Cattle waterer ??’s

[woodland]

Need a new heated waterer as the only electric one on the place is 40+years old and is overdue for replacement. This one only has a handful of head all winter till calving when a couple of hundred heifers are using it. Not sure what others are happy with but we bought a place that came with Ritchie’s that rusted out after 10 years and a concrete one that cracked after 5 years or so. Canarm is one make that a couple of places carry but never seen one in person.

Are the poly ones any good? Have a mirafount and they’re poly and work good with enough animals.
TIA

[15444]

I need to replace my old metal Ritchie 5E and add more heated bowls in the future. As a result I have been researching waterers the last few years to find one model that will be the least problematic.

I am seriously leaning towards the Ritchie Ecofount 2, which is well insulated, has electric heat standard and incorporates insulated disc covers to minimize heat loss. Guys around here had their ground heat Mirafounts and Ritchies freeze last winter without the submersible heaters, which can burn through the plastic if they malfunction.

[grassfarmer]

Don't think there is much to choose between them. We have Canarm as well as Ritchie, we had some of the old UFA ones in AB. They all have the same issues in my experience. The only one I bought new was one of the blue plastic ones - beware of them as they are designed for warmer climates and not needing electric heat. So they sell them here with a submersible heater which is fine until it burns out but the main problem we found is you can heat the water in the trough with the element and you can put a heat tape on the supply pipe but there is no way to heat the space between the bottom of the trough and ground level - you can put a light bulb in but it risks burning the trough. Just a dumb trough for this climate.
Our solution to waterers has been to build insulated boxes around them - 2" rigid insulation, then a wooden box around that then clad with tin. Build an insulated wooden lid for on top. If you aren't using it leave the lid on. If you are using it open it for about 6-8 hours a day. Its a small chore twice a day but it eliminates 95% of our waterer problems.

[bullshead]

We had to change a 5year old cancrete out because the cement crumbled to pieces on it, no help on warranty. That was the biggest piece of crap I ever seen. We are trying a Johnson water now which is concrete also but the feedlot we go to has some and real likes them. We will see when it gets cold how well it works.

[grassfarmer]

I know someone that had several Cancrete waterers - he pulled them out because they were using insane amounts of electricity.

[grassfarmer]

Here you go Woodland - my simple solution. There is a little Canarm under here. Saves on electricity costs too.

[GDR]

I put a couple "jug" waterers in 2 winters ago, have been very happy. Only a 60w heater on a thermostat in them and only have it on for the really cold months trouble free. I have a couple 30 yr old ritchie's that work but suck the power back.

The jugs are plastic, and spray foamed, sort of circulate the water on their own. Worth a look. Would need to ask about # of head though, cows more slurp the water than drink it.