need advice on automatic waterers

I have 3 head of cattle that will be drinking from it. I have water and 110 volts to where I want to set it. I just dont know what brands are good and witch are junk. I want one that dont take much heat to keep it thawed in the winter. Most I have looked at require at least 25 head for a small model to keep the water thawed. I will never have more that 5 head at one time so now I'm scratching my head! I have a 100 gallon tank with a heater now and am wanting to get away from having to fill it every other day and go to an automatic. What do you recomend?

back years ago when we had cows we had Ritchie waters, they had LP heaters and were completely clear at all times the water was warm and steam rolled off them in sub zero cold, they worked for us down to -40 below

Could you add a float valve to your existing tank and just leave the water on?

(quoted from post at 13:14:49 03/23/14) Could you add a float valve to your existing tank and just leave the water on?

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That seems to be the easiest solution. All the tanks seem to focus on saving heat in some way, shape or form. The problem is, I put a kil-o-watt meter on my barrel and it was only 50 cents a day for the worst month of winter. If Im only saving $15 a month, and only the worst months thats maybe $50 a year. Takes me a long time to make that up with a new waterer, for now Im going to keep what I have.

I have two GeoTherm waterers and they require no electricity. I have had them for over 5 years and it doesn't make any difference how many cows you have. It uses a mechanical thermostatic valve to add water to the bowl and it use geothermal heat to keep the supply line from freezing.They cost around $500 when I got them so I think they are a little more expensive now but they have been trouble free for me.You have to install a small drain field under the waterer to deal with the over flow but there is absolutely no electricity required. I have use mine in tempertures as low as -30°F without any problems.

Cobett works as advertised. It won't never really freeze up, tho
it can get a skin of an inch of ice over the top. It uses heat from
6-8 feet deep to bring earth heat up to the bowl to keep the
valve on the bottom thawed.

Got to check a waterer once a day anyhow, on those couple
below zero days you bust te ice with a hammer and good to
go.

Up here in mn I have no electricity on mine at all, been
working nicely for over a decade now, think I saved enough
electricity to pay for it!

Go to Newagtalk.com and search for livestock waterers, for a
tiny company you will see it has many many fans and good
reviews from us northern farmers.

http://www.cobett.com/

Paul
Cobett

Ritchie no heater required

I water 5 horses with a 100 gal. tank with Hudson float valve and a electric heater. Works fine for me!

I have close to twenty of the Ritchie poly cattle waters. For your use they will work well.

Get a watermatic 100. They are right at $300. They are completely poly. So no rust ever.

Then I install them with the water supply and electric coming up the bottom. I pour the concrete and set the bolts and waterer in the wet concrete. I push the waterer down a 1/4 if an inch into the wet concrete and let it dry there.( it being poly will let you put it right out when the concrete is dry.) This makes an air tight seal. So those cold winds do not get under the waterer, also no mice either.

I install a 110 volt electric receptacle under the waterer. The one plug I use for the submersible thermostatted heater. The the other plug I put a 40 watt light bulb in. This the heater keeps the water tank ice free and the bulb keeps the lines and shut off valves good and ice free. Also you can tell if the electric is on because you can see the waterer glow after dark from the light bulb.

I like how simple these waterers are. The floats/valves are simple to adjust and repair. It is also up on the top under the cover. No more laying down in manure to work through a small side hole on the water valve.

PS: I have started to put a cut piece of ceramic tile in the bottom of the water tank under the float and heater. Just a six inch square with one corner dubbed off. This holds the heater up off the bottom. If you run out of water for any reason when it is real cold the heater can't melt the bottom of the water tank with the tile in there.

Email me if you want more details. I can't tell you how much easier my winters are now with these waterers. I used to spend half my time fooling with frozen waterers on sub zero days.

With the bulb and heater your waterer will work with the fewer head you have. I have the bigger models in some lots and they really don't need any out side heat as they have enough cattle drinking that they keep enough water flow to maintain the BTUs needed for ice free operation. I still use the bulb and heaters in them so if I empty a lot I don't have to worry about a waterer freezing. I have some of the Watermatics in calf lots that may only have 3-4 300 lbs calves in them and they stay clear with the bulb and heater.
Ritchie Watermatic 100

With that few,how would it be to go with a heated horse waterer instead? Made for just a few horses.

We have a Richie pork king all stainless, never any troubles. They are pricey but worth it.Jim

Justin,
I had a small horse farm in Madison County, Ia-near Winterset. When I built my barn I bought 2 Nelson waterers. They are made of stainless steel and have minimal moving parts. I installed them and worked on them myself over the years with no problems. A call to the company gets you an English speaking person to help with any questions. My neighbor, the local Vet, had Richie waterers that he got at a great price through he local clinic. We had a 2 week spell of -10 degree weather. His froze up every day. I never had a speck of ice in mine. We both had 4 horses at the time. They use an insulated pvc pipe that extends below the frost line so that the 54 degree air flows up around the water lines to keep them free of ice. There is a tiny heater below the stainless bowl to keep it free also. They use minimal electricity. Best of all they are made right here in Iowa. I can't recommend them highly enough.

We use the old meal Ritchie waters for cattle might have to change a valve once every 10 years or so. I think out of 3 of them we changed 1 heating element in 20years. I think the ones we have are the old CD-50's.

You can't leave water "on" in Iowa, everything including the float would freeze solid in a matter of hours. Float, hose supplying the float, hydrant supplying the hose, then after a couple of hours the weakest points would burst. Digging up a frozen hydrant is one of those things you don't ever want to do again.

Nate

I would say choose whatever is the cheapest and plan on using a heater in it. I have had good luck with brand name auto waterers that are energy free with alot of head drinking out of them. Not so much luck when there is only a few, run a small tank heater in it like this and you dont have anything to worry about.

Nate

Best setup I have ever had, for 6-12 cattle, is to just turn the
frost proof hydrant on, a squeak. The way my setup is, is the
hydrant is above a concrete retaining wall, about 6' from the
wall. I run the trickle of water down a piece of rain gutter, or
PVC pipe, so it drips into a bathtub, in the concrete cowyard,
below. Most it's ever froze up is for a week or 2, in the worst MD
winters. During that time, the cows eat snow, and water that
slides off the barn roofs, or I haul water to them. I don't know
where you are in the country, so this might not work for you. I
also have other bathtubs, strategically placed under other roofs
for them to drink out of. Haven't lost one yet, LOL!

Cobett made in Madison county Iowa by a local farmer great invention

We have several models that we would recommend for you here in
Iowa. The Omni 1 or the EcoFount 1 both have overall heat
coverage and will be extremely energy efficient for your herd size.
Let us know if you have questions as we are happy to help.

I hope your neighbor contacted us here at Ritchie as the freezing issue is not typical and most likely is an easy solution. Please feel free to pass on that he is welcome to contact us.

thank you for all of the advice on Ritchie. We would suggest installing a self regulating heat cable instead of the light bulb as the light bulb can melt the side of the unit. If you have questions about our recommended heaters, please feel free to contact us.

(quoted from post at 11:33:29 03/24/14) We have several models that we would recommend for you here in
Iowa. The Omni 1 or the EcoFount 1 both have overall heat
coverage and will be extremely energy efficient for your herd size.
Let us know if you have questions as we are happy to help.

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What does this model cost?