This should have worked! 

I never realized how lucky we were to have ponds and creeks the cows could drink from until now

I have been doing that kind of work on my farm for 50 years and now you are just getting a taste of what we go through and just do the best you can do and enjoy it because I enjoy the work every day

Josh, I too learned I can’t turn my grazing into an overnight success like Greg Judy’s. It took him years to do it. We Watch the videos and we think we can do it overnight. It takes time and I have learned that I can only do it myself one day at a time just like you said in this video. You’re doing a great job Josh don’t get discouraged and don’t stop keep doing keep moving and keep pressing on. We’re enjoying watching you and sharing with you and Mrs StonyRidge. You’ve become our friend and we enjoy watching you keep up the good work. Monte

On the ram pump, the air chamber tends to emulsify the air within into the water moving through. This can make the air volume less and less until it's all just full of water, and you lose all pressurization. If the water feed is from a creek the emulsified air in the creek tends to replenish the air in the chamber and keep it at equilibrium. But if you have a still body of water you are drawing from, it may not have enough air to keep the air chamber topped off. Unscrew the air chamber and dump all water. This may need to be done weekly until you come up with an improved design.

Hey Stoney you can still mob graze and move water easily. Arrange your paddocks in a grid. Get used pickle barrels and cut them in half. Make sure the plug for the bung seals and doesn’t leak. Then put two of your half barrels at each point where paddocks share corners. Park your water trailer at a high point in your pasture. Run a hose long enough to reach the half barrels with a float check valve which you can attach with screws and cheap brackets easily in the barrels. Keep a short siphon hose so you can transfer remaining water from one barrel to the other so you can move the empty one easily into the corner of the paddock you want to use and siphon out the water from the barrel in the corner of the prior paddock while you move the hose and float check valve.once you have the brackets permanently in place inside the barrels, it is just seconds with a cordless drill to move the hose and float valve.

I do like this kind of video Josh. Sorry for your water problems. Thanks for honestly sharing with us.

I used 55 gallon drums with the pvc pipes out in back of truck to haul water. Always get a bigger tractor than you think you need. But also be careful cuz bigger tractor means more stuff. Lol. Love what your doing.

And to answer your question, yes, LOVE this kind of video. Brother it is hard work but you are doing it and doing it well (pardon the pun cause you'll get that water well soon). Please don't get discouraged Josh, just plod along as hard as you are and you'll get there man. THANK YOU as always for sharing the hard work.

For a possible solution for your water problem, I noticed there is a hill on the pasture that does not have the ram pump or other water system currently in place. Why not put a large set of tanks (make shift water tower on the ground) up on the top of the hill and run some sort of system of hoses and valves to various tanks in your paddocks. This way you can fill the water tanks at the top of the hill less frequently (or even an automatic system like ram pump or a small electric pump to keep the water tanks on the hill topped off) and have the ability to fill tanks and various paddocks or drain the hoses during the cold months and not have any freezing, until you come up with a permanent cost effective solution.

Josh, you are looking tired mate but think of this, what would you rather be tired from, sitting at a desk all day or working on the farm and improving your property? Mate, you are doing an awesome job and at the same time, educating and inspiring others. The grass is not greener on the other side...you got the life man. Keep up the hard work, I for one REALLY appreciate it and especially you sharing it all. Thanks buddy.

Those are some tough problems to solve Josh. One idea might be to find a good high spot where you can store water in a very large tank that feeds everything "downhill" from it. That way at least when you find yourself in between chores you can fill the mobile tank and pump that into the very large "feeder" tank at the high spot. Instead of running from pasture to pasture with the moving tank you simply keep adding water to the big feeder tank and only have to worry about moving hoses when you move the cows. Not a perfect or permanent solution, but one that can give you back some of your time while you work on everything else that pops up! You might consider having a ram pump in the stream filling a tank that you can pump from into your mobile pump as well, that way even when the creek is low the tank will have a lot of water available for immediate use.

There is an easy prevention for the PVC pipe -- just spray paint the exposed area. As long as the UV ray can't get to it, it won't disintegrate.

Josh. Hi from Australia. Your pallet had no bottom cross members , that is why is came off the forks. Get yourself a proper pallet that has bottom cross members or boards. We use a similar setup with our fire pump. Works fine. You may need a strap to hold it back to the apron of the forks if your going down hilly ground. Love your vids man and my 2 boys watch them with me.

