Auto Waterers and Hose Woes...

[SouthernYankee]

I dislike the tank type auto waterers where the hose attaches to the hydrant for multiple reasons…

But I find myself needing to use them this summer. The horses don’t drink much water so their tank is working ok. But the cows are drinking huge amounts of water and in order to have a tank big enough to last 24 hours the calves can’t reach over the sides of the tank to drink. So over the weekend we tried hooking an auto waterer to a smaller tank and just leaving it on. It works perfectly, the water is staying cleaner, and the calves can easily get to it. Sounds like a win-win right?

Nope, the super duty industrial farm hoses can’t handle the constant pressure and has blown a hole. So we tried hooking other hoses together, they are leaking at various points. It’s about 100’ between the hydrant and the tank.

Can anyone recommend options? Do you have a ‘magical’ water hose that can hold up to the pressure? Right now we are filling up 2 tanks daily, and that works but we are going out of town for the weekend and really need more than 24 hours of water available. People will be coming to check on the farm but I don’t trust them with the water (have had issues in the past).

[gumtree]

Don’t know what kind of hoses you are using I have never had any blow out and or leak due to water pressure. Unless of course the hose got damaged from being driven over too many times and or a horse with shoes. Until I finally bit the bullet and trenched and buried 1800 feet of water lines I used the heavy duty real rubber horses made by Goodyear.

You must have higher than average water pressure. The “average” residential water pressure is around 30-45 psi. If you have a well you could try setting the pressure switch lower. Or buy a water pressure relieve valve that you can attach to the source set the desired pressure and hook the hose to it. Or just don’t open the source valve, handle all the way.

If the hose is pretty much a “permanent fixture” replace it with ¾ inch Black Poly pipe and attach male and female ends. It doesn’t bend very much so for a “finished look” and for it to lay flat buy 2 elbow joints to make the right-angle bend to the water source and the tank. 100’ of ¾ Black Poly cost around $50 around here. It will not lay very flat when first uncoiled but will “relax” after the heat of the sun has its effect.

[kdreger]

Buy a hose from Sears, lifetime guarantee and better then the farm or industrial hoses we have tried. Still using some that are 18 years old…
Also you can PVC plumb it pretty easily also.

[SouthernYankee]

Thanks for the suggestions, I can return the problem hoses but didn’t want to exchange them for something that was going to have issues again. They aren’t abused, driven over, stepped on, kinked, etc. And typically haven’t been left with any pressure on them for an extended period of time.

This is the hose we have, that has lasted less than a year.

We patched the hose above last night and now it’s leaking around the male end fitting, between the threads and metal sleeve… I guess we will try to replace that part tonight.

Permanently we will be digging lines and adding hydrants to all the pastures but the farm is a work in progress and there are other higher priorities to be done. We bought property in the county and have had to do everything to set it up for livestock. Everything was fine when the horses and cows could be out together, but the horses took too much interest in the calves so we had to separate them for now.

Laying pipe semi-permanently is not an option as we are running water off the house, across the front yard, to the pasture. We still need to be able to mow. We are on city water, the wells don’t have a pump/electricity to them so unfortunately they are just sitting there.

[Bluey]

One warning of keeping cattle with horses.
As you found out, some horses find cattle toys very amusing, not fair to the cattle.

Also, cattle can be very, very mouthy.
Young cattle can eat a horse’s tail overnight, may even happen across a fence.

We have large tanks plumbed with automatic valves for all, horses and cattle, because the small tanks, easier as they are to keep clean, if the well quits, you are right away out of water and it is an emergency.

We used to have a smallish portable tank with one of those hose floats and never had a problem with any hose leaking, even cheap garden hoses?
BUT, we didn’t have to run 100’.
I wonder, would they leak less if you have four 25’ lengths than one 100’, if that is what you have now?
Our pressure tank is set at 40 psi.

[airhorse]

GatorHyde hose…

http://www.factorydirecthose.com/drinkingsafegardenhose

[gumtree]

I like Sears products but that hose would not be the hose of choice for what you are using it for. No-Kink hoses by large don’t kink but they are synthetic and don’t stand the test of time. They are a lot more expensive also. I have two that are only a couple of years old and are showing wear and tear, have cracked from being stepped on and starting to leak.

