Automatic waterers?

[canoetrpr]

I'm thinking of getting an automatic waterer for the small herd of cattle I am starting (my first two arrive tomorrow actually!).

I was at the farm equipment show looking at Ritche waterers. They look like they are well built. There are literally dozens of models. I don't expect I will have more than 15 head or so here and it does get cold. I have a 3 sided pole barn with a concrete floor where I will be installing it. I'll be running a heated water line to it from about 15 feet away.

I'd appreciate any thoughts / advice any of you could provide wrt. heated waterers or this type of installation. Is there a particular type, make or model that you have had good or bad experiences with?

 

[msscamp]

I'm thinking of getting an automatic waterer for the small herd of cattle I am starting (my first two arrive tomorrow actually!).

I was at the farm equipment show looking at Ritche waterers. They look like they are well built. There are literally dozens of models. I don't expect I will have more than 15 head or so here and it does get cold. I have a 3 sided pole barn with a concrete floor where I will be installing it. I'll be running a heated water line to it from about 15 feet away.

I'd appreciate any thoughts / advice any of you could provide wrt. heated waterers or this type of installation. Is there a particular type, make or model that you have had good or bad experiences with?

With 2 head of cattle, I believe I would be looking at an automatic waterer that had a thermostat that would kick on a small flow of water anytime the temps got below a certain point to keep it from freezing up. We have a Ritchie waterer that is supposedly frost/freeze proof and it does freeze up anytime the temps get into the sub-zero regions. It is also a major pain in the ass to thaw out!

 

[plumber_greg]

I've put in a lot of waterers through the years, and who makes the best keep changing, right now I'd say Ritchie is making the best one on the market around here. If you can run electricity to it, the stainless pans or the plastic ones word equally as well. gs

 

[dun]

For a heated one I don;t have a preference but if I was going to put on on a concrete floor I ould make sure that the concrete around is really rough and that it had a drain so I ocould empty it through an under ground pipe.

 

[novaman]

The Ritche's that I have were installed with a large pipe below them going into the earth. The idea is to have a big enough pipe that goes deep enough to get heat from the ground to rise and keep the tank open. Works good in theory but I still have to put a small heater in the water to keep it open. I use the waterers with the 4 holes and the floating "balls" to seal the holes shut when not being used.

 

[SRBeef]

I'm thinking of getting an automatic waterer for the small herd of cattle I am starting (my first two arrive tomorrow actually!).

I was at the farm equipment show looking at Ritche waterers. They look like they are well built. There are literally dozens of models. I don't expect I will have more than 15 head or so here and it does get cold. I have a 3 sided pole barn with a concrete floor where I will be installing it. I'll be running a heated water line to it from about 15 feet away.

I'd appreciate any thoughts / advice any of you could provide wrt. heated waterers or this type of installation. Is there a particular type, make or model that you have had good or bad experiences with?

If I read this correctly, are you considering locating the waterer INSIDE a 3-sided pole barn?? If so I would sure reconsider that. This time of year especially, I don't think you want the waterer inside a building, even an open side one.

I like the concrete waterers such as the Petersen pictured here:

It helps at times such as weaning to have the ability to separate into two groups each with access to one side of the waterer. This one pictured has worked out very well. Pay very close attention to details when installing it.

Raising about a 4" high concrete ledge about 12" larger all around the waterer keeps them from dumping manure into the waterer. Cattle will put their front hooves on a raised pad but not their rear hooves so they won't back up to it and take a dump.

Here is the Petersen installation diagram.

http://www.petersenwaterers.com/secure-petersenwaterers/Scripts/diagram.asp

Following it, I have had no freezing problems so far in WI even down to -30 deg F.

Good luck. Jim

 

[MO_cows]

SRBeef, why did you think it was a bad idea to put a waterer inside a shed?

 

[SRBeef]

SRBeef, why did you think it was a bad idea to put a waterer inside a shed?

Lot's of reasons. Cows tend to congregate there waiting their turn and deposit a lot of manure around the waterer. Dairy barns have waterers inside and in front of a cow but they have a manure conveyor behind them. Cows also tend to turn their head and drip water all over. In a 3-sided shed you will have the same ice buildup as you would outside but not the sun to melt and dry and sterlize the area.

I think you should have a waterer outside in the sun in a spot you can also clean the manure from. Mine is too tight to get the loader bucket there. I manually scrape the manure off of the concrete pad and then get it with the loader.

Waterers even outside tend to get messy/algae growth etc and need to be drained and scrubbed once a week or so. I turn off the electric, poke the 3" drain plug out of my Petersen and let the water drain every couple weeks (unless it is extremely cold) and scrub the inside with a brush. If you try to drain this inside a shed you will likely have a mess that is just not going to dry very quickly.... You will likely have a damp dark breeding ground for disease. There are probably more reasons. jmho. Maybe you have one in a shed and I'm all wet, eh?

Jim

 

[cobett]

Hi Canoetpr,

You should check out our Cobett waterers. They're freeze-resistant and require no electricity.

http://www.cobett.com

 

[haase]

I have two ritchie waters both with heaters, one is in a 30x72 3 sided polebarn and one is outside. The barn is split in half as the pen outside is. Manure is not a problem by either. One good thing about having one in the barn is, if you have a problem with a cow or calf, I can pen them in the barn and not have to set up a stock tank and heater. Also have less algae on the one in the barn.