You can use an electric pump to pump water where you have the round pumps in place if you have access to electricity and that may be a solar panel or two. But as far as the tank on the forks you need to run a strap around the tank and hook it to the the headache rack of the forts or whatever that's called so you need to run the straps across the top like you had on but also one horizontally around the tank. But you also need to keep into consideration that water weighs a little more than eight pounds per gallon so if you're talkin about 400 gallons of water you're pushin 3500 lb that's a lot of weight anyway good luck

I for one like seeing the challenges you have running the farm. Grew up around the grandparents tobacco farm were there was plenty of work and always challenges.

...and that meat just shows up at the store magically. Thanks for what you do Josh! Grew up on a dairy farm over 30 years ago where we didn't utilize these practices you have put into place. I really enjoy the "REAL" Factor you put into farm life.

Divide you pasture into quads...is 40 acres=4 10 acre pastures. Put your water in the middle, cross fence each section to meet in the middle by the water tank,,fence the tank with 4 seperate gates that surround the tank that access each section. That way each section has access to water but not to all pastures, this allows to open gate..move to pasture with central water access then close off grazed section. When you get a well, pipe water to the center for you single source. Also consider covering the water source as a shade area to cut down on evaporation. We did this with a windmill as are source for water in hot Florida. Later we put in a electric well for citrus and ran a 1.5 inch line as a back up to the wind mill..fresh water 24 seven with a back up. Just a thought..may help in your case by chasing water here water there central spot to fill up instead of multiple location...time is money in ag.....especially by yourself..,good luck.

We used an IBC tote to haul water before we had our well and automatic waterers in. Just remember that the cost of putting in a system through the USDA is only up front then when it's completed they reimburse you 75%

Yes you definitely need the wells. I hope they come through for you. I have an appointment on the 18 with them. Good luck

Best of luck solving the water issue.. 🤞 you get that grant. Have a good evening 🌷🌷🌷

Here where I live we have to haul our water from town to home for all our water needs

Sure is looking good around there. I know there is a LOT more work that goes into getting and keeping it like that than we see in the videos.👍🏻

We had to pound a well by hand for our cows, fence post pounder and a whole week of pounding we got it done and cows have their own water supply for the price it cost to buy the well head, pipes, well pump and bladder tank.

Your tractor is powerful enough to use that tank. I had the same issue with mine and with only an IBC tank. Try running two heavy ratchet straps to hold the tank onto the forks and keep the tank on the ground unless you are transporting or emptying it. Over time the hydraulic system will lose power and cause anything heavy tip. Stay in the cab when lifting something heavy and correct it as it tips.

PVC gets brittle (well, MORE brittle) by exposure to sunlight (UV, specifically). If you slop a coat of paint on it, it'll protect it.

I’d get them setup to drink out of the pond until you can get a water system in place. The video is great 👍

Good morning Mr Stone Ridge , I feel ur frustration bro. Guess a Farmers job isn't easy. Looking forward to the upgrade. Happy Mother's Day to Mrs Stone Ridge. Greetings from sunny ☀️🌞 🇯🇲🇯🇲

You need to build a bigger pallet for the front tank & put strap around the tank & front "face" of the pallet forks to keep it from sliding off the forks.

That tractors a beast. A proper built pallet will take care of that front tank issue. Definitely need a well centered well out there in that pasture to make life easier.. Possible a new hay barn out there to catch rain water..

Water is life. Great to see you are thinking about working smarter than working harder!

Bummer that you will not hear anything until September. Hope they see how hard you have worked to repair the soil while protecting the watersheds on the farm. 🚜-Woooo!!

Have you considered cutting the fields into quarters then move the cows every few days? If you set water at the center point it would cut down on moving distance. Also consider mounting the water tanks to pallets, trailer, or mounts for the loader attached to the tank. This would cut down the labor on moving tanks. Last idea use one water tank per section use a float valve on the tank to supply water all day long. Before/after moving cows pump the tank down move to next location. Just ideas some times you just need a fresh set of eyes for ideas.

If you rent or borrow a backhoe you could dig a 4ft deep hole in the creek. It will fill up pretty fast and should give you a deep enough place to pump from.

Because there is a high possibility of the creek getting too low to get water from, you could install a pickup line at your ponds like your ram-pump pickup and use it to fill your tanks (in the case of emergency ) and attach your pump to the intakes instead of trying to get the water from the creek.

IBV Totes are already pallet-friendly. Find some empty ones that had food safe product in them. You can often get them for free or cheap.

