Has anyone tried this? Was about to bring my hose into the mudroom to thaw, and then had the idea of using an extra heated tub to store it in instead. No idea if it will work or not, but seems to be worth a try!
Sounds like a great way to set the barn on fire to me!
Just do not do it! Take the hose in the house. It will result in much less heartache!
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Wow ok… those tubs barely even get warm to the touch, didn’t think it would be nearly hot enough to start anything on fire!
I think the hazard would be more about the heat source vs the actual temperature of the tub.
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Sure. You’d need to fill the tub with water and stuff the hose in there. But yeah, that’ll work as long as the hose fits submerged. I know people who just keep their hose in their heated water trough (the same one the horses are drinking from.)
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This is what I do
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Do you mean one of the muck bucket sized heated tubs meant for water? I don’t think it would be a good idea to run it dry – it’s meant to heat the water then turn off for a while until the water cools down enough to trip the sensor to turn it back on again. If there is no water it’s going to be on continuously.
Something I saw… probably on FB was to use a metal trash can and affix a light bulb to the inside of the lid. Coil the hose in there and put it on a timer to turn on the appropriate amount of time before you go out in the morning. I’d probably also wrap the can in insulation, maybe a water heater blanket would fit. Then it’s not on all the time and the hose is thawed when you need it.
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Perfect!! So much easier than lugging it back and forth from the house 
Just make sure it is a light bulb that produces heat, the new modern LED bulbs do not.
I only say this because old fashioned incandescent bulbs are not readily available for easy purchase like they used to be.
This technique will work, just realize you are going to be handling a soaking wet hose in cold temps.
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Keeping the hose in a heated filled water trough is a great idea! You’ll just have to be sure the hose never touches the element or else you’ll melt the hose. Last year I had a trough heater catch on fire so I’m pretty paranoid about that stuff. Thank God I stayed up too late drinking wine and binge watching Netflix, so I noticed the fire just after it started. If I had been in bed (like I was supposed to be), my barn would have caught fire.
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The newer plastic heated tubs are fully lined - there is no way for anything to touch the element.
Yeah, that’s definitely a less fun option if the hose begins to freeze while you are holding it.
How much hose length do you need? If not too long, I might try to think of better draining options instead.
Yikes - what kind of trough? And, do you know what happened? (Was it empty, faulty, etc.)?
True about cold/wet, that’s a downside for sure…it’s a 100’ hose and I never seem to get it drained all the way 
Ugh! The joys of winter horse-keeping, right?!
Ugh well a 100’ hose…yes, way too long to really drain well without special equipment. A wet hose might be better. 
I bring the hose into the mudroom but wonder how keeping it in the tank itself would work in -30 would work.
I wonder if once pulled from the water the hose would freeze up?
My hose is only about 25’ so am going to try hanging it from a rafter, this way it would drain, just have to get a long enough stick to hang it up there.
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I found a small box of 100w incandescent in a basement drawer the other day and felt like I had struck gold 
My precious…
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If you only need 25’ can you not use a pocket hose? Those are delightful, even if they only last one season apiece.
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Total agree, those expandy hoses are awesome! So easy to drain and are small enough to drop in a small bucket & carry into the house. I do find the fittings to freeze despite draining but bringing them into the house just isn’t the chore of a big hose, or I drop the ends into a heated trough for a few minutes before watering to thaw.
You can often find them with warranty on Amazon! My latest one carries two year coverage 
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Pocket hoses are the way to go in winter. They sell 100ft ones.
I only use mine in winter when temps are below freezing and it has lasted several seasons.
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I would think it would be hard to coil up a 100 foot hose( wet and stiff) in below freezing weather to fit it inside a 16 gallon tub?
You need something like this if it would work?
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