bad one, without opening the doorway and allow bait to fall out in the garage. We have pets so I laid down a tarp to capture any fall out (and there were definitely some). The first time I dropped some bait down, and followed the instructions with turning the lever twice. But we saw a mound the following morning, though it was much smaller. Then I just dropped about 5-6 punctures along a "hallway", if you will, along their tunnel and instead of turning the lever twice, I probably disposed a good load down there (this was my last shot!!!) And remained patient... the next morning.. NO MORE MOUND. YOU GUYS WORKED!!!! It was well worth the money. I kinda wanted to meet the sucker eye to eye, but am just overjoyed that it's gone!!!! My peace has been restored! Try me again, gophers!!!

Good applicator. Gets the bait to where it is needed. The open and close mechanism keeps dirt out of the chamber while allowing the bait to release underground.

Very strong, dependable, easily penetrates the ground, easy to tell when you've hit a burrow or nest. Takes a bit of time to learn where to poke to find the underground nests. Highly recommended.

Haven't used it yet, but is strong and will make setting bait much safer for my animals.

Simple, effective. Services our 15 acres... so far so good.

Dose what it was needed for

Got tired of trying to keep up with the traps for the miserable pocket gophers at the lake. I don't like to use surface poison because it kills everything. This unit puts the poison where it needs to be.....underground. Doesn't always work. Sometimes the vermin miss it and dig around it but still way easier then excavating a ton of dirt to set 20 traps. My only complaint is the little wire handle that agitates the seed and rotates the drop mechanism....it's a little flimsy. Otherwise I'd have given it 5 stars.