You could build a short (maybe 6' tall) platform with an ABI water tote on top. Do this for each field and attach your troughs to it. When you move the cattle top off your mini water towers and you should be good to go.

i really like this type of video. the watering part of the farm is interesting to me.

Set your tank in a centralized location in the larger fields then set your daily moves around it. Also set your tank to automatically fill up using a float.

I love your relationship with your beautiful dogs

I have had people ask me how to estimate how many chickens they need for their home/farmstead. I end up telling them they need to know how many chickens they eat in a year, and how many eggs they use in a month. Most people don't realize that there are meat birds, egg layers and dual purpose chickens, so I have to explain what the differences are; that meat birds are butchered between 8 and 12 weeks, give or take, while egg layers and dual purpose chickens may take 6 months to get into good production, and that one hen may lay an average of 4 or 5 eggs per week, but at the peak of annual productions they may be producing an egg a day and some will produce more than that. Yep, farming/homesteading requires a lot of knowledge, planning, math skills and of course, hard work.

Build your own custom elevated pallet with 4x4's and 2x4's...Big T could surely handle it!

I feel your pain buddy, keep your chin up and it’ll come good in the end. 👍🏻

I think you have a good idea with the water tank on the forks. You just need a better pallet. I'm sure its what you had around. Wood and lag bolts or steel would be better but is more time consuming. Just keep plugging away. It a marathon not a sprint Josh. You will get there. Some times you have to take a step back. I know you want to mob graze but at the sacrifice of everything else won't work either. Maybe wait one more year.

Successful entrepreneurs, farmers, etc. are creative, resourceful and have the ability to overcome obstacles that seem to stop everyone else. I'm sure you have been intentional with your grazing and water supply plans, but sometimes our plans can come up short. Do you have the grit to see it through? I hope and pray so. I think these videos are great and when you are successful you will inspire others not to get too discouraged and to push through. Rooting for you and your family.

You can still do what you're doing just provide a 12 foot lane down one side of the main fence line to a permeant water source that way you can still control graze 95% of your land and still provide a water source that you're not filling every day or so just a thought to help ya along till a better solution comes forward

Hi..... Thank you 🎥👍👍👍

Build a pallet under each water tank so you can pick them up weather they are full or empty.

Josh, have you looked into a simple solar water pump, 2 or 4 panels on a stand or even a trailer and a pump, is about all there's to it, sun comes up pumps water to a upper tank.

I enjoy watching your vids. So far it looks like you have a fairly tight grip on your place, ranch, farm. But, that water problem is really eating away at your time. Put in a good water system and run a 2" line under ground so that you have access to water in each pasture

I realize now how fortunate we were growing up on the plains with constant wind...windmills for water that PITA wind was good for something...hang in there👌🏻

Your videos get better and better.

Great video Stoneyman keep up the great work buddy

I thought you had a solar powered pump with a pressure switch going to your holding tank and gravity fed the tanks from the holding tank. PEX tubing is a lot tougher than that black plastic tubing. You can drive over it and cattle can step on it without any problems.

Great video Josh

Hi Josh, I feel your pain in a slightly different way. Did you ever think of driving a well spike to water? I don't know how far you have to go, for me its only 30' I pump with a shallow well pump when I am their, but I was toying with the idea of letting the sun do the work and setting up a solar pump 12v or something like that and let the little pump run off battery to fill my tank. I bought the panel from harbor freight and the pump on line, I haven't done it yet, but the theory is at least sound. Good Luck to you!

Have you ever watched cross tembers Bison? He put in a watering system for his Bison you might be interested in for your cows. I am pretty sure his way might be a good solution and cheaper to do than thousands.

I feel your pain as I haul water every single day and sometimes multiple times a day as I can not afford a well either. To be honest, I think the animals do better on the surface water...dunno though. From the various footage, I have a general idea of how it is set up and so I would suggest dropping a gas powered or electric pump in one of sloughs and then pump overground along the outside of the perimeter fence in minimum 2 inch hose. At strategic spots, put in some garden hose fittings (will have to decrease from supply line) and then just use garden hose to fill...it will take a bit to lug the garden hoses around but it could be easier than this. If you wanted you could bury those lines as permanent features for winter frost protection. If you set up on an electric pressure system you could also set up floats so you don't have to fill. But gas would work well too - I have done this for years as I too do not want them going into sloughs to drink and so have fenced them out. OR if that is not appealing, you could set up one of those big water tanks on a gravel bed essentially where you plan on putting the well...then run your fences off of that point as you are planning...simply back the water hauler up and dump the whole load into that tank. It still means hauling water but it is only every 3 days. Alternatively you could use a pump and some fire hose to fill it from the creek or ponds...this can be a pain in winter, but it can be done...you could fill with hose in summer and tank in winter though. I think either a combination of these suggestions would be a huge time saver and will for certain not cost you 40K and will work well. You could also make the paddocks bigger (move every second day) if you wanted with no ill effects I would think. Anyway Josh, just some suggestions for you to ponder. Good luck.

