Now I've got a new problem with a ball waterer

rrlund · Feb 19, 2015

I've got a four ball Freedom Fountain waterer across the road where there's no electricity.
One of the balls has been rolled under the lid three times today and stuck there. All I can think is to get an onion sack around it and run a couple of metal rods through the sack on top of the lid to hold it up so they can't use it.

It was froze up this morning real bad. I poured at least three gallons of hot water on it to get the balls loose. There must have been three quarters of an inch of ice on the inside wall of the whole thing. After I got those loose,the valve was frozen for the first time ever. I poured another two gallons on it to get the top off the valve and thaw it out.

The float has been set wrong so it was filling up in to the holes around the balls and freezing them up in a matter of minutes after they'd drink. I got that adjusted so it's shutting off sooner,but now that ball is rolling under and sticking there. I can't win.

M Nut · Feb 19, 2015

I've been struggling with ours going that same thing this year too. I know you don't have electricity there, but what I did with ours was to put a sinking stock tank heater with a guard on it right in the waterer. No issues since. Had -27 this morning. It's a real "joy" trying to un-thaw those when they are froze inside and the whole outside is covered in ice from dripping water from the cows mouths.
Before the heater, I used to take a small hammer and tap the built up ice that was creating a lip and holding the ball open. Sometimes it would go several days, but when real cold it would only last a few hours and I'd have to repeat the tapping and chipping to get it to roll closed again.

rrlund · Feb 19, 2015

I can't figure why this one is going back under there like it is. There isn't any ice around the lip after all the water I've poured on it today,but it just acts like is going under and rolling back farther than it should. If I push the ball next to it,it hits it and pushes it over,and it pops right up. It's like the lid's warped or something creating a cavity for it to roll up in to. I've got all the ice off the top,so it's not a weight issue.
If that thing goes under in the night so this cold air gets to the valve for any length of time,I'm afraid it'll freeze up and break.

M Nut · Feb 19, 2015

I have had mine stick open during the night, but luckily nothing has ever broken. Earlier this winter, it actually had froze the water in the tank part solid. It took several hours with a torpedo heater at a distance to un-thaw that mess. I'm sure you've looked it over good, but it only takes a sliver of ice to hold that darn thing open. Also, I do think mine expands in extreme cold. It looks distorted now, but it regains its regular shape when it warms up outside.

retired farmer · Feb 19, 2015

Can you take the lid off and put a piece of two by four wood in between them floating on top of the water to hold them apart?

rrlund · Feb 19, 2015

Not in weather like this. It took a lot of hot water to even get the little lid off over the valve. I don't know if I could even get enough all the way around to get the whole thing off. It'd probably freeze where I started before I got all the way around. I'd have to drill holes in that insulated plastic lid to bolt anything in there. I don't want to do that.
I ended up putting an old T shirt over the ball and ran two old broken wheel rake tines through it. Not that I needed them,it only took a few minutes for the wet T shirt to freeze to the ball and lid. Trouble now is,most are drinking OK,but there are a few that are scared of the shirt. They'll come up and crane their necks,get their nose about a foot away and won't go any closer. They must not like the smell of laundry soap.

Mitch D · Feb 19, 2015

Not sure what brand ours is but there is a bolt that you can install to hold the balls either to the side of the hole or keep it in the hole

IA Roy · Feb 19, 2015

Is the top of the fountain level? From what I remember the Freedom fount has tracks that are tapered so that the farther the balls go back the shallower the track is which increases the bouyancy. If the top isn't level the track might be level or actually go up instead of down and that would automatically try to keep the ball back and the access hole open once it got out of the access hole.

notjustair · Feb 19, 2015

There is ice somewhere there that's causing it. It reminds me of the door of a chest freezer. They get a build up and don't fit right. When you thaw it that thing will drop for a day to thaw out. It will take a really good days sunshine to get it to working right. The spooky ones are probably young heifers, huh? I just played chase the heifer with one that was too spooky to go into the pen. Everyone else came right in with their bucket of corn. She must have known they are headed to the sale on Sunday.

JD Seller · Feb 19, 2015

rrlund: Check the under side of the lid. I had one that did that and it had a piece of ice stuck to the lid and it worked like a track and kept the ball form going up and over the hole like it should.

Josh-nhihguy · Feb 19, 2015

Can't help you much with your situation but we had issues with a float freezing stuck for about a month this winter. Checked the electricity at the box and at the waterer and both were fine but turns out most likely there was a tiny short somewhere that happened very rarely but long enough to freeze the pipe. Took anywhere from 10 to 12 gallons of hot water to get it thawed. Almost everyday. Finally got warm enough got inside and drilled a hole through the plastic and ran an extension cord from the box to the fountain... New heater and put a light bulb in for safe measure and had no troubles since even in -20 temps and worse wind chills. It'll be a fun project this summer redoing it all correctly. Wouldn't trade those cattle for anything.

Josh

bison · Feb 20, 2015

(quoted from post at 12:16:59 02/19/15) I've got a four ball Freedom Fountain waterer across the road where there's no electricity.
One of the balls has been rolled under the lid three times today and stuck there. All I can think is to get an onion sack around it and run a couple of metal rods through the sack on top of the lid to hold it up so they can't use it.

It was froze up this morning real bad. I poured at least three gallons of hot water on it to get the balls loose. There must have been three quarters of an inch of ice on the inside wall of the whole thing. After I got those loose,the valve was frozen for the first time ever. I poured another two gallons on it to get the top off the valve and thaw it out.

The float has been set wrong so it was filling up in to the holes around the balls and freezing them up in a matter of minutes after they'd drink. I got that adjusted so it's shutting off sooner,but now that ball is rolling under and sticking there. I can't win.

had 2 of these useless drinkers, they might work fine in California but they ain't any good when it dips below freezing
they were on the place when i bought my ranch, i fought with them just about every day during the winter, i spend more on hot water and time and frustration than what it would've cost on electric for a electr heated drinker.
I finally had enough after four seasons of constant trouble, i ripped them out and took the junk to the dump.

donjr · Feb 20, 2015

I've been having trouble with mine, too, and just gave up on them. Usually, it's where the cows slobber all over them when they finish drinking, then a slug of ice holds the ball open just enuf that it freezes inside. They'll thaw out in a couple of weeks, and in the meantime, the cows will have to walk further down to the soring development troughs.....

Now I've got a new problem with a ball waterer

rrlund

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M Nut

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rrlund

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M Nut

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retired farmer

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rrlund

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Mitch D

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IA Roy

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notjustair

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JD Seller

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Josh-nhihguy

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bison

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donjr

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