Does anyone know how to hook up a pressure and/or hot water system in their trailer to hose the horses off after a hunt? I have seen a couple people that have this, some with propane, some with 12v electric off their truck and wondered how I could put together a system myself.
I tried doing a search in the archives, and I’m apparently not very good at it, because I couldn’t find anything specific.
Thanks!
I have a tank and a gravity system but drain it for winter. It seems like a maintenance nightmare unless you are somewhere that it never freezes. I bought my tank through Farnum, but I don’t think they sell them anymore. It’s tall and triangular so fits into the back compartment of my slant load. It’s 30 gallons. No pressure behind it but handy for drinking water and sponging off your horse if you need to.
You can get 12V sprayers with 25 gallon tanks at places like harbour frieght. I have one for my four wheeler that I use for spraying weedkiller. It would certainly work for horses. You would have to figure out where to mount it. I rigged up a plug for mine so that it would wire into the four wheelser battery.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=90679
The heat is another issue. You would almost have to have propane as the electric required would drain your battery too much. You would have to look at an RV place to get one of those instant on heaters.
Personally, if it’s cold enough that you need warm water you probably shouldn’t be hosing your horse off anyway.
Anyway, you certainly don’t want more than 25-30 gallons due to the size and weight. 30 gallons of water weighs 250 lbs. Thats more weight for your trailer and tow vehicle.
This is an interesting topic, I’d be curious to know what you decide. Keep us posted.
My husband installs them, you use a pressure pump, liked used as a wash down pump on a boat, and install the tank in the gooseneck, love it at horse shows etc. Yes you need to watch out for freezing weather, but I have had great luck in filling it that morning and draining it when you get home. Hope that helps, it is just cold water though
in the truck.
your best bet is waste engine heat. [why pay for more fuel] besides a water storage tank and a 12 volt marine water pump with preasure switch, you would also need a tank with a heat exchanger loop from the engine. well insulated, the trip to the meet should heat and keep your water warm.
Check here http://www.rvstuffusa.com/rvhotwaterheaters.html
My horses always preferred to be rugged and trailered home with a hay net, then have the warm shower before retiring to a nice soft clean bed!
High Country Plastics
Can’t you simply ask the people who’s hot-water rigs you admire? They may be able to tell you how they did the installations, what issues they ran into, and even how to improve upon them.
You can buy all manner of large potable water containers for horse use from High Country Plastics http://www.highcountryplastics.com/ - depending on how long you need the water to be hot, you could conceivably fill one of their containers with hot water, and insulate it somehow so it’ll stay hot for 4-5 hours (that’s roughly what we do, and it works quite well).
Then you just need to buy a pump and a little shower head.
Thats the one I have
The 25 gallon one that fits in a slantload.
http://estore.websitepros.com/1355535/Categories.bok?category=Trailer+Accessories+>+Water%20Caddies
I’ve had it several years, it’s great. You would need a pump if you want to have pressure behind it though.
“the hoser”
This is is a device I’ve seen in Central MA. The designer is a fox hunter .
THANK YOU! I am not that handy and would need explicit instructions on how to build one of these systems myself, so it looks like it comes pre-built and probably isn’t that much more expensive than installing the system yourself.
Otherwise here is the list of things I would have to get:
I would put everything in the bed of my truck, put some type of cover over it. Where does the tank with the heat exchanger go?
Thanks for all your help!
To use engine water you would need to tap into your radiator line. Then you would need a fluid to fluid head exchanger and a pump to circulate your water.
To me it seems like way too much trouble and you may be seriously impacting the reliablity of your tow vehicle. The heat exchanger may affect your coolant flow which your automobile manufacturer has carefully calculated. Plus there is more chance of causing a leak in your coolant system. It will probably void your engine warranty if you have one. Also, modern day cars and trucks have very little extra room under the hood.
The simplest and cheapest thing is to insulate the tank and put hot water in before you leave. If it’s below freezing weather outside you are going to have to drain it and fill it each time anyway.
(By the way, I am an engineer in my other life and do heating, air conditioning, and water systems for the military, before that I worked at Chrysler’s engineering facility in Michigan)
Does anyone know of a pressurized, heated propane system? Is that safe to trailer?
[QUOTE=Painted Wings;3598037]
To use engine water you would need to tap into your radiator line. Then you would need a fluid to fluid head exchanger and a pump to circulate your water.
To me it seems like way too much trouble and you may be seriously impacting the reliablity of your tow vehicle. The heat exchanger may affect your coolant flow which your automobile manufacturer has carefully calculated. Plus there is more chance of causing a leak in your coolant system. It will probably void your engine warranty if you have one. Also, modern day cars and trucks have very little extra room under the hood.
The simplest and cheapest thing is to insulate the tank and put hot water in before you leave. If it’s below freezing weather outside you are going to have to drain it and fill it each time anyway.
(By the way, I am an engineer in my other life and do heating, air conditioning, and water systems for the military, before that I worked at Chrysler’s engineering facility in Michigan)[/QUOTE]
I agree with painted my suggestion to use waste heat is not for the inexperienced
but an exchanger in the cab heater line should be ok.
Another thought on waste engine heat
One leak from the Ethylene Glycol (Antifreeze) side of the system to the water side of the system and your horse is dead if he drinks any of it. Also it makes it harder to drain the system to prevent freezing as there are more places for water to be trapped. Really not a good plan. I design these types of systems for the military, know all the pitfalls, and would not do it on my own truck or trailer.
Has anyone used a Zodi heater?
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