Every time I watch your videos I feel like I learn something new. 👌🌻

Cant tell you how to run your farm. Thats up to you and you know your layouts. I can say, however, that we used to do intensive grazing and had the pasture sectioned off to where each section had use of the same pond. Set up, it's as simple as moving a gate one way or another to a post. That gate directs the flow of the cattle. We've largely stopped doing that right now, as we have other fields that aren't that easy to get hay off of. lots of hills and such. So, we move them regularly back and forth. Same thing. just different way of doing it. That water though. It will make or break your operation.

How about setting up a water tank trailer with a cattle trough fixed to it which fills automatically . Then u can just move the trailer with the cattle from field t field and just fill the trailer when needed

Sounds like you need to make some small ponds or watering holes, you got the equipment to do it

You need bottom rungs on the pallet so it cant flip off of the forks or straps over the tank and around the forks. good luck.

How about several large water totes that can be accessed from all four sides - from 4 different paddocks? Or even 3 sides would be helpful.

I have an idea for you that may or may not help. I can't remember the frame size on the Swamp Donkey, Will it handle the round water tank? If so then it might help you with hauling the water as it could pull the other tank also. Just not sure if it is in good enough shape to handle the load. And please don't stop putting out these style videos. Not only will it help some people attempting s similar project, but it just might help you to get it off your chest. ;-}}

Need a bigger pallet to support that tank. Use some of your lumber from the saw mill. Some 4x4 material with lag bolts. I would size to the tank

You need to buy two things, a large storage tank like 20,000 litres and an electric or ever a petrol pump connected to that tank. Put the tank on the highest spot on you farm and then gravity flow the water into the troughs. Electric is less effort but a petrol pump just need to fill the storage tank every time it gets low, shouldn't be that often since you don't have a huge number of cows

You could change the white pvc out for electrical conduit pvc....it is doesn't photo degrade as quickly, it's designed to be exposed to uv rays.

88° for you. Here in North Central pa we had a half inch of snow!

Hey Josh, Check out Greg Judy at Green Pastures Farms here in central Missouri...he runs gravity fed tire tanks on his pasture... I believe he runs 1600 acres, or around there.

Keep up the hard work the cows love you 4 it

To me it seems you are going to have to feed off a very large tank to other smaller ones to cover the area. Which mean on top of the highest point. Possibly long term plan of punching a will to feed the large tank to gravity feed the other areas. Sort term may be to get old semi tanker to place on the hill to open valves. I watched a video where they had fed the tank off of what looked to be a sprinkler size tank with pump room. Which is a lot of stored water. At some point you have to fill it from ground water or pond water. Once you are gravity feeding you can control with floats and valves. Summer time is the time to play with the hose on the ground to figure things out. This will take some thought. Along with what paddock do you want them to be on before winter. To me it looks like you have the slope. They also have cement tanks that could be put in the ground to feed off of. You seem to really need to know the max cows for your land and then go from there. There has to be a better short term to relocating the water. Seems like you could find a permanent filling location for the trailer That you could leave set up and hook onto the hose. Seems like a lot of figuring ahead. Look forward to seeing how it plays out.

That’s why we in KY fence in the creek as part as the pasture!! As far as keeping the cattle from the creek, what about all the other animals that visit the creek for water??? What’s the difference???

Many farmers put up a lane to the water tank and have the water at the border of the two paddocks.

Lot's of work Josh 🇺🇲 WOOOOOO

In ireland thats the norm small grazing pastures your water system does need to be sorted you could use a bigger thank like a old milk truck for water

On pvc shelter a 3/8 rope tied to the two corner Will v lesson deviding load stress point. Cat's Paw or Racking hitch for tow.