 

[hillsdown]

We use SPI everywhere ,the only thing I can complain about is the replacement parts are freaking expensive. The one waterer we installed in 2004 needed a new bowl heater and it was $165.00 for the pad. :shock:
We hit -40 a lot of times and the cattle always have water.

 

[tlh908]

I have a Ritchie waterer and love it. Before the waterer I hauled water by hand, which was a pain. I got a 2 fount that I put in my fence row so that I can keep cattle in 2 different fields with 1 waterer. I currently have 5 head and can use the waterer for 20 they say.
I live in northern indiana where it can get somewhat cold and I haven't had problems witn feezing. I have one with a heater and it costs 10 bucks during tbr coldest month to heat which is cheaper than a heated bucket.

 

[Dixieangus]

aahhhhh the ease of a pond (OTHER THAN THE DIGGING AND WAITING TO FILL UP)

 

[novaman]

aahhhhh the ease of a pond (OTHER THAN THE DIGGING AND WAITING TO FILL UP)

And it freezing solid if you live anywhere in the northern part of the US.

 

[Dixieangus]

true novaman but i live in the south so no worry of that except for this winter, global warming nothing i know if it is 7 degrees f in mississippi then where those polar bears are it is colder than well whatever u can think of that is the coldest

 

[canoetrpr]

Interesting and diverse thoughts. I appreciate them all. Currently I have a stock tank with a heater in the pole barn. This is what we have always used with horses.

Manure in the pole barn has not particularly been a problem - we clean it out regularly and dump fresh straw from time to time.

An installation that will require trenching at this point is going to get expensive for me and this seems like a HUGE improvement over a stock tank with a heater. I have concrete all around the buildings where I have water coming out of the ground from a frost free hydrant or a heated water line. I would have to trench from my house or heat the water line for about 50 feet or so to get it to a point where I could bury the the darn thing and put it away from the pole barn. I guess I can always get it done at a later point if I decide that I have made a mistake by putting it in the pole barn. I will build a platform out of cedar to bolt it on to keep the cows from dumping in it as you point out.

You have given me some food for thought though. I have a riding ring which is just beside my pole barn. I think I will set things up so that my calves can be weaned in the riding ring. Now I expect to wean when things aren't frozen - but really there are always times where things don't happen on schedule. I think I might do well to install the waterer in a spot in the pole barn so that I can split the pole barn so that one side can be accessed by the weaned calves.

 

[SRBeef]

Interesting and diverse thoughts. I appreciate them all. Currently I have a stock tank with a heater in the pole barn. This is what we have always used with horses.

Manure in the pole barn has not particularly been a problem - we clean it out regularly and dump fresh straw from time to time.

An installation that will require trenching at this point is going to get expensive for me and this seems like a HUGE improvement over a stock tank with a heater. I have concrete all around the buildings where I have water coming out of the ground from a frost free hydrant or a heated water line. I would have to trench from my house or heat the water line for about 50 feet or so to get it to a point where I could bury the the darn thing and put it away from the pole barn. I guess I can always get it done at a later point if I decide that I have made a mistake by putting it in the pole barn. I will build a platform out of cedar to bolt it on to keep the cows from dumping in it as you point out.

You have given me some food for thought though. I have a riding ring which is just beside my pole barn. I think I will set things up so that my calves can be weaned in the riding ring. Now I expect to wean when things aren't frozen - but really there are always times where things don't happen on schedule. I think I might do well to install the waterer in a spot in the pole barn so that I can split the pole barn so that one side can be accessed by the weaned calves.

Sounds like the ideas are coming together. One more suggestion: could you put the waterer in one wall of the pole shed so that one half (with the drain hole) is outside the shed and one side inside the shed?

This would let you drain/clean it to the outside yet hopefully minimize the trenching. Also may facilitate your two-group weaning?

One more suggestion on a waterer: do it right the first time. The idea of coming back and doing it again just does not seem to work out for me. A bit of additional cost now will long since fade in 5 or 10 years of use.

Best of luck.

Jim

 

[grubbie]

One more suggestion on a waterer: do it right the first time. The idea of coming back and doing it again just does not seem to work out for me. A bit of additional cost now will long since fade in 5 or 10 years of use.

Best of luck.

Jim

You know, I just don't understand you people who learn from past experience. If it is worth doing once, it is worth re-doing several times. ;-)

 

[msscamp]

One more suggestion on a waterer: do it right the first time. The idea of coming back and doing it again just does not seem to work out for me. A bit of additional cost now will long since fade in 5 or 10 years of use.

Best of luck.

Jim

You know, I just don't understand you people who learn from past experience. If it is worth doing once, it is worth re-doing several times. ;-)

:lol2: :lol2:

 

[DangYankee]

Does anyone have any experience with Hoskins Red Top Waterers? I know my granddad used to work with them in the Dakotas and Nebraska. http://www.hoskins-mfg.com