I have about $3000 to set up a remote watering system (a grant where I return purebred cows to them in exchange for the remote watering system). I want it to be semi-moveable so I can empty the sloughs I have fenced the cattle out of before moving to our main water dugoug. It will have to push the water about 800 feet to a tank which gravity feeds the rotationally grazed pastures. I can't say what the lift is though . . don't knwo how to figure it out 800 feet apart! It is not more than 50 feet (*G*) Any suggestions? The grant has to pay for pipe, tank, pump and whatever I use to power it. I think solar panels are out right now because they would bring the cost up too high, but I'd be willing to use rechargeable deep cycle batteries. It is too far away to run a 110 line etc. The suggestion right now is to use a floating pump with a float that will shut it off when the tank is full (and turn on when it gets below a certain number). Use 6v deep cycle batteries to run it and drains for the pipes when they are in low areas - they will be run above ground. The tank only holds 1200 gallons, but it will last 10 days with my miniature cattle. Any suggestions! Heather
A grant is usually something that is recieved and not repaid. I wouldn't consider what you have a grant since you have to repay by giving up livestock. A barter maybe? Having said that, I can help you with the lift/head is. Get a soils book for the county your are in and simply count the contour lines and convert to elevation differences. No soils map available? Look at a quadrangle topographic map to look at the contour lines. Some county agency will have it as well as a library. You might consider getting one of Hoot's gasoline engine driven 12 volt generators for recharging your deep cycle batteries. That is if you can't put one together for yourself. You might also consider a gasoline engine driven water pump and skip the electric. Sorry I really can't help beyond the lift/head.
Do you have line of sight between the source of water and your tank above it? If so you can get tall stick and mark it a invtervals. Raise the stick vertical at the point of the water source. Get someone to look through a rifle scope that is held level. Have that someone look for the nearest mark on the stick to determine the elevation distance between your source and your tank. That's your lift. You could also do this with a real long garden hose, elevating the end at the source until water was level with the tank end. The height of your hose is then the lift. I'd also recommend a gas powered pump. About $400 or so a Tractor Supply. Won't take any time or much gasoline at all to pump just 1200 gallons, depending on you lift.
Yes, we have a line of sight between the source of water and the tank. I never thought of the tall stick thing. I thought about the garden hose, but to get 800 feet of garden hose seemed like a lot :<). Thanks for the suggestions. I'll also check out the topography maps etc. Heather
Topo maps may not provide the resolution you seek. Usgs maps have 40' resolution. That's +/- 40. I wanted a detailed topo for my mountain land. The surveyor said he could download goverment satelite images that have topographic resolution to 2'. The difficulty is that the image must be referenced to specific points that have been surveyed. The downloaded image would have cost me only about $200 in a cd format usable on autocad. The effort to pinpoint the property boundaries would have cost another $300 or $400. I suggest you buy a cheap laser level. You can find them for $10-20 just about anywhere. Use duct tape to mount/stabilize the laser level on a longer level (4' or more) or a straight board. Those short levels are not very accurate over long distances. Place and level this assembly on your high point. Point it to where you want the water to go. Tack on a piece of cardboard on a ten foot stick - like a picket sign. The "sign" is on the top of stick and goes above a few inches. Draw an "X" on the cardboard to mark the top of the stick. Use the "X" as the target for the laser beam. Keep the laser beam spot on the picket as you gradually walk toward your final destination. Mark the ground where you can set the stick upright and the laser beam is on the "X". The stick needs to be vertical, use another level. Move the laser assembly to this spot. Repeat the process. Each iteration is 10ft. Add up the total.
I read that it was too far to run electricity. However, I would like to know the footage between an electrical source of 240 volts and the water source. Thanks
You should check the cattle every day. Put a 275 gallon fuel oil tank in your truck or on a trailer and take a tank full with you when you go. If you don't have a sufficient water supply to fill the tank, a battery powered fuel pump used to fill tractors could pump water out of a pond into the tank you are hauling. It would run off the truck or tractor pulling the tank.
Heather, I have just about the same situation as you except I will have to push the water about 1100 ft with about a 50 ft lift but I won't have to have the large storage tank. I think the tank is probably going to be your biggest expense but I think you will have to have some kind of charge system for the batteries. I going to look into a submersible DC pump to lift the water about 6 ft out of a spring fed cistern and another surface pump to push the water to the house. I'll have my tank near the spring but will have to use probably 2" pipe in order to have decent pressure at the house. I'm looking at the "Power Pod" for a solar charger, take a look at it, I don't think you want the headache of constantly having to recharge the batteries. I think its possible to to install your system with the money you have if you don't have to pay any labor and if you can find a good deal on a tank. Tom
we ran half inch poly pipe to a remote pasture thousand feet away from the barn for $150. about twenty years ago. hooked into the pressure tank it has worked well .if you priced inch and a half pipe you would have good flow from a small gas pump. i would also treat the water as slough water contains all kinds of little bugs. or you could get a wagon and mount a tank on it .
Because of the layout and bush we can't drive into the pasture, just to the north and east fence lines. I did haul water with the truck when the cows were up against the fence, but still it is a lot of work if I have to be gone for the day and somebody else needs to do it.
Hi TOm. Actually, the tank is not the biggest expense - you can buy 1200 gallons tanks on sale for under $400 Canadian. WE use them to collect rainwater for our garden. I've decided against solar and am going to go with a gas pump for now. If I only have to turn it on and off once every 10 days, a solar panel etc is a bit of overkill. Plus it will really eek a lot out of my budget. BUT where do I look for a power pod solar charger? Thanks Heather
If the property is yours between the pasture and home I would definately go with the waterline. We put in 1500' if 1" line for 500$. Where are you located?? mikell
We are located in southern SK. It would cost so much more than $500 to put a line in as our pipes have to be buried 8 feet deep here. Heather
I would use a gasoline powered pump, make sure it's a trash pump because you will get lots of gunk. The biggest problem I have with mine is the intake filter getting clogged up with stuff. It's not a big chore to clean it, but it depends on which body of water I'm pumping from (stream or pond). I have something similar, but I don't have to pump the distance you do. I have arranged my paddocks in a sort of circle, where they all meet at one place, that's where I put the big tank. I then just have to move the stock tank a little bit to reach each paddock. I bought a trash pump for about $200 (but I doubt mine would pump the lift you need) and I got a tank at a sale for $150 (1650 gallons). Plastic water line is cheap and will last for several years if drained and rolled out of harms way each winter. There are times when rotational grazing is just not economically feasible due to water problems. I have another large pasture which I cannot rotate due to this problem. The cost of getting water to the cows just doesn't justify the use of rotational grazing, so I dont'. Jena
We have run irrigation fields with PVC line on top the ground rather than burying it. Unless you need the water in winter, you can put a cheap drain valve at the lowest point of the line and bleed out the water before winter each year. The lines don't have to be absolutely free of water either, some water in the bottom of the line may freeze but has room to expand. You can treat shallowly buried lines (buried for protection from damage by stock and vehicles) that would otherwise freeze the same way. Just drain them. You can force water out of lines using pressurized air but its somewhat more of a hassle.
Are these gas pumps you guys are recommending the kind you have to prime every time you turn them on? And are you referring to a floating pump or a pump that is on shore? Thanks heather
Mine is a self-priming trash pump. It sits on the shore and I throw an intake hose into whatever I'm pumping from. It only weighs maybe 60 pounds so when I want to move it, I just throw it on the back of the 4-wheeler. Jena
anybody have experience with windmill pumps? We have a Koender windmill that aerates our dugout, and I phoned the dealer today to find that I can get a pump from them for about $400. While it doesn't move as much water as quickly as the gas pumps, it still can lift 40 feet and with 10mph wind it will give me a gallon every 4 minutes (so on our low wind days it will pump 360 gallons in 24 hours). So if I'm pumping into a resevoir, I don't have to worry about it keeping up as the cows drink, just to fill the resevoir once every 7 days. As we live in SK, wind is not a problem - 15-20kmph wind is normal - and she said on the days we get 30kmp wind I will probably be able to fill the tank in 30 minutes . Plus, I can use long hose to sink the pump in other dugouts and still use the windmill for powering it. We do have a Honda trash pump ourselves, and found out why it isn't working - the coupler isn't sealed properly, so it has an airleak and that's why it doesn't start all the time. So I'll fix that, get it checked over and hopefully with the windmill and the gas pump we'll be covered. But before I invest in the windmill pump, I"d like to hear if anybody else is using them? Thanks Heather
wind mills work ok when there is wind but kinda hard to move from slough too slough .i was under the impression that you had to move the pump as the water ran out.you may want to get more storage at the water side.price on inchand half at the coop is buck a foot and same for couplers. lay flat would be ideal but pricy!
