I have an unheated pole barn which I installed a yard hydrant in. For 6 yrs. no problems, recently it has developed a green patch of grass outside the shop opposite where the hydrant is at. A small hole the dog dug is full of water always. I am assuming a leak ,perhaps in the plastic line feeding it (4' undergound) has anyone experienced anything similar? I hate to dig it up unnecessarily. Any opinions appreciated.
I don't know what brand of hydrant you have there, but on all of the ones I have (3-two "Copperhead" and one "Gottta look") you can shut off supply and then remove the 'head' by loosening a setscrew- then lift out the whole internal assembly. You will then find some o-rings on the valve assembly at the bottom of the mechanism. There is probably a bad one that needs replacing. When I install the new o-rings, I always coat them with some petroleum jelly to lube them up just a bit before re-assembly. Try this before digging!!! Good Luck!! [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
Thanks for the response , I hope mine is the type fixable by pulling out the guts without digging. I'll give it a try tonight and let you know how it goes, not sure of the brand.
The "Gotta look" brand is a "Woodford" which is a little different in that it has the head threaded onto the standpipe; haven't had to take it apart YET; but I am sure that all one would need is a couple pipe wrenches, and just unscrew the head and lift out the assembly!! I guess I don't like digging something up if I don't have to!! [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/cool.gif[/img]
I'm tired of heat tape and plan to install one of these hydrants in my barn this weekend. Not many people in my area have them that I've noticed so I'm not very familiar with them. Do you have to prepare some sort of drywell or drain system for them? They kinda look like a horse could accidently turn them on so should they be located accordingly? Any particular features I should look for in buying one? The water line itself is 2' deep, any benefit in installing the hydrant deeper? Appreciate the help, I really want this done right so I can throw the heat tape away and sleep better at night knowing my girls are a little safer in their stalls.
Yes you need to prepare the area that the hydrant will sit in. Usually just put some pea gravel in about 12-18" below the hydrant and about 6" above the drain on the hydrant. This gives the hydrant somewhere to drain to. You would want to be 1-2" below the frost line.
If you are only going down 2' then you will also need to drive a post to keep the hydrant upright.
Horses and cattle definitely can learn to turn them on. We just tie a piece of wire around it and it that works fine. Also put them out of the way. I have seen horses impale themselves by rearing and landing on them.
1st - use 1 1/2" stone around the base of the hydrant for good draining.
2nd - use pea gravel for the top 1 1/2'
3rd - make sure that you use something to prevent dirt/ silt from filtering in/ around the gravel so you don't get a drainage problem.
4th - I've got three of them, one in a barn, two out in the fields. had to dig one of them up, very, VERY big pain in the butt. Had to install a new hydrant, the old one was shot beyond fixing.
good luck! Doug
The model (Woodford) I purchased had a threaded fitting on the drain hole so I got really fancy and piped it from the aisle of my barn outside to the french drain that handles the raingutter water. This way I didn't have to use gravel which I didn't relish having to dig out for future repairs/replacement. I anchored the standpipe to a structural pole using two 6" antenna mast standoff brackets. Solid, dry, and hasn't frozen up yet. I was so proud of my installation I splurged on a 100' commercial 3/4" hose. An unexpected plus to this system is that it will also drain the hose if it's rolled back up on the reel so the hose doesn't freeze up. There's also a good chance nothing will drain with the hose left hooked up so I added a valved Y-splitter and I leave the hose hooked to one side and leave the other open. That way I can just open the valve on the open side to insure the standpipe drains without the hassle of disconnecting the hose every night. I'm surely thrilled to be rid of the heat tape.
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