The winter water tank

If you recall, I mentioned that Ted was going to build me an insulated water tank for the winter. 

He got it done just before this cold snap hit, and I am sure grateful to have it!

In typical Ted fashion, it took him a while to complete the job because he was being meticulous and planning carefully. 

Basically it is a white plastic 45 gallon drum (purchased from the car wash and thoroughly cleaned to remove any soap residue) laid on it's side, on a base of 2x3 lumber with insulation between the lumber, and insulated with blue board all the way around it. For the drinking hole, he utilized the plastic where he made the cut as 2 of the sides, and added 2 more plastic pieces for the other 2 sides.

They are flex-taped on the underside to prevent leakage. (Flex tape really does work! It get's a thumbs up from Ted!) The plywood top is covered with a sheet of aluminum and the edges of the hole which were folded over are siliconed to prevent any sharp spots. Then he added wooden strips along the top to hide and protect where the tin was fastened. 

Guess who had to be the first to try it out! It has no sharp spots to injure nosy horses.

It is also up off the ground so that ground frost won't affect it. 

So far, it is working well; it has less ice than the other water tubs; the opening is plenty big for mature horses to drink from ( it's 15 inches square) and I can get my sieve in there to scoop out the ice I break. 

The cost to build it came in around $60. We used as much free material as we could; to buy all the supplies new we would have to add another $250 due to the current high cost of lumber, plywood and aluminum.