keeping a stock tank from freezing?

[RLF]

[QUOTE=Eventer55;5274802]
Quote:
Originally Posted by goeslikestink
if its self filling they put your stable muck around it about 2ft out and thick so its just below the water line

this is what i do and my tank keeps running taps might not work hose pipe might not work but the tank always does

horses dont tend to eat dirty bedding- but dirty bedding and muck generate heat

I don’t think anyone’s listening to us, as I already posted this (see above post) It does actually work:) Not making it up.[/QUOTE]

LOL- these poor horses went from white wine to poo!

:lol:

[MoonWitch]

DH built lids for ours that we put on at night. It’s been in the single digits here with artic winds blowing and we have had minimal ice in the morning - like 1/2’ thick. We left off two of them last night & the result was me hacking away with an axe this morning through 3’ while the others you could just break with the heel of your boot.

It’s worth a try!

[ACP]

There is a thread like this in another section, I posted there, but will put this here too. It is an old idea, i can’t remember where I first read about it.

You can rent a large power auger and dig an overgrown posthole and bury a 8 foot (or longer) length of 18 to 24 diameter galvanized culvert pipe in the hole, with just 5 or 6 inches of the pipe showing above ground. Then attach some brackets to the top of the pipe (by welding or nuts and bolts to hold a small stock tank (90 gallons or less), so that the bottom of the stock tank completely covers the open end of the pipe. (The stock tank will appear to be mounted on a low pedestal.) The vertical pipe acts as a conduit for the warmer ambient ground temperature from the soil below the frost line. The beauty of this design is that it is essentially passive and there is no significant maintenance, once installed.

[farmgirl598]

My water source for the barn is a typical outdoor spigot, but it is enclosed in a wooden box, with all pipes, etc, inside the box. What you end up with is a spigot sticking out of a wooden box. (hard to describe)…anyhoo, I took the “POO” advice here, and took the lid off of the box last weekend, and packed it with dirty bedding and manure. Did not know if it would do much good, but knew it couldn’t hurt. This morning I figured I would at least TRY to turn on the water to see what would happen. I poured a bit of hot water over the spigot handle, as it was frozen in place. Once the handle thawed enough to open the tap, I HAD WATER!!! AND it got down to the mid teens here last night, with a killer wind chill. The “manure for insulation” idea really works! My only question is, how often do I need to add new manure? I am tickled pink with this idea!~ I do not want to depend on a trough heater, as the electricity in my barn was only meant for lights and an electric fence. I am away from the barn so much, I am afraid of fire, electrical shock, etc. This “natural” idea is just perfect!!!

[farmgirl598]

Anybody know how often the manure needs to be replaced when it is being used for “insulation”?

[John_Q_Citizen]

Its absolutely frightening that you are teaching our children, your living proof that proposed southern border wall should include SoCal