Winter and hoses and freezing, Oh My.

[Fred]

[QUOTE=LoriO;7849395]
Same as Mallard

http://www.homehardware.ca/en/rec/index.htm/Outdoor-Living/Yard-Maintenance/Watering-Systems/Hoses/Hoses/5-8-x-75-All-Season-Clear-Garden-Hose/_/N-ntlc4Z1z141vy/Ne-ntc74/R-I5038331

I’ve got this and LOVE IT!!! Surprised my barn mates last year with it and they were in heaven with it too! Super light weight, and drains itself. Just to be safe I would usually just blow air down the hose before I rolled it to get any extra water out. Easily rolls up and fit right in my tack box.

The only catch to it is because it is so light weight you can NOT LET GO of it when the water is running thru it or it will take off like water wiggle toy and spew water everywhere![/QUOTE]

I have this hose too. I don’t love it as much as I wanted to, but it is a huge improvement on lugging the giant heavy monster into the tack room each night. This is so lightweight and compact.
As LoriO says though, it has a life of its own sometimes…sprayed horses, sprayed self… yipppeeeee.
So I have a bungee cord on the bars of the stall, and hook it around the hose while it is filling the bucket. So far that works.

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

This is my first winter. He finally hooked up the frost free this morning in fact!

I had my hydrant installed right next to my fence. I bought a 25’ hose and then cut it off, so it is only 10’ long. My plan was to just fill, drain (I’m putting a hook on the fence to hang it from the middle to help me drain) and leave it out there–will this not work?

I am worried about connecting the hose to the hydrant. Worried about ice and such making this difficult. Open to ideas. It looks to me like a quick-connect brass valve won’t let the hydrant drain…

[Foxglove]

Ultimately I had water pipe run to the pastures, but before that we kept 135 feet of hose in a 50 gal drum wired with an electrical light bulb in the lid. Coil hose in, cover with lid, switch on light bulb --enough heat from the light to keep the hose thawed. My problem was the weight of the hose --eventually I became too old to drag it around --so had water run to the water tanks. Wish I’d done it sooner.

Foxglove

[SmartAlex]

[QUOTE=TrotTrotPumpkn;7850188]
I am worried about connecting the hose to the hydrant. Worried about ice and such making this difficult. Open to ideas. It looks to me like a quick-connect brass valve won’t let the hydrant drain…[/QUOTE]

We use a quick connect. The actual hydrant handle hinge mechanism does freeze up because it leaks and runs water all over itself. I don’t think the quick connect contributes to it. We keep a hair dryer handy to thaw out the hinge each day.

[beau159]

Hmm maybe it’s the North Dakota in me, but I would never not have a HEATED water trough for my horses.

https://ritchiefount.com/

I never have to do a thing with hoses in the winter!! Or fill tanks for that matter. Just need to check it daily to make sure it is working properly.

[cutter99]

I’ve had one of these for over 10 years. Very sturdy and holds up well!

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/BrowseErrorView?storeId=10153&catalogId=12605

[workin_onit]

So if you don’t live in Canada where can you buy one of those clear hoses?

[Mallard]

[QUOTE=LoriO;7849395]
Same as Mallard

http://www.homehardware.ca/en/rec/index.htm/Outdoor-Living/Yard-Maintenance/Watering-Systems/Hoses/Hoses/5-8-x-75-All-Season-Clear-Garden-Hose/_/N-ntlc4Z1z141vy/Ne-ntc74/R-I5038331

I’ve got this and LOVE IT!!! Surprised my barn mates last year with it and they were in heaven with it too! Super light weight, and drains itself. Just to be safe I would usually just blow air down the hose before I rolled it to get any extra water out. Easily rolls up and fit right in my tack box.

The only catch to it is because it is so light weight you can NOT LET GO of it when the water is running thru it or it will take off like water wiggle toy and spew water everywhere![/QUOTE]

LOL…YES…it does have a mind of it’s own.
I solved that problem by clipping it to the side of the trough.

This will be my 3rd winter using this little hose. Can’t imagine being without it.

