Ritchie Fence Line Waterers

[Crowderfarms]

Just wondered if anyone had any experience with these. I'm getting ready to buy 3 of them, and wanted to see what 'Yall thought of them.

 

[dun]

The only complaint I have with Ritchie waterers is that the water runs in horizontally rather then vertically. With the sand in our wells, the horizontal valves get an accumulation of grit in the seat and won;t shut off. Have to clean the only Ritchie waterer we have every week or so. The others rarely and in some cases have never had to have the vlaves cleaned. The Ritchie is the only horizontal valve.

dun

 

[mitchwi]

We've tried several others over the years, Ritchie is more expensive initially, and a bit more for the electric bill than others. But since we went with the Ritchie we have not had any problems... (most important NO FREEZING) :) . We also went with the plastic type instead of steel.

 

[Wilson_Cattle_Company]

Just wondered if anyone had any experience with these. I'm getting ready to buy 3 of them, and wanted to see what 'Yall thought of them.

You will love em!! They are a godsend!! ;-)

 

[Farmhand]

We use Ritchies also. Like them the best. Takes alot to have them freeze. Easy to work on too when needed which seems to be less often than the others on our place.

 

[Crowderfarms]

Thanks for the replies'Yall. I just wanted to check before I leapt into something. ;-)

 

[ollie']

One note of decent before you leave. My buddies all have richie. They work well but no better than my mirafounts. If installed correctly the mirafounts never freeze south of the mason dixon . They also never need electricity and are well made. I am switching all mine to mirafounts.
If you forget to turn the richies on they freeze . If you forget to turn them off they cost money...I guess this shows forgetting is starting to be a concern at my place.

 

[Crowderfarms]

Ollie, I hate like heck to be nosy, but what did your Mirafounts run you?

 

[ollie']

Mine that I have bought to replace others were the two hole fence line waterers in my lots. They were 450 each...Installed. :D A buddie owns the store where I bought them and I made him help me put them in. I think the 4 hole were a hundred or so more. They are very well made, valves and all. They also have parts readily available. I like them alot.

 

[Crowderfarms]

Thanks, I just got done looking at their website.

 

[ollie']

If you buy mirafounts be sure and install them correctly. They need a hole about 18" deep (mine are also as big as a bucket lined with a old piece fo culvert) for the heat from the ground to warm the valve. The most important part is to leave the balls loose in the hole. They need a quarter inch to a half inch of slack so when a cow drinks the water off their mouth when they raise their head runs back in the tank. If the balls float high enough to seal off the holes the balls freeze shut. The pad needs to be level to leave the proper crack around the balls. Other than that they are a breeze.Stainless steel hardware for mounting (supplied) was also nice.

 

[bwranch]

Any problems with younger calves getting to the water? I gotta do something or my hose haulers (aka teenage boys) are going to go on strike.

Lee

 

[ollie']

Those aren't mirafount. Are they richie?

 

[Phil in Tupelo]

Yup ritchie for sure

TCM,

That is a nice looking set up. Is the waterer on a concrete pad? How big is the gravel area around the waterer? Did you put a material down to place the gravel on? Any comments are appreciated.

Phil in Tupelo

 

[fellersbarnoneranch]

We use Brower waterers...no electric...hold up good and "don't" freeze. Not a problem so far (think Pride of the Farm waterer of different color and lesser price)

2 drain plugs opposite side

 

[doe4zam]

Ritchie definatly. This is why I choose an energy free covered Ritchie over a energy free Mirafount

Ritchie 1st and foremost has a 10 year warranty, Mirafounts is 5. I have a 4 hole covered waterer. Ritchie has elliptical shaped balls instead of round. I can tip them to reach the water with my finger. Not a lot of pressure. Mirafounts have round balls that require quite a bit of pressure then they need to push the balls under a lip on the side so that they can drink. And then the balls will pop back up. Imagine if you were to push a beach ball into the water at a lake. Takes a lot to push it down and then pops right back into the air. I have found that cattle can not drink out of all 4 holes in a Mirafount at the same time. When they push down the balls it creates so much pressure in the other holes that they can not push the balls down to drink.

Another thing that I like about the Ritchie is that I do not need any tools to get to the valve on the occasion I need to. Just have to lift off the lid. I have clumbsy fingers and have a habit of loosing things even if they are stapled to my head so the small parts on the Mirafount would not work for me. That red lid is supposed to freeze down in the winter on the Ritchie instead of relying on the gaskets that freeze and tear in a Mirafount.

Ritchie insulation and plastic is thicker. This was obvious to me when I found out that Mirafount requires a neck bar over their larger units so that cattle wont stand in the unit which could cause them to go through voiding their warranty. Ritchie does not require a neck bar on the large units. I asked about this and the guy I spoke to said that the cattle can actually stand in the waterer and will not go through.

I do not have electricity ran to my covered Ritchie and have not had a problem with them freezing. I guess I am kind of partial. Have had some bad experiance in the past with other waterers and haven't had any with Ritchie. I guess spending the extra $ on quality was worth it to me.

 

[Crowderfarms]

I'm def. going with Ritchies'. I just wanted to get some feedback from those of you that have used them.Our FSA office recommended this brand. Around here, very few people use waterers in Cattle operations, mostly for high dollar horse farms. The best thing about them, is Uncle Sam will pay 75% of all costs.

 

[dun]

For freezeproof waterers around here the real preference is for the concrete ones that are buried with a pile of dirt over them for insulation. I do have a small one that I don;t use, not even sure where it is now, that has valve in it that will open when the temp hits a user set temp and allows water to trickle through the waterer.

dun

 

[ollie']

For freezeproof waterers around here the real preference is for the concrete ones that are buried with a pile of dirt over them for insulation. I do have a small one that I don;t use, not even sure where it is now, that has valve in it that will open when the temp hits a user set temp and allows water to trickle through the waterer.

dun

That is what I am taking out.Polytron piece of junk!. When you were talking about richie , I thought you were talking of the electric type. I have no experience with the floating ball richies. The mirafounts are fantastic in the two hole waterer size. The open top large size (big open tank) is made out of a completely different material. I have a mirafount in my bull pen with nothing around it. My bulls sometimes get bored an stand and bash their head on it for days on end. Each year I try to tighten up the bolts if their loose. They havn't cracked the tank yet. If richie is stronger than that I don't know why it would be ...richie is a nice product though.

 

[JHH]

Hey ollie' or anyone else for that matter, I am getting ready to put a water supply besides the pond ( which needs to be redone) out at the farm. But I have no electric out there (yet).
will those mirafounts work out there? I always bring cows in for winter at the house so I can keep a better eye on things but in next year or so will (hopefully have to many) to do this and was just thinking on getting something like that. But there is also a deep well out there that I use some with windmill that still works. any suggetions?