I have been using this trough heater for years - buying a new one every few years when they inevitably short out. 
A couple years ago I tried this heater, but ran into problems with it not having an auto-off (it set my rubber trough on fire when the cord got pulled, suspending the heater above the water line).
Does anyone have recommendations for tried and true heaters for rubber troughs?
I love my drain plug heater in my Rubbermaid trough. Thermostat controlled & been using the same one for 8 years, have only needed to replace the plug once.
Do you leave the plug heater in all summer or do you remove it?
I prefer the same. I remove mine in the summer. However, this year I killed mine when I snapped the threaded plastic part off reinstalling it, so maybe I’ll just leave it be from now on.
I also really like the blue heated muck tubs for situations where I don’t need a whole 100 gallon trough.
I have always used plug heaters. Some of them have been in my stock tanks for 10 years or more. I use plumber’s tape when I install them, and leave them in all year round.
I like that I don’t have to worry about the plug coming out of the tank or a cage around the heater. I have never had any issues in about 20 years of using them.
I changed to plug heaters when my yearlings decided the floating heater was a pull-string toy. Twice. I have smaller tanks for summer use because we dump them everyday. The winter tanks have plug heaters and are larger so that there’s a bigger mass of warm water (and they don’t get nasty so once a week cleaning is good).
move south, today it is to be 94F
I do take it out in warm seasons. I have been lucky so far that I haven’t had any trough tap dancers, but the tank is easier to clean without heater/cord in the way.
I also like the heated round tubs that were mentioned- I use that inside my shelter so the horses don’t have to go out in nasty cold weather if they don’t want to. Just like the heater, I pack the tub away for spring/summer/fall, so it’s only out in winter. It’s also thermostat controlled & I’ve had mine for probably 10 yrs now.
I have the 1st one you pictured & it is now 18yrs old & falling apart < cage has lost a couple welds & the whole thing has a rust crust from my high-iron well water.
I thought I might have to replace it this Winter, but nope, still working even in Sub-Zero temps.
My trough is a 50gal foodgrade plastic barrel.
Maybe your cord is the problem?
To prevent my horses removing the de-icer from the trough, I have this Rube Goldberg arrangement:
Cord runs through PVC pipe from the bottom of the trough, with an elbow joint at the top (also PVC) duct-taped in place. More PVC with cord inside then runs into a cinder block & is wedged in place with rocks.
Yes, I am just that Classy.
Cord exits at the bottom of the cinder block, more rocks tuck it into the track for the door & it’s plugged into an outlet just inside the front sliding door to the barn.
Trough sits just outside that door.
Me too. And I leave mine in and only use that tank in the winter.
We’ve always used the drain plug heater; however, the horses managed to destroy and sadly this year all the ones we bought we had to take back because they didn’t work. Looked at the reviews for them and lots of people said the new ones they were buying didn’t work. This was the first year for bad heaters, we’ve been using them for a while and I prefer this type.
Thanks all. We’re pretty much finished with trough heaters for the year so I’m just clearing the ice out for these last few days. Next fall I’ll buy a plug heater and install it permanently in my winter trough.
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