What would you do?

[skyhightree1]

This is one of my hayfields and has some good grass on it that id love to put some calves or thin cows on over the winter.. Here is the problem. It has no water access I would have to haul water 10 mins from my house. Does anyone in here haul water to there cattle? Do you all think it would be worth it to haul water there? These cattle I would put there would be sale barn cattle and I don't want to mix with my current herd that have waterers. it is already fenced for electric.

 

[Bigfoot]

My dad, does a bunch of water hauling, but I'd add to that, he's retired. It's also not up and down the road, but on the place he lives. It mostly allows him make more rotations. Does it with a tongue wagon with a 500 gallon tank over the back axle.

 

[skyhightree1]

I guess it wouldn't be that bad but with winter coming not sure how I would keep that water from freezing. If it were summer no problem.

 

[Craig Miller]

How many cows are you talking about? Can you get away with it once a week or 3-4 times a week? I had to put water in a small tank every other day when i first got started. The water was there already but i had to be there every other day in winter and everyday in warmer months and it was a twenty minute drive. I was glad when i got them on another pasture.

 

[Kingfisher]

How hard is it to drill a well there?

 

[skyhightree1]

How many cows are you talking about? Can you get away with it once a week or 3-4 times a week? I had to put water in a small tank every other day when i first got started. The water was there already but i had to be there every other day in winter and everyday in warmer months and it was a twenty minute drive. I was glad when i got them on another pasture.

I was thinking 3 thin cows and some calves from the barn or maybe 10 calves or so. I guess I could keep them there till it got really cold then move them to my pasture but I don't want to. I would hope maybe twice a week but guess it depends on the amount of cattle. The kids pet cattle consists of 2 cows with 3 wt calves and a heifer due in feb and I have a 150 gallon water trough and I can let that go now for 4 days and it has about 6 inches of water in it. So I figure maybe 3 times a week haul water.

How hard is it to drill a well there?

Its not my place I rent it.

 

[Nesikep]

I think there are some propane powered stock tank deicers.. might be an option.

For hauling I'd want about a 500 gal tank, that way you can fill up the waterer once in a while without having to haul each time.

 

[Toad]

:???: Heck down there is the flat land ya'll don't even have any freezing weather do you? :lol: :lol:

 

[skyhightree1]

I think there are some propane powered stock tank deicers.. might be an option.

For hauling I'd want about a 500 gal tank, that way you can fill up the waterer once in a while without having to haul each time.

By the time i got the propane powered stock tank that would be fuel cost for 2 years probably :lol2: I got 300 gallon tanks I can use

:???: Heck down there is the flat land ya'll don't even have any freezing weather do you? :lol: :lol:

I sure wish that was true :lol2:

 

[John SD]

There are a few unknowns here in your proposal that need to be addressed before we can give much of an intelligent answer.

IMO, hauling water sucks any time of year, but especially in winter. Whenever water stops moving, EVERYTHING will likely be frozen solid within 10 minutes. But it can be done because I have done it. Didn't like it, but did it because I had to.

Keep all hoses disconected and drained when not in actual use. A thermos of boiling hot water is an absolute must have with you to thaw plastic tank valves. Plastic does not take kindly to brute force. Trust me, I speak from experience If you are in a temperate climate and seldom deal with sub-zero temps though, winter water hauling "might" be tolerable.

Then there's the volume of water and the capacity of your transport system to consider. My methods would vary depending on the number of cattle needing water, and the means of transport. I used both a 1500 tank in my 2 ton truck, and a 400 tank in a 3/4 ton pickup. Both served the purpose.

In temperate months I have been known to park the 1500 gal tank with a garden hose float and leave it set there for a day or two with relatively few cattle drinking on it. The 400 gal pickup tank I wanted to unload and go back for another load if necessary. A mostly empty 8' round tank would hold 400 gallons.

i assume your winter operation will preclude any float setup, and also water supply needs to be adjusted to the need. Otherwise you are just making yourself extra work dealing with tons of ice.

