Water, Plan B

A.k.a. What I should have done in the first place!!!

After having to haul about 20 pairs of buckets Christmas Eve to the water trough in the paddock, I was starting to question why I wanted to leave the tank where it was. Although still being filled by snow melt and the occasional rain-storms we're still getting, it was proving to be a huge PITA to get water into especially since my hose is hopelessly frozen into the ground. Also we had a huge long extension cord run across the yard to keep the de-icer plugged in.

I should mention after our first snow storm the horses or cows knocked down the electric separating their paddocks so they're all together again (and happier for it; I caught them all having a big nap in the hay today, one big happy herd!)

Sometimes you need a day or two away from a problem to get your head on straight, and so Plan B... 

DUH!!! We move the water trough to the back of barn where it is 10' from the water connector in the cow-section of the barn and 10' from an electrical outlet!! There is even a connection here with a switch where the old automatic water tank (sadly rusted out!) was plugged in. We don't need the switch because the de-icer has thermostat.

Now I only need to thaw out a 10' hose when it freezes despite being emptied out (in fact I'm storing it in the shop). If I can't get the hose running I only need to move buckets 10'. While the pump in the yard is a frost-free, the handle has still frozen down a few times with all the freezing rain we've been getting. The tap in the cow-section has heat tape on it & not only doesn't freeze, the water coming out that's stored in the tap is just warm enough to melt off anything on the top of the hose too.

Can we have summer back?