Humping water across the field - trolley, aquaroll or something else..?!

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diddy

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Dear all,

I have no water in the field where my ponies are at the moment so have been carrying up a couple of big containers at weekends, along with several buckets to top up during the week. And am slowly but surely building up my arm muscles & destroying my back :)

After spending the best part of the evening looking through previous threads, I found the "handy garden trolley":

http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-rev...tBy=bySubmissionDateDescending#R1J6VTWJ5SC1F4

& a water-roller-thingy called an Aquaroll:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Aquaroll-40...73AQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1362265266&sr=8-1

They’re both pretty expensive so was wondering if anyone has any experience of how strong they are..? Or any other bright ideas..? The pones are about 150 metres from the water butts & the gate if I have to bring extra water from home so a fair way to cart the water each time :o

All thoughts welcome… Thank you very much people – late night biscuit selection on offer!

Diddy x
 
Ask at your nearest catering place (pub, restaurant etc) cooking oil comes in 20lt plastic containers, ask for the empty ones then stick them in a wheel barrow. free option :D
 
I've got some 10l containers, I think they might have originally been for camping, usually used when taps are frozen. Light enough to lift & pour easily. Those barrow bags are rubbish if you're on you're own, trying to tip the barrow & direct the water with 2 arms is a juggle & you spill some. Cheapest option would be going round all your neighbours & asking to raid recycling bins for 2l milk & drink bottles, then taking a pile in a wheelbarrow.
 
I used to have to cart water up the field and too used the 4 wheeled trolley in your first link. It was very difficult to pull and often would tip over. Best beg is using a wheel barrow and bigger water containers.
 
I got some 20litre containers from a swimming pool (used originally for chlorine)

In the summer I line them all up in the back of my car and use the hose from my garden to fill them. I then drive on to my field and fill strategically placed dustbins with the water. This then lasts me a good few days

In the winter i drive as far as I van then move the barrels on to a trolley, mine is a little more rugged looking than the pic you have linked to and is fine in the mud etc though of course you could use a wheelbarrow instead

I love my little trolley and use it for poo picking, mucking out, collecting up buckets, moving feed from car, taking hay to the animals... it's in daily use and was worth every penny. Mine has solid sides and a tipping mechanism
 
pnuematic tyre wheelbarrow(plastic) and I got some 25litre cans off ebay delivered cheaply. You can manage two but if you are strong 3..I have liked the look of the water bag thing but never got one. Friendly 4x4 owner and you can stick the cannisters either in trailer or back of car on something equally waterproof.

Can you collect rainwater at all?
 
The water bags are brilliant. I got one last year and it was invaluable...just don't be tempted to overfill..it becomes impossible to push. Also if you use too deep a barrow you won't be able to tip it enough for the water to come out without the bag falling out. With a regular barrow they're great.
 
I've used my H2Go bag for the last 2 winters taking water from the house to the stables when the taps froze. As previously said, provided you use a shallow(ish) wheelbarrow and don't over fill, you'll have no trouble with it :)
 
I have a 250 gallon road legal towable water bowser that was invaluable together with an automatic trough for my rented fields before I moved to livery stables. It is now an attractive (!) garden ornament until I get round to selling it in the summer.
 
Yet another vote for H2O to go bags, they are brilliant but don't over fill them. Water is heavy, around 10lbs per gallon, so with this capable of carrying 80 litres it could weight 160lbs (70 kgs) if full & even in a good barrow you can have issues pushing it & if your barrow topples over you can't get it back in. I wouldn't be without mine though. :)

Cheapest at the moment appears to be:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/H2GO-80-L...uipment_HandTools_SM&var=&hash=item564995cc39
£9.80p inc p+p
 
Last edited:
Toby_Zaphod said:
Water is heavy, around 10lbs per gallon, so with this capable of carrying 80 litres it could weight 160lbs (70 kgs)
Click to expand...

Through my own stupid fault, I once lost a full 35 gallon steel barrel of diesel off my truck - 1.2mts loading height - luckily, it was none the worst for wear so when I tell you that I managed to put it back on the truck ( tied properly this time) on my own - my arthritis is understandable!
 
Yet another vote for H2Go

I fill it up first thing. Wheel the barrow to the field and fill up trugs. Then poo pick into the barrow and pick up empty H2Go bag on the way back up to the stables.
 
H2go here too (occasional use on livery yard when ponies in paddock to which there is currently no auto water supply). I'd be looking for a towable bowser if I needed to provide water regularly.
 
Is there no way you could connect loads of hosepipe together and run that to the field?
If there is no water on site a friendly farmer who might be able to lift an IBC container up there for you? 1000 ltr IBC containers are about £20 from e-bay and last a few ponies a good long time so if you have to pay farmer a bottle of wine each time to fill it would be well worth it. Or even put it on small trailer and tow it with 4x4 depending on how far you've got to bring it.
 
Hi again,

Thanks for all your responses – very helpful. The H2Go sounds like the favourite. However, without wishing to sound like a muppet, I don’t have running water so would I be able to fill it at home & take it in the car..?

I do have several rainwater butts but having had no rain for the last couple of weeks (which I’m not complaining about btw :) ) they’re just about to run out.

Thanks those of you who commented on the trolley too. It seems like such a good idea for poopicking etc as well, but thought it might be a bit flimsy as some of you suggested.

Long-term, I’m thinking about the IPC/bowser idea a couple of you mentioned. Just wanted to make sure I’m not likely to move on & end up with yet more expensive stuff I have no use for! And also for suitable tow vehicle & slightly drier fields so I can get it nearer where I’d need it to go.

So lots of very helpful ideas – thanks muchly :D

D. x
 
A friend puts mine in the back of her 4 x 4 and fills it with a hose..you can then, if you can get the car to the buckets, tilt it from the back of the car...if you have to get it from car to barrow though instead, I would set up some easy system to slide it from the car to the barrow... as it is very heavy.
 
one thing I wish they did have with the bags is a longer spout, or any kind of spout! A retractable one that you could pull out would be great so you don't have to tip the barrows quite so much.
 
The H2go bag is really difficult to move on its own when full, you might be better off with containers if you don't have a hose. I have an aquaroll
 
Oops, sorry! I have an aquaroll and think its easier to move than the bag if you are going across muddy fields, but it's more difficult to empty into the bucket because it's heavy and bulky.
 
great idea a bowser and ask a friendly farmer or 4x4 if they will take it to the field. I got myself a quad and use the 25litre containers once my collected rain water run out in the summer. Also the water butts the water does go off! Even with running water in the cold winter you still end up taking water down to the field. I know a quad is the expensive option but boy what a great machine.

If you use your car etc you will need to waterproof it. I used a 4x4 car and found the spare wheel compartment full of water!! with the splashing etc.

Try to collect as much as you can in your water butts. good luck.
 
I use 25ltr containers loaded into an Isuzu Trooper, only have to do this when troughs freeze, but my back is knackered (disc problems) so I cannot lug water in barrows, I just put the containers in the boot fill them, tip them on their sides and then just pop the lids off once I have backed up to the trough!
 
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