Securing poly water trough to corner post....as a feeder

[Color_of_Light]

My sand dry lots with rubber mats in the corner, black poly or rubbermaid water troughs connected to corner post as feeders. I tie hay nets inside the trough. The rubbermaid troughs have holes cut in the bottom and are secured with a chain around the post at the top, down the inside of the trough, then out the hole and connected to post. Black poly troughs are secured similarly but with twine through the drain plug.

Certain horses love to push the troughs so they twirl around the post out of reach, which means they haynet goes with them. Fence is tape and higher than the trough, so no interference there. I put tired putting steel stakes in the ground outside the fence at the base of the rubbermaid, but the stakes moved with the pressure. I’m trying to figure out the best way to keep these feeders in place. I’m not opposed to drilling more holes in troughs. Has anyone done something like this or have ideas how I can secure them?

[Christa_P]

Attach two boards from the corner post to the first post in about mid height of the feeders. Or, add extra posts in the corner so there isn’t enough room to fit the feeder through.

[clanter]

suspend the trough like a swing … they push on it, it just moves then re-centers itself once the pressure is removed… never seen anything like this but it sure would eliminate their pushing a post out of alignment

any fixed fixture to me would just become a scratching device

[NancyM]

LARGE machinery tires are available, for FREE, from tire shops. You can get BIG ones, off BIG machinery, 4 or 6 feet in diameter. The tire shops have to PAY to get rid of them when they sell new tires to their customer. So they are REALLY happy if you come and pick them up. Take them home, and use a saw (chain saw, reciprocating saw, etc) to cut one side of the tire off, leaving the rest of the tire as a cup, leaving an edge around the top so that hay can not be thrown out of it. Drill some holes in the bottom edge, so that it will drain away water if it rains. These make great feed tubs. They are too big for a horse to move around much, several hundred pounds some of them.

[Color_of_Light]

Thank you for all the suggestions. Christa P, I thought about doing some sort of 2x4’s like that. Clanter, very creative! Your swing idea sounds fun! So when I get tired in the barn, I can take a nap in it. Maybe could use a hammock as a hay feeder instead of the trough and haynet? The posts haven’t budged an inch. The troughs twirl around the post so the trough and haynet inside can’t be reached. NancyM, good idea. I have tires exactly like that in a few pastures. They are tractor tires and not nearly as tall as my water troughs (believe they are 100 gallons and 150 gallons. Maybe there are some wider tires out there, so taller walls. The ones that I have work very well in the pastures.

What I like about the troughs is that they are oval, so don’t take up much of the corner. There are probably some sort of metal brackets that I could mount to the troughs as well as the post. Something removable would be nice.