water hauler?

[J]

Does anyone have a method to haul water. I am just about finished building a set of pens but don't have the money to extend the water line there just yet. I currently provide water for my horses at another location and the calves can drink there but in the case where I need to pen one or two calves due to sickness or when I first buy them I would like to keep them penned for a few days. I am looking for someway possibly to use a 55 gal. drum with some sort of connection on it to connect a water hose to and leave it in my truck and haul water to the pens each day. Any other ways to do it? :idea: All ideas welcome. :help:

 

[certherfbeef]

I have 2 500 gallon water tanks on a small flatbed trailer. I'm having to haul water the herd right now.
The tanks are like ones you can get at farm and fleet or the elevator. I use them on the tender truck in the spring when we are spraying too.

Just a few fittings on the end and a regular water hose can be attached. I put them on the flatbed because I have to travel a ways to get the water and plus it doesn't tie up the bed of the truck incase I need to hook to a trailer.

 

[dj]

I assume the biggest cost of a water line for you is the trenching? You might try the black polypipe and leave laying on top of the ground. Kinda split your costs up that way. White pvc can't handle the sun it gets brittle and breaks.
If you seriously can't do anything else financially your 55 gal drum is going to be the cheapest. You won't need any fittings just stick the hose in the bung hole and filler up. Take another hose with you to syphon it out. Do you have shade over your pens? This August sun can sure cook their little brains.

Ohh and before you start sucking on the syphon hose what has this drum had in it?

 

[Running Arrow Bill]

I assume the biggest cost of a water line for you is the trenching? You might try the black polypipe and leave laying on top of the ground. Kinda split your costs up that way. White pvc can't handle the sun it gets brittle and breaks.
If you seriously can't do anything else financially your 55 gal drum is going to be the cheapest. You won't need any fittings just stick the hose in the bung hole and filler up. Take another hose with you to syphon it out. Do you have shade over your pens? This August sun can sure cook their little brains.

Ohh and before you start sucking on the syphon hose what has this drum had in it?

If you have to use a 55 gal drum, put a couple in back of your pickup. Lay them on their sides. Attach a 3/4" thread pipe & faucet to the 3/4" outlet. Fill with hose via 2" bung, plug it,
haul water, use hose from faucet to fill tanks.

Other option: Get a ~325 gal "pickup" poly tank and put on truck. Attach faucet to bottom outlet. Fill via top large hole.

The other (already mentioned): Get as many feet of the black poly pipe you need (preferable 1.25 or 1.50" dia (avoid friction losses over length of pipe). Attach one end to existing water supply, other end with a faucet to fill tanks (or run supplemental garden hose from there). As long as there is a low end to the poly pipe, you can leave it on top of ground, drain it in freezing weather, use it all winter long.

Note: Only using one 55 gal drum to carry water to cattle will be almost a full time job unless you have less than 5 cattle. They'll drink between 10 and 20 gal a day each, depending on weather & temperature.

 

[SPRINGER FARMS MURRAY GRE]

From what I have been told by the NRCS the problem with the black burst free pipe is that the water will be hot. :shock: :o :(

 

[Anonymous]

Does anyone have a method to haul water. I am just about finished building a set of pens but don't have the money to extend the water line there just yet. I currently provide water for my horses at another location and the calves can drink there but in the case where I need to pen one or two calves due to sickness or when I first buy them I would like to keep them penned for a few days. I am looking for someway possibly to use a 55 gal. drum with some sort of connection on it to connect a water hose to and leave it in my truck and haul water to the pens each day. Any other ways to do it? :idea: All ideas welcome. :help:

What distance are we talking?

Bez'

 

[Arnold Ziffle]

If the cost of "normal" trenching is the big obstacle from the $$ standpoint then consider if the following is feasible in your particular situation: Either borrow, buy or rent a single middle buster plow and dig your own trench with your tractor. Assuming you don't have rock very close to the surface you ought to be able to plow a pretty decent furrow with one or two passes. Then lay in the black plastic water line & cover it. Maybe add some line protection if the underground line crosses areas that get driven upon by cars, trucks tractors, etc. I don't know what part of "central" Texas you're in, but I don't suppose you have to worry too much about water freezing in the lines if you have them buried 6 to 12 inches deep.

 

[dun]

From what I have been told by the NRCS the problem with the black burst free pipe is that the water will be hot. :shock: :o :(

And the point is? It gets diluted as it runs into the tank and eventually the hot water in the pipe is replaced by cooler water from the source.
We use a good deal of 2 1/2 inch poly for the back pastures that isn;t feasible to trench. The grass grows up over the pipe and shades it also, that keeps it from getting as hot.

dun

 

[Beefy]

we have one of those water tanks on a trailer that has a pump that i use when dad isnt using it to fill his spray tank for crops. if he's using it i just use a couple of big trashcans with handles on the sides and lids. i like the lids b/c when you get there you still have about 3/4 of the water you started with as opposed to 1/2, lol. tried the siphoning thing before and that requires WAY more patience than i got alloted on patience-givin-out day. i find the trashcans with handles are easier to handle (tip over and aim) than a big tub with lots of surface area.

 

[J]

Does anyone have a method to haul water. I am just about finished building a set of pens but don't have the money to extend the water line there just yet. I currently provide water for my horses at another location and the calves can drink there but in the case where I need to pen one or two calves due to sickness or when I first buy them I would like to keep them penned for a few days. I am looking for someway possibly to use a 55 gal. drum with some sort of connection on it to connect a water hose to and leave it in my truck and haul water to the pens each day. Any other ways to do it? :idea: All ideas welcome. :help:

What distance are we talking?

