Time for Heated Water Buckets!

[RackinRudy]

Well last night was the first night their buckets started to ice over.
So I'm looking for some heated buckets for their stalls.

Instead of going with the 5 gal pails (I think the normal water bucket is that) I'd rather get a little bit bigger one cuz they both go through 2 a night.

I'm looking at this one: http://www.horse.com/Farm-Ranch-Supplies/Heated-Buckets-Deicers/16-Gallon-Heated-Tub-BEW15.html#review

Does anyone have an opinion on this or a suggestion? :cowboy:

Thanks.

[HeartofSteel]

Just curious why you don't go for troughs and then getting water heaters in them? lol

[WashingtonBay]

I think because she wants something for inside the stalls.

Seems like a good option Rackin... if you can secure it to a corner or the wall so the horses can't pull them over.

We've done that with the muck buckets of similar design, through a rope around it fastened to an eye in the wall, but they may make a ring for it to set in that would be better. (haven't looked)

[Palogal]

heated water buckets...must be a northern thing...;)

[WashingtonBay]

Indeed. I haven't made this jump yet. My major reason against it is that it would mean yet another extension cord running someplace. I've got limited power options.

On cold mornings when the hose is frozen, we usually pack out a couple of buckets of hot water to pour on the troughs. Very many days of THAT in a row, and I start thinking about these buckets. :D

[Palogal]

you mean it gets cold enough that the water FREEZES? LOL. (I used to live in Chicago):cool:

[RackinRudy]

you mean it gets cold enough that the water FREEZES? LOL. (I used to live in Chicago):cool:

That's right .. rub it in! :p

It was only in the 20's last night and their stall buckets started to freeze, their 100 gallon trough probably had an inch of ice too.

Looks like I better take the plunge and order the heaters ... $142!
There goes my cool riding boots I want! :mad:

[lovesfortune]

We are going to move the automatic waterer inside the barn this weekend because it's getting to be that time. The pipes, etc. are all insulated for inside the barn and the temp. is always a little bit warmer in there.

I feel your pain.

[walkinthewalk]

heated water buckets...must be a northern thing...;)

Not exactly - lol lol

I live in Southern Middle Tennessee. While we had freezes on Monday and Tuesday nights, they still weren't anything compared to when I lived on the OH/PA border:eek:

We will get below freezing a handful of days over the winter, but this was really early.

Mr. WTW and I got the outdoor, heated stock tanks hooked back up and drug the heated stall buckets out of storage.

Last year was our first year for heated water. We are both ecstatic that we don't have to fill the trunk of the car with a bunch of pails full of hot water and carefully drive them to the barn. I've done that all my life and I have now retired from that too:cowboy:

The heated buckets I have are slightly more than 5 gallons. We have 220 amp service at the barn but we are short on outlets, so I have to use extension cords too. I buy the heavy-duty construction type. We did install outlets for the outside tanks and they are carefully "hidden" because I have one horse that will lip anything he's not supposed to -lol lol

[Palogal]

It was freezing here this morning too. It was about 47.

[vicklynn]

I dont have indoor tubs for the run in. If my horses get thirsty, they can take their hinneys up to the heated trough...lol
Sure wish I had a barn w/stalls sometimes, but it'll do.

[oursarge]

We went through 3 trough heaters last yr. I don't know why the miserable things kept dying. Each one lasted 2 months, they worked nice when they worked but then they stopped working. We got refunds but it would have been nice to know why it happened. This is what we had. http://www.horse.com/Farm-Ranch-Supplies/Heated-Buckets-Deicers/Smart-Convertible-De-Icer-BES01 I thought it was our hard water and minerals but even soaked it in Vinegar but that didn't help. We're looking to get a different kind this year. We'll see if that works. They have a thermo bucket in the barn but they won't drink from it if it has the styrofome cover on it and it won't work unless it has a cover. My other horse drank from it for 15 yrs, these guys chew the styrofome but won't drink from the bucket with it covered. Silly boys. The water trough has been frozen a few times so far this year but thaws quick. I am dreading when it gets really cold and we get another tank heater that croaks and the ice is thick.

[MyMia]

I bought that heated water bucket last year. It worked well...until we lost power and the bucket froze solid. I was afraid of burning out the heater coil by plugging it in while surrounded by frozen water, so I left it frozen until we got a warmish, sunny day. I lugged the bucket outside to sit in the sun, the bucket slipped, fell on the ground, and cracked. I called the company and they said the bucket itself wasn't part of the warranty (only the heater coil). I could have bought a new bucket from them (minus the heater coil), but decided this year, I'm getting a 16 gal. bucket with an enclosed heater. The one I want is at Tractor Supply.

Bottom line--the bucket worked well when the power was on. No trouble at all keeping the water from freezing. If you lose power often, you'll have to be careful of the bucket if it freezes.

[grandmadeb]

I got an insulated bucket for Al. He likes warm water in the winter and if he doesn't get it he won't drink and he will become impacted. He has 2 buckets, a regular on and the insulated one. Both get filled with warm water just before the barn shuts down for the night and first thing in the morning. The insulated one does not freeze and it keeps the water warmer through the night. He does not really care for it but it is an option for him should he want to use it.

[Gem's Mom]

A friend of mine has that exact bucket. She has a draft so he needs that much available overnight. She wishes she had gotten the 2 5gal buckets though. He likes to dunk his hay and that bucket is a pain to clean. And at least when we bought them (from horse.com) it was about the same $ to get one of those or 2 of the smaller ones.

We got lucky at our barn. The BO hates extension cords so each stall has an outlet mounted on the outside with a hole in the stall wall especially for heated buckets. He also put outlets above the stall, one per stall all on their own switch for fans to get plugged in to. Plus they all have their own light switch! I think he may have gotten a discount on electric wire or just had a desire to see how many things he could wire up. Oh and all the wire is in enclosed tubing (metal I think) so there's no problems there.

[42many]

Gem's - that's the way I want to do it! I am looking forward to next year, when I will hopefully have the time and money to get electric wiring run. I plan on putting it in tubes and running an outlet to each stall for use with fans/heaters/medical lighting needs/etc.

I don't have anything prepared for freezing this year. In past years, though, I've just gotten one of those drop in water de-icers and put it in the stock tanks to keep them from freezing up. Really, it only takes ONE freeze for me to decide to pull heaters/de-icers out!! I hate the cold weather, and especially hate clearing ice out. :D

[Sparrk]

Yep, plugged mine in today.

It does mean 3 extra extension cords, but until I can afford to do the hydro in the barn, it's better than ice.

[farmers_wife]

We were down to 20 here in MN. I put my heated water buckets up yesterday also. It sucks to be so cold so early. Makes for a long winter. I am still not done with my outside things yet.