[China_Doll]

I just saw a heated hide at the hardware store but 25’ was 100.00

[ttldr1]

3X Pocket hoses

I am a fan of the clearance section at TSC. I visit every time I am at TSC just to see what is there and I have gotten some great deal (years ago in MI I got a BMB heavy turnout for $35, still have it and it is still in good shape). A couple of months ago as I was there they had 3 - 50’ 3X (commercial grade) pocket hoses for $9.99 each. I picked up 2 of them as I only need 100’ to reach everything. I plan on hooking them up in the open position (so pressure does not build up as bad), fill what I have to, drain/let coil back up and bring them inside in a bucket when it gets cold enough to freeze the outside hoses. I am hoping this will add to the life span of them (the cheaper quality one I had seemed to bust when the pressure was allowed to build up to the point of a break) and if I can get a winter out of them I am ahead of the game when you figure in time and trouble of draining regular hoses.

[Equibrit]

http://www.khmfg.com/farmandranch/heated-hoses-hose-heaters

[Robin]

We use quick disconnects to link our hose to the frost hydrant. We tried plastic and we tried brass ones. The plastic fractured when temperatures got below 10 F (does that where we are) and the brass froze together and had to be warmed before each use.

We finally found a brand of heavy duty plastic connectors which don’t fracture or freeze up. They are Gatorlock connectors which we get from US Plastics. They have a large opening and we have never had water freeze in the connector and block the frost hydrant drainage. The male and female couplers lock together with a mechanism which is much easier to free up if it gets water frozen to it than most other connecter mechanisms. Our current set is on their 4th year so the fact that these couplers are a bit more costly than other brands is balanced by not having to buy new couplers every few weeks. I just wish I could get some local store to carry the product so I didn’t have to pay for shipping for just one or two sets.

[BCGirl]

Californianinkansas- I am with you and I HATE DRAINING HOSES WITH A PASSION.

Has anyone tried the electric hose reel? I might try the X hose/collapsible hose route this winter.

[twelvegates]

[QUOTE=cutter99;7850652]
I’ve had one of these for over 10 years. Very sturdy and holds up well!

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/BrowseErrorView?storeId=10153&catalogId=12605[/QUOTE]

The link didn’t work for me.

[Simkie]

My stupid pocket hose froze today. Grumble grumble. At least it didn’t burst and it’s easy to bring inside.

Whose idea was this dumb winter thing, anyway??

[Laurierace]

I was thinking about you today Simkie! Not sure there is ever a good winter in Minnesota but if so this one doesn’t look like it will be one of them. The lowest temp I can remember myself is 55 below windchill, I don’t remember what the actual temp was. My Dad remembers to the day 50 below actual temp with a windchill of 100 below. That’s not right…

[twelvegates]

[QUOTE=Simkie;7852493]
My stupid pocket hose froze today.[/QUOTE]

:no:

[moving_to_dc]

[QUOTE=Robin@DHH;7849260]
We live near Minneapolis/St. Paul so not a warm place. What we
do to fill our stock tank is connect the frost hydrant to a short
hose which in turn is connected to a plastic pipe (like used in
lower cost household plumbing). The plastic pipe is fairly strongly
slanted and runs near the ceiling of our old dairy barn. At the
far end of this pipe is another short plastic hose which empties
into our stock tank.

We connect the first short hose to the frost hydrant, turn on the
water, fill the stock tank and then shut off the water and disconnect the hose (we use quick disconnects to make this easy
but garden hose connectors would work). The water in the pipe
all drains quickly so it doesn’t freeze in the pipe because the
pipe is slanted and allows for a fast draining.[/QUOTE]

This is how my barn water is set up, too. Works flawlessly and was super cheap and simple to install.

[walkinthewalk]

[QUOTE=twelvegates;7848999]
But…but…but…I want an EASIER way to do the winter chores.

I do appreciate some of the hints provided.[/QUOTE]

Good luck with that one:)

When you get it figured out, write a book that we will all buy and make you so rich you will be able to afford the easiest way of all for doing chores in the winter:

Hire someone:encouragement:

We don’t have your winter weather but, we do get down in the 20’s with wind chills in the teens. I have 1"/100’ rubber hoses. I drain them every night.

Look at it this way — you’ll build more arm muscle and great upper body strength so, it’s not a complete waste of your time and energy:)

[jenbrin]

[QUOTE=enjoytheride;7847957]
Roll up the hose every night and place in a heated room. Hate Life. Pray for Spring.[/QUOTE]

This^^^ I keep my hose in a large rubber tub in the tackroom and haul it out when I need it. Two days into winter and I’m already over it :no:!