Bez'

Probably 500' - 600' of pipe. Not a real big cost to just go ahead and install the pipe like I should but I hopefully won't have to haul water or keep anything up in the pens for very long. Although the pipe on top of the ground might be an option.
Thanks ya'll

 

[dun]

Does anyone have a method to haul water. I am just about finished building a set of pens but don't have the money to extend the water line there just yet. I currently provide water for my horses at another location and the calves can drink there but in the case where I need to pen one or two calves due to sickness or when I first buy them I would like to keep them penned for a few days. I am looking for someway possibly to use a 55 gal. drum with some sort of connection on it to connect a water hose to and leave it in my truck and haul water to the pens each day. Any other ways to do it? :idea: All ideas welcome. :help:

What distance are we talking?

Bez'

Probably 500' - 600' of pipe. Not a real big cost to just go ahead and install the pipe like I should but I hopefully won't have to haul water or keep anything up in the pens for very long. Although the pipe on top of the ground might be an option.
Thanks ya'll

The last that we got was 300 ft rolls. If you have a local USDA-NRCS office you might check with them to see if they have the stuff available or at a minimum a good source.

dun

 

[Dave]

I have one field that has 600 feet of one inch black utility grade poly pipe (80 psi) running to it. The pipe is just laying on top of the ground. It cost $38 for a 300 foot roll. I don't have any valves or anything at the end of the pipe. There is a metal fence post with the pipe tied to it with bale twine. The end of the pipe is aimed at the trough. I just turn on the pump and run the water into the trough. Takes about 15 minutes to fill a 350 gallon tank. I rolled the pipe out along a fence to keep cows from stepping on it or me from driving across it.
Dave

 

[dun]

I have one field that has 600 feet of one inch black utility grade poly pipe (80 psi) running to it. The pipe is just laying on top of the ground. It cost $38 for a 300 foot roll. I don't have any valves or anything at the end of the pipe. There is a metal fence post with the pipe tied to it with bale twine. The end of the pipe is aimed at the trough. I just turn on the pump and run the water into the trough. Takes about 15 minutes to fill a 350 gallon tank. I rolled the pipe out along a fence to keep cows from stepping on it or me from driving across it.
Dave

I just put a spigot on the end and hooked it to a tank float. Same principle, but this way I don;t have to worry about forgetting on hot days.

dun

 

[Dave]

This one is not at home. There isn't any running water and it is leased land so I am not installing any. The pump is a gas pump so I have to stay around until the trough fills to turn it off. I am working on a 12 volt pump run off a battery with a solar panel. The pump has a 45 psi cut off switch. I need a better filter system to keep it working. Once I get it working I can put in a tank float and I wont have to go over to fill teh tank every day.
Dave

 

[mbdear]

Dave...let us know how the 12v pump and solar panel works out. Right now I am using gasoline pumps to pump from pond to 600 gallon water tanks. I fill the gas tank and let it run until it runs out. My hose run is about 500 feet but uphill all the way so I lose a lot of pressure (volume). In really hot weather it takes 2 or 3 refills to fill the water trough. Electricity is not available at a reasonable cost.

 

[Anonymous]

Does anyone have a method to haul water. I am just about finished building a set of pens but don't have the money to extend the water line there just yet. I currently provide water for my horses at another location and the calves can drink there but in the case where I need to pen one or two calves due to sickness or when I first buy them I would like to keep them penned for a few days. I am looking for someway possibly to use a 55 gal. drum with some sort of connection on it to connect a water hose to and leave it in my truck and haul water to the pens each day. Any other ways to do it? :idea: All ideas welcome. :help:

What distance are we talking?

Bez'

well, for the time being - until freeze up if you get it - run a hose to a float while you figure it out - we got longer stretches than that.

Bez'
Probably 500' - 600' of pipe. Not a real big cost to just go ahead and install the pipe like I should but I hopefully won't have to haul water or keep anything up in the pens for very long. Although the pipe on top of the ground might be an option.
Thanks ya'll

 

[bigbull338]

ok ive sat here an read all of this.by the time you buy a tank an pump to haul the water to your pens.you can more than pay for running the waterlines to the pens.not to mention if you get caught with cattle in the pens.after a week youll be sick of hauling water.as for laying the line all you need is a 1 boyyom plow to digg the trench.providing you can get it in the ground.scott

 

[dun]

ok ive sat here an read all of this.by the time you buy a tank an pump to haul the water to your pens.you can more than pay for running the waterlines to the pens.not to mention if you get caught with cattle in the pens.after a week youll be sick of hauling water.as for laying the line all you need is a 1 boyyom plow to digg the trench.providing you can get it in the ground.scott

I'll sure go along with the getting sick of hauling water. We used 55 gallon drums laying on their side with a large dump type spigot in the lower hole. Filled them through the top hole with a garden hose. 3 barrels 3 times a day during the summer. That's why we now use polypipe.

dun

 

[Beefy]

we just put a water hose in the tank and leave it running all day. at the end of the day its full, we haul it down to the pen, crank her up and in 2 minutes every thing is full of water. then let it sit there until we need it for something else or it empties (we always need it for something else first.)

 

[cowgirl580]

we use a 425 gal tank that we haul in the back of a pick-up. slightly diff situation though. that is how we haul our house water. we pump outta the river for the animals. the water tanks you buy are pretty good. not too much of a hassle, for us anyway. there is always someone in town so it's not too big of a deal to just stop and fill up with water on the way home. good luck.