I have a number of these; http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-Premium-5-8-in-Dia-x-50-ft-Commercial-Grade-Rubber-Black-Water-Hose-20258074/100676339

That have stood the test of time. Some are going on 10 years. The end fittings are VERY well made with a “built in” casket. Some developed a “bubble” from being stepped on and had to be spliced but that was after years of use and abuse. No complaints and nothing but praise.

They are heavy but worth their weight. I broke down and bought a well made hose reel on wheels. Worth the money. But the cheap ones are NOT.

If your leaks are between the fittings not the hose itself. The gaskets have gone bad. They do wear out with time. Especially the cheap ones. Spend a little extra money and buy quality rubber ones.

[FLeventer]

Is there anyway you can turn the pressure down on the hydrant? I had to turn mine down because I was blowing hoses as well. I had a spigot attached to do so.

I have a medium duty hose that runs about 70’ to my pasture. The cows and the horses share a large stock tank through the fence. We only have 12 head of cattle but they drained the tank without the auto filler so I understand. The tank filled slower, but they were never without water.

[Tom_King]

GatorHyde hose.

[hosspuller]

The problem may NOT be your hoses. I ran into a similar problem in a factory.

We were bursting metal piping. The source of the problem was physics. A moving mass wants to continue moving. The mass was the water traveling in the pipe/hose. When the valve at the end of the line closed, the moving coluum of water suddenly ran into a block. The pressure at the end of the line spiked momentarily. After X number of cycles, the pipe burst.

In your case the leaking male end is at the end of the line … at the valve … right ??

A good quality hose makes the problem worse. The reinforcing fibers makes the hose resist expanding with pressure. A cheap hose at the end may be the least expensive solution. It will expand with the pressure spike and absorb it.

Slow closing valves and/or air bladders will also mitigate pressure spikes.

[SouthernYankee]

Update- We got a new commercial duty 500 psi guaranteed to last forever hose yesterday… got everything hooked up, hand tightened, and slowly turned the water on… brand stinking hose leaks at the female fitting end… even when the water is not on all the way.

Took it back and exchanged it today, will see how the replacement lasts.

It wouldn’t be a big deal other than we are going out of town for 5 days and need to have this working so the neighbors only have to put eyes on the cows & horses. Their responsibility is minimal…

Disclaimer- we have enough grass that we don’t have to feed anything in the summer. I’m not starving my horses and 2 of the 4 will be going with us this weekend. I do not like to take shortcuts with my livestock keeping but when the farm is going to be left unattended then we need to make it as easy as possible for the people checking on things.

[SouthernYankee]

Internet hiccup- double post

[gumtree]

[QUOTE=hosspuller;8157046]
The problem may NOT be your hoses. I ran into a similar problem in a factory.

We were bursting metal piping. The source of the problem was physics. A moving mass wants to continue moving. The mass was the water traveling in the pipe/hose. When the valve at the end of the line closed, the moving coluum of water suddenly ran into a block. The pressure at the end of the line spiked momentarily. After X number of cycles, the pipe burst.

In your case the leaking male end is at the end of the line … at the valve … right ??

A good quality hose makes the problem worse. The reinforcing fibers makes the hose resist expanding with pressure. A cheap hose at the end may be the least expensive solution. It will expand with the pressure spike and absorb it.

Slow closing valves and/or air bladders will also mitigate pressure spikes.[/QUOTE]

IME I don’t entirely agree. The term for what you are talking about is called “water hammer”. Yes a cheap hose will expand a bit more then a high quality “synthetic” hose. But depending on the amount of “cycling”, off and on, which happens a lot with the tank mounted “auto filler” cheap hoses will split.

The rubber hose I linked to has a lot more ability to expand and contract. Especially with long runs. They have frozen solid a number of times and have never split.

Home/farms that get their water supply from the “street” can have water pressure as high as 80 psi and depending on the distance from the pumping station over 90 psi. This can cause a lot of problems with house plumbing let alone a hose. A water pressure regulator placed where the supply line enters will fixes things.