Would like to hear your experiences or thoughts about these please!
Have water lines already in place but no power (100 acres…its not happening) so I thought these looked like a good solution.
Thanks!
I have seen these advertised around here (Kansas) as well, and as we are going to be setting up for horses this spring, would like to know if anybody has any experience to share. Hopefully this will ‘bump’ the thread and we’ll both get some answers Sisu.
I have one drinking post, and three bar bar A’s. I prefer the bar bar A waterers hands down. The drinking posts are good as they are tall, but the paddle is hard for the horses to push. It can take a horse longer to figure out how to use it. Also, if you do have a problem with them you have to dig them out to repair. We dug one up, and put in a bar bar A in its place. If you have a mini or small pony they cannot reach them. the paddles also break, and need replacing from time to time. Now we have had one drinking post here for 5 years with very little issues.
The bar bar A’s are low to the ground and need to be put in an area where they can remain manure free. I would not recommend putting one in a run in shed for instance. I have had horses put there feet in them and play, and that is fixed with a plastic barrel cut out and installed around it. you do need to clean a filter in them, and I do that about every 12 months, my husband helps. they require more work to install them, but you can access any issues with out digging it up. BOTH of the auto waters require hot water at times poured into the bowl to clear out any ice that accumulates from heavy snow and very cold temps. I only have two horses in each field per waterer and I think if they were used more often than that it might not be needed. All in all, I love my bar bar A’s. the drinking posts are also nice…but I would recommend the other. look into both before deciding.
Hi,
My name is Mike Stradiot, I work directly with Drinking Post Waterer. I came across this post by accident and wanted to correct some mis-information.
You can in fact easily remove and re-install Drinking Post Waterers without having to dig anything out. Historically this may not have always been the case. Beginning in June of 2010, all Drinking Post Waterers have included a new component that made easily removing and reinstalling the post possible.
So, for clarification, ALL Drinking Posts manufactured and sold from June 2010 forward have included a component to ensure there is never any need to dig any dirt when performing maintenance on a Drinking Post.
ALL posts manufactured before June 2010 can easily be retro-fitted with this new component, if desired.
You can reference step-by-step instructions on how to remove a post here:
http://www.dpwaterer.com/index.cfm/resources/waterer-parts-replacement-instructions/horse-waterer-removal/
As you can see, it is incredibly simple to remove a post for maintenance.
In addition, within the past six months we have more than tripled the thickness of our paddles to help ensure they last as long as possible.
Please feel free to contact Drinking Post directly if we can provide any further clarification.
Thank you all for your time!
Best regards,
Mike Stradiot
Drinking Post Waterer
mike@dpwaterer.com
303-482-1642
4 Likes
I have a drinking post and have had nothing but good luck with it. The DPwaterer can be installed at any height, if you wanted it four feet out of the ground or 4 inches it doesn’t matter, just buy the appropriate length and dig the hole the correct depth. We installed our first one at about 30" for our horses, but our second at only 12" to make it easier for small calves to use.
2 Likes
Frustrated
My old Behlen automatic waterer finally gave out. Too many parts to fix or replace. I chose to replace it with the Drinking Post waterer because it was affordable, no electricity is required and there is minimal cleaning. It’s been in since Thanksgiving but my horse and mule will not drink out of it. They come up to it when they are thirsty, lick the inside of the bowl and walk away. I’ve led them up to it, pressed the paddle, splashed water around and even let them take a sip but they cannot figure out how push the paddle. I think it requires a lot more pressure than they realize. I hope they eventually figure it out. I’ll fiddle with the paddle and try to make it easier to push to see if that helps. If anyone has any other tips or experience with this waterer I’d love to hear it.
We had similar difficulties. I did some internet searching and discovered that the post has two types of paddles shipped with it. We had the person that we hired to run the water line install the Drinking Post, so I did not realize there was an alternate paddle. Ours had either been lost or not shipped so we called the company. They sent a training paddle and The alternate, wider paddle right away with no charge. One horse saw us installing the training paddle and came over to investigate and was able to push the training paddle easily and drank right away! I have not seen our other horse use it yet, but he is not interested in water when we have offered it so he must have figured it out as well. It’s been less than a week, so we are still using the training paddle and will switch to the wider paddle eventually. The drawback to the training paddle is that it takes a lot of space, leaving less room for them to stick their mouth in the water. Contact the company, they have great customer service.
I’m looking at having one of these installed in our paddock next week. Anyone with updates on their experience? I have four horses who will be using one post. Also – any issues with the horses breaking the post by kicking or rubbing on it? I can have a fence built around it if necessary. Thanks!
A friend installed one in her home paddock for 4 horses 3 years ago as a trial.
They loved them so much the next year they installed them in all the paddocks (6) at their boarding facility.
They did find two ponies could not reach them very well, so had to build up the ground around the base in the pony paddock…just something to keep in mind!
1 Like
I also have the Bar Bar A and love it.
We also have the BarBarA in 3 places - have been very happy with them.
My horse is boarded at a farm with them and I’ve been nothing but pleased. To the point where I bought one myself when setting up my own farm. Yes sometimes the horses break the paddle, but it’s a very easy 5min fix. A couple times the bowl froze because dirt had gotten trapped in there and slowed draining. Also a very easy clean out and fix. My horse kicks at it while drinking and it’s holding up just fine.
