Foggy47
5 year old buck +
Today was water hole day. Rather than dig ponds......I just bought two 110 gallon Tuff Stuff tubs at Tractor Supply ($109 ea). Then I bought two good clean (food grade) drums from a local guy to transport my water from my well to the locations I have. Actually I have three locations....with one being a sled / tub generally used for ice fishing.....but these make pretty good water holes too. Took far longer than I thought to get these things done. <----seems about par for the course.
I filled the two barrels laying down in the bed of my truck.....which took "forever" as my well does not have good flow anymore. Maybe 2 gallons / minute or so. Ugh. It works for spaying 40 gallon loads in my sprayer....but its tedious. I think I will load my barrels at my home where I have a hydrant that puts our huge volumes of water and then transport to the tubs.
Also I need a better way of getting water from the barrel into these tubs. I lost over 50% of the water I filled into the barrels as it would splash on my trucks bumper before getting to the tub. Argh. Saved more water filling for another day and a better plan. I am 90% on my way to figuring out the easy way to do this....but today was a bit short sighted. I got the needed components....and know the remaining issues. So I think it can go smooth from here. At this point I have $270 invested in having three good water holes available at good locations on my land.
Having a tailgate that opens to the side allows me to back up to the water tank....and with a flow "table" I will be able to divert that water into a tub pretty quickly (or so I hope). I had some old Plastic Lumber from a deck projects about 25 years ago....and it does not float...but will last forever as an escape for little critters that crawl into that tub.
Who knew transporting water would be an issue? I'm anxious to get my cameras set up to see the critters that show up at my water holes. The water always seems to draw critters......if only for a few licks. I think it is more of a social gathering point than a necessary watering hole.
I filled the two barrels laying down in the bed of my truck.....which took "forever" as my well does not have good flow anymore. Maybe 2 gallons / minute or so. Ugh. It works for spaying 40 gallon loads in my sprayer....but its tedious. I think I will load my barrels at my home where I have a hydrant that puts our huge volumes of water and then transport to the tubs.
Also I need a better way of getting water from the barrel into these tubs. I lost over 50% of the water I filled into the barrels as it would splash on my trucks bumper before getting to the tub. Argh. Saved more water filling for another day and a better plan. I am 90% on my way to figuring out the easy way to do this....but today was a bit short sighted. I got the needed components....and know the remaining issues. So I think it can go smooth from here. At this point I have $270 invested in having three good water holes available at good locations on my land.
Having a tailgate that opens to the side allows me to back up to the water tank....and with a flow "table" I will be able to divert that water into a tub pretty quickly (or so I hope). I had some old Plastic Lumber from a deck projects about 25 years ago....and it does not float...but will last forever as an escape for little critters that crawl into that tub.
Who knew transporting water would be an issue? I'm anxious to get my cameras set up to see the critters that show up at my water holes. The water always seems to draw critters......if only for a few licks. I think it is more of a social gathering point than a necessary watering hole.
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