The cows aren't in the pasture and the pigs haven't messed with either other than drinking. When the cows come in the picture I'll fence it off. Built 12" feet for it as well to keep it from sinking too quick.

What are you putting water out for??

deer,pigs, and quail. I am thinking of getting a little extravagant for a quail waterer and feeder but that will come in due time.

great idea..

I did something very much like that. I plumbed 6 of those tanks together, which gives me 1500 gallons. I also used the white plastic barrel as you did for the watering trough except mine is set vertical with a section cut out of the side for the opening and left the top and most of the barrel side attached to slow evaporation. I have two problems. It stays full of drowned honey bees and it really grows algea.

My buddy's dad has a very similar setup. Same main tank but he puts them up hill and runs line about 30 feet to a trough a little bigger than that. Deer and pigs love it.

thats looks cool, but how do u get water to the tank??

Good question not to mention mosquitoes in the summer?

i guess u could detach the tank, take it and fill it somewhere, once its empty. it will be heavy though.

I put two of the plastic barrels in the back of the truck and fill them at the house. Then, I take them down to the water tote and siphon the water into the tote. It only takes about 10 minutes...just enough time to enjoy the surroundings or have something to drink. I also have a sump pump that I bought. I'd have to cut a hole in the top of the barrels to be able to use it. It won't fit through the hole already provided. Be sure to put a brick or a stick in the trough. Sometimes the little critters can get in the water then can't get back out. If you put something in there that is angled out of the water and over the side, they can climb back out. Otherwise, you get down there and find critters floating in the water. Good luck!

Now thats a man that cares about wildlife....too much?

Good job on the tank, looks good. We put a little chlorox in the tank to keep the algae down. Seems to do the trick.

I just bought two of those totes and I am going to build exactly the saem thing. I will use a 3rd tote to refill it as I can buy water in town for $5 a load. I am also going to build a 16' by 24' guzzler on the hill next to my water system to collect rainwater and feed into my containers. It should collect thousands of gallons of water yearly based on 17 inches of rainfall.

Not much you can do about the trough, but if you'll paint the holding tank it will stop or really slow down algae growth. It's sunlight that promotes algae. No sun, no algae!

That looks really good. I did something similar a couple years ago with a 55 gal drum but looking to build another one.

I have another tote that I transfer water with. I use a little 12v. pump from Harbor Freight and 2 hoses. I also use the other tote to water plots lightly. I am going to put a cover over the main water tank instead of the paint. I also have a couple 60 gal plastic drums that aid in water transfer. Building my son a smaller water system out of 2 drums.

COOL! Very Redneck Genius!!!

A suggestion. Put a small piece of styrofoam in it. The bees will land on the styrofoam and actually suck water from it instead of getting in the water. Put 3 or 4 minnows in to help with the algae. The minnows will foul the water somewhat so you will still have to change it occasionally.

What about racoons or birds fishing for the minnows?

ive never used minnows in a water trough, i know that i have minnows in an aquarium here in my room and they fill the water up w/s*** faster than i can keep it clean, but goldfish would probably do the same. I can say in defense of minnows however that we have goldfish, which i assume have the same predators as minnow, in many many many of our water troughs for our cattle, and they control the algae and never had any problem with them stinkin up a tank.

a partner of mine did that with a cattle trwoth and set his game cam up. all he had was a bunch of coons swimming in the water and getting it muddy.