The Joy of Automatic Waterers

[CattleAnnie]

I'd like to put in a request to CattleRackRancher for a poem about the trials and tribulations of dealing with those double-edged swords of providing good ol' H2O to livestock - the automatic waterer.

Currently got a pair of coveralls hanging by the woodstove drying off. The darn old Franklin waterer that's in one of our pens (probably been there since Christ was a cowboy) has done it again - with a twist!

We run heat tape down the pipeline in order to keep the waterer from freezing up in winter, BUT at the moment a frozen waterer would be a blessing. You see, this particular spawn of Satan is gravity fed from a big dugout on the hill. The genius who installed the waterers in the barnyard plumbed them all to the same line and single shut off valve, so in order to repair one waterer you end up shutting off the supply to all the stock.

Enter the twist.

The heat tape under the Franklin ended up melting off a plastic fitting about nine feet down in the ground. The FROZEN ground. Currently our barnyard looks like a combination of Niagra Falls and Ice Capades! Going out in a couple of minutes to deprive the stock of water for a few hours. Sure wish Santa would put a BackHoe under the tree this year.

Sometimes this whole ranching business is just toooooo much fun. ;-)

Take care.

 

[MULDOON]

We want pictures :shock: :lol: :cboy:

Good luck.

 

[Cattle Rack Rancher]

The heat tape under the Franklin ended up melting off a plastic fitting about nine feet down in the ground. The FROZEN ground. Currently our barnyard looks like a combination of Niagra Falls and Ice Capades! Going out in a couple of minutes to deprive the stock of water for a few hours. Sure wish Santa would put a BackHoe under the tree this year.

That's very interesting. A couple of years ago I was having trouble with my septic pump out freezing in the winter and one of my neighbors told me to set up a heating device similar to that heating tape on the pumpout with a switch so I could turn it on if the thing froze up. Not only did the pump out freeze the next year but when I turned on 'the heat' it melted the pipe right off about four feet down from ground level. Not only that but it didn't thaw out the pumpout either. At least you are dealing with relatively clean water :lol:

 

[CattleAnnie]

Okay Muldoon...ask and ye shall receive!

Guided tour of the latest challenge on Rockytop.

First off, starting at the "Glacier".

Then onwards up to a secondary waterer.

Next the lovely ditch that the water erosion is creating below the secondary waterer.

As we near the waterer installed by Moses (back when he was running cattle, before the Red Sea parting and all that jazz) we can see more evidence of the wonder of water following the path of least resistance.

Which brings us to the cause of much excitement this afternoon. Note that the offending waterer has been removed from it's base. Also note that the cattle don't seem to mind.

A final close-up shot of the little fountain flowing merrily.

Hope you enjoyed the tour. ;-)

Take care.

 

[rgv4]

Sorry to hear about you troubles, but, I enjoyed the pics.

Hope everything works out for you.

Good Luck

 

[ollie]

Do you remember what I told you Annie?

 

[CattleAnnie]

Errr.....ummm....about what, Ollie?

PS. Ain't complaining, just shaking my head over the oddities of life.

Take care.

 

[sidney411]

THANK YOU for the pictures ANNIE!!!!!!
I'm sorry for your misfortunes but I do enjoy seeing others pictures!

It is 50 something degrees outside here and I am quite enjoying it.

What is 'heat tape' and how is it powered? Sounds like it doesn't quite do what it is supposed to do