Stock tank hay feeder?

[vineyridge]

I have a 100 gallon Rubbermaid stock tank that will no longer hold water and am considering turning it into an outside hay feeder. Has anyone done this?

I’m especially concerned about draining rain from the tank. I would remove the drain plug and maybe drill some one inch holes in the bottom, but should I put some sort of rack in the bottom to lift the hay up? I’d use it for square bales.

If anyone has done this, I’d appreciate plans and advice. I did find a place on the internet that sold a DIY kit with slow feed netting, but the whole kit and extra hardware cost $80 which I’d rather not spend.

[Guilherme]

@vineyridge

I have a 100 gallon Rubbermaid stock tank that will no longer hold water and am considering turning it into an outside hay feeder. Has anyone done this?

I’m especially concerned about draining rain from the tank. I would remove the drain plug and maybe drill some one inch holes in the bottom, but should I put some sort of rack in the bottom to lift the hay up? I’d use it for square bales.

If anyone has done this, I’d appreciate plans and advice. I did find a place on the internet that sold a DIY kit with slow feed netting, but the whole kit and extra hardware cost $80 which I’d rather not spend.

You could take and old pallet and make up a “quick and dirty” floor. You don’t need to but it would not hurt. What you DO need to do is cut some additional holes using a hole saw and get more and more reliable drainage. Put the tub up on a couple of 2x4s to ensure it doesn’t hold water. Clean out the hay detritus every couple of days all year round.

G.

[MissAriel]

I use a smaller one and don’t bother with the holes, but then I use it under a cover and it doesn’t rain too often here.

I have considered drilling a few holes then just screwing a couple of 2x4 lengths onto the bottom to lift it up an inch or so for the few times it has rained. But the one I have is still sound, so if I drilled holes in it I would not be able to fill with water if I wanted to, LOL.

[vineyridge]

Good thing I have hole saws. Would you suggest making the holes around the sides as well as on the bottom?

[Mulligan314]

In addition to drilling more holes in the bottom, which you had mentioned, but I would put a pallet under the bale(inside of the trough) and one under the trough, as was mentioned above. That way the ground isn’t blocking drainage, and the bale isn’t sitting in slow draining water, or impeding draining by blocking the holes.

[Guilherme]

@vineyridge

Good thing I have hole saws. Would you suggest making the holes around the sides as well as on the bottom?

I don’t see a particular need for it. Even here, where we get 50" of rain/year I wouldn’t worry about side holes.

The reason I suggest larger holes than some other suggestions is that hay will work it’s way down to the bottom and then get wet in a rain and then clog smaller openings. If the feeder is indoors or in AZ them maybe you don’t need the bigger holes. But even in AZ you can get some impressive rains, even though they don’t last long.

Keeping the feeder off the ground is a Good Idea. There are many ways to do that. Pick the one you like best!!!

G.

[Bluey]

Many around here feed in old water tanks of all kinds.
They work well to keep hay off the ground and are safe for horses to be around.

We don’t put any kind of feeder on anything that will make a nice home underneath for mice and their hosts, rattlers.

All ground feeders and waterers are flush on the ground, no holes for anything to slither under there and then come out at an inopportune time and bite a curious horse.

If you are in rattler country, you may consider that.
If you think there will be mold growing under there without some air space, just move the tank around regularly to avoid that.

[moving_to_dc]

I have 100g tanks in every field, one per horse, that I feed hay and grain out of. No holes for drainage, I would not want the grain to escape down a hole. I have never worried about the tanks “collecting water” as it is pretty darn simple to dump them before you put hay or grain in them. We typically dump them, even when it hasn’t rained, because it is surprising how much dust and debris sifts out of the hay, and it needs to be dumped out. I actually love having the tanks collect some rain, as it “washes” them out really well!

We feed in the tanks to avoid the wind from blowing the hay away, and to keep the feed out of the mud. Logistically, it is easiest for our barn to have “permanent” feed pans in each field, that we dump morning and evening grain into. Our fence is coated electric cable, so we cannot hang feeders on the fence, and I abhor feeding in ground pans that get covered in mud and poo. Feeding in tanks has solved every issue.

[longlanefarm]

I have two that I use for hay. One I drilled tiny holes in (pointless) and the other I did not. For the one, I drilled through each corner to attach eye bolts and carabiner a small bale net to the bottom. Works wonderfully except they can lift the whole thing up so I put flat rocks on the bottom and that does the trick. I prefer feeding hay at ground level but don’t like putting it on the ground.

[SonnysMom]

We just converted an old one to a hay feeder earlier this year. DH drilled holes in the bottom. We have gotten a ton on rain here since then and have had no need to put the trough on a pallet or to put a pallet in the bottom. DH put in a lot of holes. I forget if he used a spade bit or a small hole saw.

[skyy]

We use the Rubbermaid tank to feed hay in our sacrifice paddocks. We just take out the drain plug, no extra holes, and dump the water out as needed. It helps keep alot of the hay out of the mud but they still pull alot out too.

[Jarpur]

Back when we used an old Rubbermaid trough for feeding hay, we also didn’t bother with the extra holes or elevating the trough, in a climate with a moderate amount of rain (but no rainy or mud season). Worked fine as is, and wasn’t difficult to dump as needed.

[stressgirl37]

Yes, no holes, just dump and clean as needed and not on a pallet.

[dungrulla]

@vineyridge

I have a 100 gallon Rubbermaid stock tank that will no longer hold water and am considering turning it into an outside hay feeder. Has anyone done this?

I’m especially concerned about draining rain from the tank. I would remove the drain plug and maybe drill some one inch holes in the bottom, but should I put some sort of rack in the bottom to lift the hay up? I’d use it for square bales.

If anyone has done this, I’d appreciate plans and advice. I did find a place on the internet that sold a DIY kit with slow feed netting, but the whole kit and extra hardware cost $80 which I’d rather not spend.

Yes. I hated it. When it rained it got mushy at the bottom, horses pooed in it for some reason, they dragged all the hay out and spread it all over the pasture even with netting across the top. It just made a mess. Eventually I scrapped the whole idea and used hay bags instead. Much easier/cleaner.

[PeteyPie]

I’ve had good luck with that system. I have 4 100-gallon stock tanks in my pasture in addition to wall feeders built into the fence. I purchased the first two Rubbermaid tanks for water but got tired of the difficult cleanup and got two more in aluminum. They were easy to clean, but my mare who loved to play in the water dented one enough so that it broke the seal and leaked. So I use them all for hay now and I like the fact that the horses don’t make too much of a mess with that much room in the tub. They do drag out some hay, but most of it stays in the tub. I think that the texture of your hay will affect how much of a mess they make too. If they have to pick up every flake and shake it, more is going to end up on the ground.

As others have said, the tubs are easy enough to tip over and rinse when they get dirty. It’s probably worth noting where all the posters live who have responded to this. It’s very dry where I live so I haven’t had the problems of mushy wet buildup for the most part and when the bottoms start to get dirty and matted I just dump them over and rinse them out.

So far, I haven’t had any snake problems, and since the tubs sit flat on the ground, a snake can’t go under them. Also, they get moved around and I think there is too much activity for a snake to feel comfortable and want to stay.