Keeping the stock tank from freezing over

[animal_lover1]

Hi to all of my new friends! I was wondering if any of you had a solution to keep a stock tank from freezing up without using any electricity.And also,have you ever seen a wood burning tank heater? I would really like to find one.Thank-you.

[Laura]

A friend of mine has a propane heater for his stock tank. Doesn't require any electricity. I don't know if he made it himself, or bought it. I can check with him tonight if you'd like. Laura

[egon]

We used to have a cast iron wood/coal burning stock water tank heater. It was about the size of a 10 gallon barrel with top lid, air vent and chimney. It sat right in the tank.

Egon

[Slyder]

I've never had to try this myself, since I use an electric plug heater, but...it was in Western Horsemen last month. Place a log with a diameter of at least four inches in the tank to help break up the ice as it forms. As I said...don't know if it will work or not. I did have a friend that put insulation around tank and then a peice of foam insulation on top to keep it from freezing. The horses had to figure out to push down on teh foam to get water. It worked for him, but I don't know how well it will work if it gets REALLY cold.

[animal_lover1]

Thanks so much for all the advice.This is a GREAT place! [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[zuiko]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
I did have a friend that put insulation around tank and then a peice of foam insulation on top to keep it from freezing. The horses had to figure out to push down on teh foam to get water. It worked for him, but I don't know how well it will work if it gets REALLY cold.

[/ QUOTE ]

They make commercial tanks that work on that principal. There is a certain minimum number of animals required for each tank size but they seem pretty ingenious and require no electricity, gas, etc and can be placed anywhere.