NoMoreTO said:
A question for anyone who has worked paddock systems. Should I have a water line? How would the hustle of refilling the water using water wagons be?
I'll speak to what I would do if had land that didn't have a water system in place. I would absolutely spend the money to put lines in out to tanks in the pastures. Hauling water blows. It's such a time consuming pain in the ass. It will get real old real fast. Putting lines and stock tanks in it'll cost ya up front, but having to constantly haul water will cost you in the long run with fuel and time. If you had a small place and doing intensive grazing and could get by with like a mobile water tank you could tow around, that's one thing. Or if you have a real small herd. But for larger sized places or if you're intending to grow your herd, I'd say prepare early and then let the herd figure out where the water is. Some guys get pretty carried away in my opinion with like portable water systems to try and prevent undergrazing or overgrazing in certain parts of the pasture. If you ask me, cows are kinda like horses and dogs. They like familiarity and repetition. Makes em feel safe. Especially the calves. They're pretty stupid. When you're changing water locations around, it confuses the fuck out of em, stresses them out, and they don't gain weight as good. I prefer to just have tanks, and have it act as nothing more than a man made pond for them to always know where to go.
I don't know about bison, I'll assume it's way more than a cow, but a cow can, not that they necessarily always do, but can drink up to anywhere from 30-50 gallons of water a day. I mean they can suck down a gallon of water like I would take a shot of whiskey. In the summer months they'll drink a lot, or in rainy weather, or dewey mornings not as much because they stay hydrated from the moisture on the grass they're eating or drink out of puddles. But when it's happy hour and they decide go in their cliques to crowd around the bar drinking, they'll suck down a whole tank pretty pretty fast. Point being, if you rely on hauling water, you'll be doing it
constantly and probably won't be able to keep up with them especially in time when your herd is expanding.
Now, that being said, if it were me, I'd still have a water wagon, or a water truck for emergencies even with a water line system. Like where I'm at a we have an old, and I mean old ass, army truck converted with a couple big water tanks on it. It takes both hands and all your strength to turn the fuckin thing. The old beast doubles as a firefighting rig too. Something to hold us over until the big boys arrive. Which when you're out in the sticks is a pretty long wait. But shit will go wrong. Pipes will crack, leaks will happen, cows will bust a hydrant (craft some boards around the hydrants to protect em a bit), whatever, and you'll still have to haul water until you get it resolved. Especially in the heat. But no way you wanna be hauling water if you don't have to. I mean you gotta drive allllll the way out there. Beat the shit outta your truck. Stand around with your dick in your hand thinking of something else you need to do or would rather do instead of watching water drain from one tank to another, drive alllll the way back home, beat the shit outta your truck again, fill the tanks on the truck back up, get sidetracked; forget to turn the hose off and then have a big lake in front of your shop. lol.
When in the meantime you coulda just have had stock tanks with self regulating floats on them to do the job for you that keeps up with the herd. With the floats as long as the water's on and the hydrants open, once the cows drink the tank down to a certain level it will release and let the tank fill back up. But if you do put lines in, whether you do it yourself or hire someone, put some markers to give you an idea of the where the water lines are buried. Or perhaps a real good map. That way when something cracks you got an idea of where to dig. If you're lucky sometimes it's obvious when the dirt is dry and there's a big wet spot in one area, but other times, more often than not, because on a ranch you'll be constantly haunted by Murphys Law, you won't be so lucky. I battle every year trying to find water line leaks. It ain't fun.
I'm curious about what you're gonna do for fence. Fence and corrals for Bison looks pretty serious. I love fixing and building and fence. Kinda my forte, I do a lot of it. A lot of guys curse every foot of it. I never understand why. Just you and the peace of the hills. Maybe some classic rock. No stinking tractor engines. I'd like that as a side hustle one day when I get my own place for extra cash. Expenses and tool costs are low, good way to make extra money.
I'm the water, stock and fence guy where I'm at. Feel free to reach out. I got decent wifi for the time being but won't come April.
