water for the barn

[paintedtrails]

[QUOTE=clanter;8798340]
our horses learned to drink from mud puddles on competitive trail rides, none died[/QUOTE]

LOL, yep. He is an endurance horse so he won’t have that issue. Just didn’t know if it was a reliable/stable water source per say.

[QUOTE=Brnord;8798435]We built a new barn last year and had many of the same questions you do. We ended up tapping into our existing well with a separate shut off for the barn, it was about 200 feet to a frost free inside the barn + an extra 30 ft or so that split to the Ritchie. Water pressure is better at the barn than in the house because of a slight downhill grade!

We had the excavators doing the dirt work for the barn trench with their excavator because in N MN, we had to go down 8 feet. The trench work cost will vary based on your location/depth but for me, it was about $1300. Then, I paid another $1300 to the pump service to tap into the old well, run the lines to the hyrdrant and Ritchie, place frost free hydrant. The single Ritchie (Ecofount 1) was about $1100 with me doing the work myself - including cement pad. So, all in all, about $3600 for a frost free and one Ritchie.

I would also advise a separate trench for your power line. If you ever have trouble with the water, you DO NOT want to contend with power 18 inches down when trying to reach the water below it. I went 18 inches down over 350 feet on a different path that was more direct to the fuse box in the house and it was under a grand - the same excavator did it for me.

Only thing I wish I did different would have been to put automatic, heated water into the stalls. Tired of heated buckets after one winter…

It’s not cheap but we tied the whole barn build into a refi of our house so with the new lower rate, the money we spent on the barn didnt hurt the monthly mortgage as much as you’d think. Hope this helps![/QUOTE]

Good to know. I got a quote for just over $7K to trench and do water and power. I’m still working to figure out the split of the cost from him (can’t seem to get the email to accept the document so I can view the full quote), but from what you are saying that is high. We only have an 18" frost line here I believe. We do plan to re-fi next year if possible, so something to consider is adding it in. I’ve dealt with the heated buckets at previous barns and can totally feel your pain I’m just doing run in barn, so water won’t be in the barn but if I need to create a temp stall for something I can.

[Brnord]

Might be a little high but maybe not as far off as you think. Remember, you’re going 100 feet further with the water and the going rate for contractors may be higher in VA than rural Northern MN. The excavator was already at my house doing the rest of the barn prep work so I may have managed a better rate as a result.

I paid an electrician another $2200 to actually hook up the electrical on each end, connect the Ritchie and put up a few lights (2 high bay fluorescent, 4 incandescent, 2 floods outside) and outlets in the barn. Not sure if that’s part of your $7k, too.

Good luck!

[LookmaNohands]

[QUOTE=clanter;8798155]
If you have the money it is possible. Check to see if there are any other rebates offered in your area (if private residence farm the 30% Federal tax credit should be available, there is no cap on how much)

But realistically solar could be used to power lights (LED are low power consumption) but for other things such as powering a heater to keep water from freezing the size of the solar system required normally would be cost prohibitive … but it could be done,[/QUOTE]

The problem is there is no power on the other side of the creek. No utility poles anywhere. So I would have to run power there. Can you do that under a creek? That is why I wondered about solar. I know out west they do that. There is a well, however, that I had drilled about 10 years ago. I wanted to run lines then but power was a problem and I needed the money for other things. To get water to all three pastures, there is at least 800 feet of line that would have to be put in. Hopefully there wouldn’t be too much rock because that could be a problem too. It would have to go through a tree line too where there is remnants of an old stone wall. I guess that wouldn’t be that hard.

I have always hauled water out there by truck. It gets a little old in the winter when things are freezing. I have been doing it for 13 years!

[Eleanor]

[QUOTE=LookmaNohands;8798713]
The problem is there is no power on the other side of the creek. No utility poles anywhere. So I would have to run power there. Can you do that under a creek? That is why I wondered about solar. I know out west they do that. There is a well, however, that I had drilled about 10 years ago. I wanted to run lines then but power was a problem and I needed the money for other things. To get water to all three pastures, there is at least 800 feet of line that would have to be put in. Hopefully there wouldn’t be too much rock because that could be a problem too. It would have to go through a tree line too where there is remnants of an old stone wall. I guess that wouldn’t be that hard.

I have always hauled water out there by truck. It gets a little old in the winter when things are freezing. I have been doing it for 13 years![/QUOTE]

What about going with these Suntanks http://www.ranchtanks.com/ and using a generator to run your pump at the well you put in? This way you only run the gen when you need to fill the tanks.