Watering System Boosts Range Productivity
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When he bought his southern Idaho ranch, Jed Heaton put in pipes, valves, floats and troughs to keep cattle grazing, not walking for water. It worked so well that his neighbors wanted similar systems. Before long he had a business helping other ranchers develop springs and ponds into permanent watering systems. At his son’s suggestion, he calls it ThirstyCows.
Heaton started doing his own installations out of frustration. “The first contractor I hired to put in a system on my ranch didn’t show up,” recalls Heaton. “The second showed up, but I had to haul around 4 pieces of equipment for him.”
Heaton knew he could do a better job himself. For the past 18 years he has done just that, putting in systems for other farmers and ranchers across a 5-state area.
His water system installations can involve miles of pipe, with valves and floats feeding troughs made from mining equipment tires.
The troughs start out as 12-ft. tall and 5-ft. wide tires. He cuts each one in half to make 2 tanks 12 ft. in diameter and about 27 in. deep.
When he started, he made his own plow with a long ripper tooth that could penetrate up to 52 in. for laying the pipe. He hooked the plow to a dozer and built a reel carrier that hangs on the dozer blade.
“If I need to push out a tree or clear brush, I just unhook the reel and use the blade,” he says.
Heaton’s system worked even better after he replaced his ripper tooth plow with a Bron V100 vibrating plow. “It’s amazing how it can go through 4 to 5-ft. brush and small trees,” says Heaton. “The plow just slides off to one side or another. With the ripper, I had to pull straight through the root masses or make several passes with the blade.”
Another big improvement came as he started working with high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe. Initially he had used pvc pipe.
“HDPE pipe is amazing,” says Heaton. “It can handle being on top of the ground or freezing solid without breaking when full of water. It withstands things no other pipe can.”
Heaton has installed so much HDPE pipe that he now sells it and other supplies in bulk to other contractors and ranchers who want to install themselves. He still installs pipe, as much as 200 miles of it this past year, but prefers to teach ranchers how to do the trough installations themselves.
“We install everything underground, but they do the rest,” says Heaton. “On a good day, we can do 3 to 4 miles of pipe. We still do systems that require 25 to 50 troughs.”
Heaton is a good salesman for his systems. He quickly saw the benefits with his own. “We put troughs in every place we could, capturing water from small springs,” he recalls. “The cows spread out to graze, making better use of forage instead of hanging around the water trough. Not hanging around together helped with pneumonia and sickness too.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Thirsty Cows, 58135 W 27300 N, Malta, Idaho 83342 (ph 435 827-5555 or 208 430-8789; jed8789@gmail.com; www.thirstycows.com).
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Watering System Boosts Range Productivity LIVESTOCK Feeding Equipment When he bought his southern Idaho ranch Jed Heaton put in pipes valves floats and troughs to keep cattle grazing not walking for water It worked so well that his neighbors wanted similar systems Before long he had a business helping other ranchers develop springs and ponds into permanent watering systems At his son’s suggestion he calls it ThirstyCows Heaton started doing his own installations out of frustration “The first contractor I hired to put in a system on my ranch didn’t show up ” recalls Heaton “The second showed up but I had to haul around 4 pieces of equipment for him ” Heaton knew he could do a better job himself For the past 18 years he has done just that putting in systems for other farmers and ranchers across a 5-state area His water system installations can involve miles of pipe with valves and floats feeding troughs made from mining equipment tires The troughs start out as 12-ft tall and 5-ft wide tires He cuts each one in half to make 2 tanks 12 ft in diameter and about 27 in deep When he started he made his own plow with a long ripper tooth that could penetrate up to 52 in for laying the pipe He hooked the plow to a dozer and built a reel carrier that hangs on the dozer blade “If I need to push out a tree or clear brush I just unhook the reel and use the blade ” he says Heaton’s system worked even better after he replaced his ripper tooth plow with a Bron V100 vibrating plow “It’s amazing how it can go through 4 to 5-ft brush and small trees ” says Heaton “The plow just slides off to one side or another With the ripper I had to pull straight through the root masses or make several passes with the blade ” Another big improvement came as he started working with high-density polyethylene HDPE pipe Initially he had used pvc pipe “HDPE pipe is amazing ” says Heaton “It can handle being on top of the ground or freezing solid without breaking when full of water It withstands things no other pipe can ” Heaton has installed so much HDPE pipe that he now sells it and other supplies in bulk to other contractors and ranchers who want to install themselves He still installs pipe as much as 200 miles of it this past year but prefers to teach ranchers how to do the trough installations themselves “We install everything underground but they do the rest ” says Heaton “On a good day we can do 3 to 4 miles of pipe We still do systems that require 25 to 50 troughs ” Heaton is a good salesman for his systems He quickly saw the benefits with his own “We put troughs in every place we could capturing water from small springs ” he recalls “The cows spread out to graze making better use of forage instead of hanging around the water trough Not hanging around together helped with pneumonia and sickness too ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Thirsty Cows 58135 W 27300 N Malta Idaho 83342 ph 435 827-5555 or 208 430-8789; jed8789@gmail com; www thirstycows com
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