It's getting cold here, but not bitterly so.
This weekend we finished building an insulated stock tank cover for watering our cattle. This means we can continue to use the automatic filler during the winter months and I won't have to stay out there half an hour at a time each day waiting for the tank to fill from the freeze proof faucet.
This is what it looks like:
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Best of all, we'll be able to leave for a day or two as needed. Up until now, we've had to be available to water them every day during the winter months. Now, if we have to be elsewhere for some reason, we can.
The floating balls are to help insulate the open water part of the tank. That little bull wasn't really sure it was OK to drink between the balls at first. When the cattle get used to it, I'm going to completely fill the open area with balls.
This was my own design from start to finish, so I'm pretty excited about it. I hope it works! We are taking a chance with it, though. The freeze proof faucet is designed to drain all the water out to well below the frost line so the pipe isn't in danger of freezing. This arrangement negates all that, and if the pipe freezes, it's really a pain to replace. We are going to put heat tape on the faucet and the hose to the tank to keep it from freezing, as well as a tank heater in the water.
I'm hoping the thick insulation means the heater hardly ever needs to come on.