It's kinda nice that December is starting off mild. Since I am not using stock tank heaters at this point, I don't have to deal with a lot of ice on the water tanks yet. I have been trying the salt water bottles with limited success.
I have been using pop bottles, I think they are tougher plastic than the milk jugs. I started putting them in before it got to freezing hard because I wanted to see if a certain little busy body would think they were toys and try to grab them out and play with them. But to my surprise he didn't.
I was visiting a friend and here is what her winter set up looks like:
The tank is inside one box and surrounded by styrofoam, and then a larger box built around that with spray in insulation. You can't do a spray insulation around the stock tank itself because you need to be able to remove it to clean it. She does have an electric heater in hers, and this set up would probably reduce the amount of electricity needed to keep the water at the temperature of the thermostat on the tank heater.
Ted picked up some plywood to start this project, hopefully he will get to it soon. He has a few other things on his agenda right now. We have a friend with a portable sawmill and they have been busy falling danger trees at a friends place as well as a few trees here to be cut up for lumber. We will get some of the lumber for a few projects.
I rode Gussie down to where they felled the danger trees- check out the size of these cottonwoods.
They have been cut into 16 ft. lengths. That should be some nice lumber!
Riding day 55
9 comments:
That is one noce looking insulated stock tank! When we had horses we would carry 5 gallons buckets three times a day to them. I was younger then and could carry two at a time up a hill and snowy trail:)
Far Side- I have done my time carrying buckets and chopping ice holes.... the worst was dealing with 100 feet of hose and having to drain it after every use. Now I look for simple and easy ways to do things. Sadly, that means using electricity. I am trying hard to limit how much electricity I use at the barn because it goes on someone else's bill and we don't know how much we are contributing to their cost.
I have a stock tank heater and it works great. I’ve heard mixed things about the salt water bottle but it likely depends on the temperatures. I think the combination of insulation and bottles should work.
That’s what the barn is built out of.
luvmyhrs- it is one heck of a stout barn. Cottonwood is considered a hardwood. There is very little wear on those floorboards.
That is one nicely winterized tank!! Your herd will no doubt appreciate and benefit from it. When trying to save on electricity, my mind always thinks about potentially using solar energy - even at the basic level (ex. dark colors). Location matters too. Not horse friendly, and expensive unless a person figures out alternative builds. Just thinking out loud. We've done buckets & chopping ice = not fun. With that set-up electric heater costs will be much lower than a wide open tank.
I was looking at solar too but couldn't find a viable option. The best one I found was a concrete tank but it requires a gravity fed water system which we don't have. And I found this site http://www.hydrogenappliances.com/stocktankheater.html
which is all about battery powered tank heaters. Kind of expensive given the cost of batteries though, I might as well just pay the neighbours for electricity for December to March.
Yea, I wouldn't do batteries either. We did solar panel fencing at our old "family farm" because the electricity was payed by my BIL. The panel worked great, until it didn't.
I did a quick "DIY Solar Stock Tank" search and found a couple links with ideas that make sense. You probably found same/similar. The first link is interesting, see Steve Tank. What you are already planning on doing is part of it. No doubt Ted will build a great insulated tank holder!!
https://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/WaterHeating/SolarHorseTank/SolarHorseTank.htm
https://www.motherearthnews.com/diy/tools/solar-stock-tank-zmaz10onzraw
Looking at Steve's tank- this made me laugh- "Ruggedness is essential, because horses are like little bulldozers with teeth."
Post a Comment