Has anyone ever fashioned something like this using a laundry basket or hay net then using say, a styrofoam cooler?
It only will be soaking about 30 minutes…
Hmm… trying to visualize from your description what that would look like. Are you thinking of something the hay could sit in and soak until you feed it? We will do whole bales like that in a big wheelbarrow for a short time then drain and feed.
Not sure if that’s helpful or what you’re looking for 
Hay into laundry basket or net, then into a closed container, like an oversized plastic cooler.
In single digits, I’m fairly certain hay in an wheelbarrow would begin to freeze immediately.
We had been soaking hay for a horse with breathing issues and the horse hated it. We bought a HayGain STeamer and the horses love it. I love it when we have the cold weather. The horses seem to love hot hay.
It takes a lot longer to freeze than 30 minutes, even in single digits. Start with hot water, you should be fine. Or soak in one of those heated tubs.
Even with cold tap water, though, you’re unlikely to get more than a skim of ice, even in the coldest temps we get here.
How to keep the hay unfrozen over the hours the horse is eating the hay is the bigger challenge.
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Using the laundry basket like a colander?
If you are soaking to remove sugars, steaming won’t do the job.
When we had to soak hay in sub-freezing temps, we moved the whole operation inside our garage, which stayed a bit warmer due to being connected to the house and insulated. Like Simkie said, you could just use warm water and get the soaking done in 30 minutes before it freezes. For my horse, he’d eat it up before it froze too badly, but we also fed frequently (4x day) so smaller quantities. Plus we don’t get the super cold that other areas of the county get.
I use a round muck bucket and a fish bucket from amazon (much stronger than a laundry basket). Add hot water over the hay, then cover with a thick plastic bag (Home Depot).
thank you. This sounds do-able.
I do not have an attached garage.
This is a fairly open barn/ rough set up. There’s no “heated” area, by any stretch of the imagination.
@Sansena Here the fish basket I bought: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015AETI1M/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