Edit: After reading follow-up posts made while I was typing, I see my post doesn't jibe with the situation as I visualized it So here's my revised :idea:

If your well is good enough, could you roll out some small diameter HDPE pipe on the ground and let it run a constant trickle? 3 cows and 10 calves are just not going to take much water in winter, especially if that grass stays lush and green under a couple inches of snow.

Again I'm making a guess as to just how far "10 minutes" from your house is. Makes a big difference if you are on an actual road or not. 10 minutes down my gravel road could get me 5 miles from home @ 30 mph. Of course 5 miles is too far to run a temporary surface water line. 10 minutes over a rough cow trail with a load of water would get me about 1/2 mile from the house, which IMO is doable with a temporary surface water line.

 

[pricefarm]

I hauled water for years before I finally put in a water line to the barn. Best thing I ever done. Hauling water will get old very fast. Is there no one close to the land where u could maybe run a water hose and pay for the water you use? I have some land I rent that has a spring going through it but when it gets dry the spring will go dry. There are some people that live next to the land and they let me run a hose from a outside falset to water the cows. I pay them what ever extra there water bill is.

 

[skyhightree1]

Winters here are pretty mild and rarely will temps drop to 0.. The hose freezing isn't a problem for as I can get it out of a heated building by hose. The issue I really have is it worth driving back and forth to provide water lol 10minute ride over tarred roads.

 

[skyhightree1]

I hauled water for years before I finally put in a water line to the barn. Best thing I ever done. Hauling water will get old very fast. Is there no one close to the land where u could maybe run a water hose and pay for the water you use? I have some land I rent that has a spring going through it but when it gets dry the spring will go dry. There are some people that live next to the land and they let me run a hose from a outside falset to water the cows. I pay them what ever extra there water bill is.

unfortunately no one at that location my friend is about 2 miles away that I could get water from. I just hate to ask to use peoples stuff. There is a drainage ditch on the property that I asked the owner could I dig it out for water for the cattle they said they did not have a problem with it long as its not really deep but it only fills up and has water after a rain.

 

[highgrit]

Your all over the place Sky. Last I knew you sold off most of your herd to be able to spend more time with the family. And hauling water and buying calves is very time consuming. IMO You'll be alright, hunting season is close by so just cut back on the hunting and you'll have plenty of time to tote water.

 

[skyhightree1]

Your all over the place Sky. Last I knew you sold off most of your herd to be able to spend more time with the family. And hauling water and buying calves is very time consuming. IMO You'll be alright, hunting season is close by so just cut back on the hunting and you'll have plenty of time to tote water.

HG you are right im all over :lol2: I did sell off most and will be selling more. I have been studying the market and there is gold in them there hills by buying one place keeping a while and selling at higher barn. I wont have to cut as much hay with a smaller herd and can utilize those hay fields for raising thin cows and calves. You are right about the calves and water hauling being time consuming but the bottle calves will be at home. Yes sir Saturday it starts so until Jan my full time job will be hunting and part time job cattle going to sales :lol2: Cut back on hunting :shock: :shock: :shock:

 

[John SD]

Winters here are pretty mild and rarely will temps drop to 0.. The hose freezing isn't a problem for as I can get it out of a heated building by hose. The issue I really have is it worth driving back and forth to provide water lol 10minute ride over tarred roads.

Back when I hauled water, it took me 6 minutes on the gravel road to get to the tar road, then 20 minutes to get to the water source, and another 20 minutes to fill the tank. Return home and empty, then come back and refill.

Tried to leave a load of water on the truck at all times. Sometimes in the heat of the summer I repeated this process 3X per day keeping up with 100 pairs. If the truck went down, I had one hell of a time trying to keep up with the pickup

Fortunately my worst breakdown ever during this time was a leaky honeycomb radiator, and I am thankful for a good man at the radiator shop who made it a priority to get me back on the road again. Most expensive repair in that time was a set of 4 new Firestone 900-20 truck duals :shock:

Did I mention I hate hauling water?

And I :heart: :heart: :heart: pipelines :nod: