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Scribner, NE | Anyone have any experience with these? Cost? Thanks |
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West central missouri | Cost is about $800 plus a load of rock. With the right equipment it takes about 45 minutes to install. We are really happy with them. Have 26 in pastures, none in corrals yet. |
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Northeast ks | All it is is a big insulated tube that you bury 5 foot in the ground (or so). The ground heat from below keeps the water from freezing. I bought one last year and put it in, and will probably buy another one soon. |
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rrv, nd | I have 3 now, buried 9 ft in ground. -20+ about 2 or less inches of ice, depending on wind. No electric bill. Happy as can be, compared to fighting frozen up waterers
all the time. |
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Northern Minnesota | Glad you are happy with them. And not trying to be a stick in the mud, but two inches of ice is, in my book, a "frozen up waterer". When my cattle go to the waterer, I want them to be able to drink! Regardless of the time of day. |
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SE ND | That's why I like our JUG water tank, would be better if we had a insulated heat tube in the ground instead of a old Culvert. |
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KY | Will the cobett's work off of low head pressure i.e. pond water gravity fed say.. 4-5 psi? |
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n.c.iowa | No, froze up is frozen to the bottom, and then spending a additional hour or more trying to get the water to flow again.
If all I have to do is occasionally on the coldest nights is to hack out a small hole so the cattle can get through, that is success. |
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North Central Kansas | I'm very happy with mine, and would not install anything else. We had temps around zero this past weekend which is as cold as it gets around here. I had two Cobetts with about 18 head drinking on each one. I had about 2 inches of ice to break each morning which takes all of 10 seconds to do, then the water runs and will stay open for the cattle to drink. The valve never freezes, that's the big difference here. Breaking a little ice with the heel of your boot or two strokes of an axe is nothing compared to a frozen float valve in single digit temps. Usually have to check/feed the cattle anyway, so opening the waterer is NBD.
I'm pretty hard to please, and would make a poor salesman, but, this is one thing I could sell with confidence. |
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SE KS | 13 degrees and open yesterday morn
Have 3 love em, hate my 1 pride of the farm.
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western iowa,by Denison | we have tried the jug and hate that,the cobalt seems to small when you have 100 head wanting a drink-have been using concrete waters with overflow and like that feature as they always have water moving and know the water line will not freeze up |
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Top middle of MO. land of green hills and grass | What did you not like about the jug? |
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SC,Missouri | I'd agree. If u have to break ice it's a frozen waterer. No problem with my tire waterer and I don't hafta chop ice with bleeder on. The hole is so small only one can drink at a time. I don't get the hype over the cobetts and we have 2 of them. Frozen very easily and forget digging that heat tube 6' deep around here in our rocks. |
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Mo | How many yearlings in a feedlot will they water? Feedlot cattle decide all at once when they are done eating in the morning that they all want to drink at the same time. Some waterers have too small of a orfice, even if you have 50 psi. |
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ne ne mo | I agree. I don't mind breaking a little ice on the coldest days, as long as the float and valve is working. |
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West central missouri | Honestly, as much as I like our Cobetts, we are cow/calf not confined feeding. We have a neighbor who was the first to put them in around here. He has a backgrounding yard of about 1000 head and is in the process of taking his Cobetts out for lack of capacity, as Garvo says. There are a lot of products out there and like anything, if one was the answer for everyone there wouldn't be any other products for the same job. We usually use 24" and 36" augers to set ours. In places with too much rock we use a backhoe and even then have sometimes had to mound dirt up to get the depth. Have 3 more sitting here waiting to go in. |
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SE ND | Also curious what you don't like, maybe it's feedlot the difference? That JUG is the most trouble free tank I have ever had, and it's been in 25 years I have bet
Seems like most that like a cobett are more southern people from here, have never heard of one until NAT, and if it have to break ice every morning that's sure not a water tank I want. |
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SW, Missouri | I have two friends that have them here in central/south MO and both have complained about them iced up this week and only one can drink. I personally don't see the infatuation with them. |
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ND | I know a couple people that have the cobetts and they work OK you chop some ice. I like the big tire much better but on the really cold days I chop a little ice from the tire to. |
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NEMO | Have one farm where the landlord installed Cobett's. They are ok but pricey. Still have to punch the float free in this zero and negative weather.
On some farms we have concrete waters with overflow valve, these work pretty good and have more volume.
Have installed homemade tire tanks and these work about as good as anything. Way more volume and way cheaper.
Probably the most important part on any waterer is location and where it is set. Facing south with big dirt bank or hill to the north or northwest to keep it out of the majority of the wind seems to work best here. |
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SE ND | I think I would go JUG or tire next. When people in middle US talk about cold snaps, that's our normal winter so I'm not sold on cobett (yet anyway) |
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Western Iowa | They look pretty slick in the right spot.
They also look like a good mature bull would bust it up pretty easy. Is it tougher than it looks?
I can see 20 cows and bull come up to drink at once, and that waterer getting the worse of it because only 2 can drink. |
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ND | Big tire is good with a lot of cattle drinking, small pens not many cattle is no place for a tire. |
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Missouri | Yes, mine are all gravity fed off ponds.
There is a depth spec, make sure you get to it and lower the water level each winter. If put in right, you should have no problems. |
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NNW Nebraska | 2 cows can drink as fast as a garden Hose runs.
I would never consider a colbert with 100 head expected to drink out of one.
My brother runs about 400 calves to a pen. He uses 20 ft stock tanks with overflows. Provides water with a pump on a timer. Pump fills two of those tanks. Pump is off at night. Timer set to have tanks full shortly after calves sre fed, which takes hours. By afternoon tsnks sre full again. Sets timer so tanks overflow limited amount. Never has to deal with frozen water. Calves drink tanks down quite a way before freezing at nignt. Seldom gets below 20 below F here.
He has a freind that runs similar sized groups on concrete waters, 2 to a pen. Does not get as good of gains with almost idenical rations.
If cattle have to fight to get a drink, they will not drink as much.
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NNW Nebraska | I disagre, to me, checking water should consist of driving by with feed outfit. |
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all over Iowa | I think Cobett's and similar waterers do what they are supposed to do - stay open in cold weather better than"regular" waterers without electrical cost.
My concern with all them is that I'm afraid they are designed for people more than for cattle. I realize the practical need to keep water flowing and the miserable hassle of thawing frozen waterers. But part of the reason these waterers work is that they have a limited opening or a barrier to keep the cold air out, and this limited opening can restrict water intake by the cattle.
Water intake drives feed intake. If we restrict water to cattle on feed, they will eat less and gain less per day. If we restrict water to beef cows, they will eat less and they can struggle to stay warm in cold weather. For fed cattle, we need 1 water space for every 25 head and for beef cows we need 1 water space per 15 cows. So, I guess they're fine as long as you have plenty of them.
I talked with both the Miraco and Ritchie reps at National Cattlemen's a few years ago, and asked them what the electric cost would be to keep a trough waterer open in cold weather and they both thought $35-$40 per year. I don't know if that's right, but at double that cost it still seems like cheap insurance to me. |
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ND | Zero degrees and having to break 2” of ice? That sounds like a terrible setup to me. I’ve never been super crazy about the Ritchie’s I have but they will stay open well below zero with no ice to break. |
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NE SD | UNTIL.......something STOPS the heat !
and they DO
then they are big ice cubes
bet you still check them EVERY day ?
knocking a little ice out WHEN it does, beats the heck out of thawing out and fixing frozen stuff
we have small amounts of cattle using ours in several pens, burning a bunch of electric to water them doesn't make sense
the ice over days are only during severe zero and sub zero days and cattle need looking at more on those days
and to the ones that think ONE can water a BIG bunch of cattle, well how is that a fault of the waterer ?
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NW IA | Some years ago I looked at energy free water fountains for my cattle. The feed company rep that was advising me at the time about blew a fuse! I remember him saying that all energy free fountains, "Should be packed with dynamite and blown off the face of the earth!" He claimed at that time the reduction in feed intake was too high a price to pay for the convenience, and wanted cattle walking up to open water whether it was cold or hot outside.
Is there any side by side data showing cattle performance on either type of equipment in severe weather?
I have Mira Fount , might take a closer look at Richies next time. The electrical cost estimate is pretty insignificant.
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NNW Nebraska | Those that use tanks with a bleed valve & overflow.
Use a high flow float and set it to shut off when tank is half full. Will take several hours before tank runs over. Probbly never run over during day and only a few hours at night. Tank will usually be full or nearly when cattle come back to drink again. If it takes 500 gallon to fill tank full, that is 8 hours @ 1 gpm. |
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SW, Missouri | Nebraska Sandhiller - 1/4/2018 10:48
Those that use tanks with a bleed valve & overflow.
Use a high flow float and set it to shut off when tank is half full. Will take several hours before tank runs over. Probbly never run over during day and only a few hours at night. Tank will usually be full or nearly when cattle come back to drink again. If it takes 500 gallon to fill tank full, that is 8 hours @ 1 gpm. have you posted pics before of some tire tank setups you have? If so would you care to post a few? (I might have you confused with someone else can't remember!) |
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SE SD | X1000. I check all 5 waterers everyday. The 2 cobetts I figure I have a little ice on top to break and I'm in the clear. I have two with heaters that on some mornings I have a pit in my stomach walking up to not knowing what I'm gonna find. If they're froze up you've just started an all day project and that's usually the day you don't have time to deal with that. I'll keep my cobetts.
Edited by Red Cows 1/4/2018 11:16
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Mo | Will it keep up with 60 head of yearnings in a lot? |
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all over Iowa | Dr Kelly Lechtenberg had some data a few years back that documented the drop in both water and feed on ball waterers.
It's mainly a common sense animal husbandry thing; if we make it harder for them to drink they will drink less. That, and so many people over stock them. And one more thing, they seldom get cleaned out as often as they should.
We absolutely know that lower water intake consistently leads to lower feed intakes.
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Central KS | Your ice must be softer than mine if you can break 2" with the heel of your boot. 2" in my tanks requires several good strokes with a T post just to poke a hole, then several more strokes to enlarge it. |
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Central IA | Exactly, plus what's it cost to run the heating element all winter? $$$$$ |
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Top middle of MO. land of green hills and grass | Talked to a local plumber today, his opinion was the jug was good for sheep goats, or small bunches of cows, but don't refresh fast enough for bigger groups? Is that the consensus here too? |
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ND | Corbett would work fine with 60 head . Neighbor has 125 cows one one and there calves. |
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Mo | Thanks |
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East Central Saskatchewan | Yes, that is the market that the JUG waterers are headed to be for. |
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rrv, nd | we have had Richie's and the last straw was a Franklin. Only place that thing belongs is in florida.... junk... I had a heat tape on supply line, heating element in water and a light bulb underneath it...and would still freeze up. And when the p o junk froze it was an all day job.
To each there own, my cattle farm is my hobby, no big numbers, 40 cows/calf, don't need big tank waterers, these work great for me. 2 inches of ice on top is when its really cold and windy, these past few morning -10 not much ice at all, a dream compared to that Franklin p o junk. Carry on. |
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SE ND | Saskyfarmer - 1/4/2018 21:48
Yes, that is the market that the JUG waterers are headed to be for.
Please explain how they are headed for goats and sheep? |
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SE ND | I'm sure you can add a higher flow valve if needed. My miraco waterer the cows will empty the small bowl fast and be waiting for it to refill so not sure how that's any different then him claiming slow refill time on jug.
JUG will allow cows to suck the water level down a ways with the draw tubes as they drink (its not just top inch you are waiting to refill so they can keep drinking) |
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Paradise KS | I have a 100 head on a cobett right now. They just file to it all day. Cows learn to come in one at a time. Electricity isn’t always an option and it’s very expensive. I have 5 miles of water lines and more to put in. Cobett are easy and work great. If you were dry lotting cows and feeding hay and tmrs and running tractors all day like a lot of guys do then that’s fine, spending more money on electricity so you can get everything done is fine. I can make a quick trip around, check water, check electric fence and go home. |
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East Central Saskatchewan | Because they are literally advertising at all the sheep and goat events, and they are low to the ground, making it easier for them to drink. They also don't allow feed and hay to build up in them as well. They also have a few specified models for them as well. Not saying they are not headed for cattle or bison or anything like that, but they seem to be hitting the sheep and goat market pretty hard with these. |
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Cobett waterers