We have a solar pump that pumps water from a bore to a tank at the highest point on the farm then gravity feed to all points on the property

could you put a water tank in each pasture that would save time having to move them and the ones that are by the hot wire you could move the wire from one side of tank to the other using one tank for two pastures

I don't know what your rainfall totals are in your area, but wouldn't a rainwater catch system benefit you some? What are your thoughts?

what if you installed a series of tanks and used ram pumps to get the water to the other parts of the property. my grandfathers farm was all hillside and we did it with electric pumps or with five Gallo buckets when the motors would crap out on us hahahaha we did everything by hand it was to steep for and equipment. hauled. hay in tarps on our backs, if you where little you got a pillow case full and as you got older a bed sheet and then a tarp full. I don't miss it hahahaha

redesign your rotational grazing to water at a central point whenever possible. When I research rotational grazing my intention was to use a central alley way for movement and watering. Then pump from creek to water tanks using the same system you are using for ram pumps to pump from creek.

Could you put the portable water tank in the back of the gray farm truck? And then hook the tank trailer on the truck and pull it around?

U have couple of ponds. Use them as a well. Plumb the ponds as a well. Use a pump at each pond and pipe to to were u need water. U then have free water other than pipe and your pumps still might have to check state and federal laws for water rights and permits

If there is any way to setup like Joel Salatin does, where he has ponds and such at higher elevations that he can run water down from. Not sure if that means you have to lease or contract with someone.

What is the distance from the creek to your pastures that do not have a water source? I do Automation for a living and might have some suggestions.

I would add some sort of solar powered pump to move water Doesn't have to move water fast, just move enough to fill tanks over the course of a day and as cows drink. I'd invest in more water troughs based on what you say a permanent system costs. For a couple thousand you can probably get 5 or 6 more troughs and a couple solar pumps and hose to move water to where you need it. Put that big tank on a solar pump to fill slow during the day, and place it so excess water flows back into pond or stream when full. If you need more power than a solar pump, get a small sump pump and hook to batteries that are maintained by solar panels.

maybe spray paint the fittings each year to make them last a bit longer

Maybe a small trailer with wide tires so you could pull that small tank behind the kubota. Could you pivot the small pastures around a tank for 3 or 4 days? Should cut down on movement of tanks

How did you get on with trapping and removing the animals that dug burrows in the sides of the pond?

Long hoses and a diesel pump to get water from the pond. Start and stop pump manually. Total cost around $1000. Will last till winter comes

Hello Stoney Ridge

Hello Josh, I am looking at your very hard way to move water around. I know I know but a 275 or 300 Gallon tote you can transport easy on forks and they only cost you about $40 on Facebook to buy. I am in Central Florida and I use IBC totes for everything including storing our RAIN water which we harvest of roofs in tanks and than we do use a deep cycle battery with 2 125W Solar panels with a diaphragm pump and it moves for us the water around. I think if you would run yourself exactly that near your buildings into a network : Your Garage, House, Barn & Shed collecting that clean rainwater and just run it thru a 30micron filter when you pump it underground in Poly hose you can run those with a trench digger thru out your property so you have Water anywhere you want it . 3/4" IPS SDR11 PE4710 Black Hdpe Pipe 800' Coil shipped to your door run you about $350 a coil. City uses those for water supply lines in rural areas. 3' trench digger same as a tile installer can drag them into your ground 3' deep with a ripper and by your Barn in the rear and by your house/garage you can have a 4' deep manhole where you have your diaphram pump 12V DC system with a deep cycle battery and 2 125W Solar panels so they can collet your Rain water of your roofs in IBC 275-300 Gallon water tanks than 1 30um filter and boom you have drinking water water supply line between both them buildings established and from there you run strings underground to your area's where you want water too. All in all I would say under 5K of an investment and you can upgrade and expand as you see fit.

Troughs with float valves, water tank at highest point of property and just gravity feed from that?

Is there a location that can be got to for cows to be watered from any pasture at any time

Moving the cows everyday seams a bit excessive might want to experiment some try every other day if that works try every 3 days and so on till a balance is found

Check with your county's USDA ag extension about low cost loans/grants for improvements to your watering system. A number of reps got behind some funding to ease the problems of drought on livestock producers.

You got so much on your plate I can't wait till I can come give you a hand

A pickup bed trailer can carry the water tank and have a second trailer hitched behind it.

What’s up my friend , I hit 1k !! Did I already tell ya ??

Build a cradle you can put on under your tank so you can scoop it up with the fork so if there's water and you can still move it