I had to put my horses in a back pasture where I haul in water to a 150gal. tank. I am getting tired of chopping ice out of it. There is no electricity avaliable. Any one know of a way to keep the ice off?? Husband thinks we should block the tank from the horses onlyleaving a small area to drink, and cover the rest with a solar pool cover. Any one tried something similar? Anyone know of a solar powered deicer?

-- April Allison (ahedgie_2000@yahoo.com), December 31, 2001

Answers

Lehmans catalog has one. They also have one that would hook to a 12v car battery I think.

-- Joyce Dingman (FriendsPatterns@juno.com), December 31, 2001.

I have the same problem, sheep at a remote location . I took a metal sheep tank and built a box with treated plywood larger than the tank and then lined it with 2" foam , sides ,bottom, and top and cut a hole 12" square in the top . I put it in a wind protected area and cover it heavy with straw leaving open the hole. I put panels around it to keep them from bothering the straw. It will get a scum of ice at -0 that the sheep can break ,in 3 yrs. I've to break ice a couple of times with my hand.(NE IN) The theory is adding water every few days keeps it warm as ground water is 40-50 degrees , same concept as the in-ground livestock waterers that they sell.The cost of the materials isn't cheap , however it sure saves a lot of headaches! This has worked well for me

-- (smhamp@yahoo.com), December 31, 2001.

It is not solar, but, in TMEN a few years ago there was a plan to buils a small wind driven air pump that floated, or was along side, that kept the ice from forming by constantly (as long as there was air movement) disrupting the surface of the water. Seemed like a good idea and was fairly simple. If interested I would look it up for you Just let me know.

-- Wayne & (LYN) Roach (R-Way@msn.com), January 01, 2002.