I LOVE my drinking post!! Think about all of the stress related to water for your horse, now imagine that gone. No more worrying about whether your horse has water, cleaning buckets or troughs, dumping toughs that could be a breeding ground for algae and mosquitoes, filling buckets, de-icing them, worrying about heated water buckets getting unplugged, etc. I love the fact that it does’t require electricity and cleaning. It was easy to install - my well guy hooked it up easily and with no prior experience. It was easy to trouble-shoot. Customer service with the company was excellent. When extreme cold weather hit, I had a problem with it leaking. I called the company who talked me through how to fix it and I (with no plumbing where-with-all) fixed it in 30 seconds. A screw had broken off in the paddle and he sent me a new one ASAP. I was very worried that my horse wouldn’t figure out how to use it. The key is to 1. introduce them to it and you depress the paddle so that they get used to the sound and know it is where water comes out and 2. use the training paddle. I didn’t use the training paddle and my horse wasn’t using the waterer. The second I put on the training paddle and dribbled molasses in the bowl he got it IMMEDIATELY. The waterer is outside (under a barn overhang). When I stable my horse overnight in a stall I use a bucket. I’ve seen him come out of the stall and go to the drinking post rather than drink out of his bucket, he likes it that much. Honestly, I don’t know why all horse people don’t have one.
We installed a DP in Oct.'19, when it works it’s great. We are in southern Ontario and when the temps get below minus 10 C it freezes up. Spoke with the DP people and they had me loosen the screws that hold down the paddle to allow for the expansion and contraction of the dissimilar materials. I have come out in the morning and found ice build up down the outside of the post from it running contantly, I have had it frozen solid, the latest was it was frozen and the horses broke the paddle so $40 to replace. As much as I love it when it works I can’t recommend it.
How do these work in a big field with multiple horses (5-6)? Some of the bossy horses can guard water and make it harder for the others to drink; less of a problem with a big 150gal tank or a 20gal auto waterer where 2 or 3 horses can drink simultaneously. With the small drinking post, do you have to have several of them installed to ensure plenty of opportunity for all horses?
I looked at these for my farm but with horses coming and going I had concerns about new horses figuring out the paddle. Instead, I am going with the Mirafounts for the pastures because they do not require electricity, do not freeze, and are a closed waterer design so they stay clean and algae-free (but can move the “ball” to train new horses to the waterer). My friend operates a large boarding barn and has been using them for years. She has been pleased with the durability, reliability, and low maintenance design.
I’ve seen a few situations in large group turn out and thus doesn’t seem to be an issue. In those cases the post just happened to be placed far from the hay bale so no one was really hanging around. Both cases were close to gates though and it was still not an issue.
@luvmypup, does your barn have the Drinking Post or the Bar Bar A waterers? I am in southern Ontario as well, looking into both of them as we are setting up our barn this year to bring my horse home. I noticed a poster above has had issues with the DP, so I wondered if you had a different experience with them. I toured a barn recently nearby that had the Bar Bar A and recommended it, although I was initially leaning towards DP - now I’m not sure! Any more thoughts from anyone in a similar climate?
I am in eastern Ontario. I have personally boarded at 2 facilities that had drinking posts and I really liked them. My 20 year old mare had no difficulties learning how to use it after she was shown how. My yearling taught herself after watching her pasture mates.
To me the DP was an easy choice for myself when setting up my own farm last fall. My daily “maintenance” of it is simply touch the paddle as I do turn in/out to ensure water is flowing and that all parts are functioning as they should be. Less then 5 seconds. Once in the winter I did take the paddle off and the centre rod out to lubricate with vaseline, not because there was an issue but just to prevent one. After particularly heavy snow I am mindful to check and clear the bowl as if sometimes accumulates in there. When that happened ice formed under the paddle and the paddle didn’t press down as far. That was corrected very easily in less then 5 minutes, the worst part was taking my gloves off lol.
At the boarding barn I did seen a paddle break once. It was fixed in less then 5 minutes. I keep extra paddles and hinge caps in my barn for that reason- I don’t live close to system fence and keeping those pieces in stock gives me peace of mind as they are the most likely to break pieces (according to my friend with the boarding barn)
DP is the only waterer I have experience with so I can’t comment on the others, but I’ve been nothing but happy. I did get a local professional to run my water lines and install it for me. They are popular in this area now and this guy has done a bunch. He said the biggest thing is get your water line deep enough, but I imagine that would go for any auto waterer.
My BO put in 7 heated Nelsons probably 15 years ago. My gelding was the last one in his herd to start using it - he didn’t like the water filling. I finally threw a few apple slices in and that did the trick. They are extremely reliable and the DH takes care of maintenance. Heating elements need to be replaced from time to time so he does a overhaul while it is apart. They are on an a separate well and there is a hookup for a generator. There was a problem once with stray electrical current. They were on a tub for a while but they prefer the Nelson. We never found the source but adding a ground rod worked. Customer service at Nelson was extremely helpful.
Installation was in slot trench for water and a separate one for wiring. It looks like the DP is plastic and it’s in a pretty big hole. Many types of plastic degrade in the sun, so I would wonder how long they will last. Sometimes the bowl needs an adjustment to fill properly. They will stand there looking at it. One of them will jiggle the bowl with their muzzle and someone usually kicks it. No damage at all to the stainless steel. I wonder about the paddle. I like the fact that there is water in the bowl so you can take a quick look, especially in the winter. I also like the fact that they always have water at a comfortable temperature no matter what the weather.
The DP looks like a hydrant inside a huge tube. I’m not too sure about the water draining out of the bowl below the frost line It can get extremely cold here in the winter with highs at zero for days. The ground freezes pretty deep and hydrants will freeze. The Nelsons don’t freeze. The entire unit is at ground level so it is easy to work on. I did chores for a few years, pounding ice in tubs and dragging hoses all over. Sometimes I think we should shut the system down for a few days when it’s really cold. Then make the kids do it the old fashioned way. Take away the gator for throwing lunch hay. They don’t know how good they have it.
