During October of last year, Clinton Anderson paid a visit to Ritchie to take a tour of our facility and to film a new episode of Downunder Horsemanship called “Water for Life”.

Did you know that water is the most vital nutrient to your horse’s wellbeing? Horses need a constant, fresh supply of water daily to maintain their health. That’s why Clinton has been a longtime user of Ritchie Industries’ automatic waterers. He knows he can trust his horses’ wellbeing to Ritchie’s carefully designed product. In fact, they’re the only waterers he installed on his Downunder Horsemanship Ranch in Stephenville, Texas. In this episode, you will be able to experience the Ritchie tour along with Clinton. Not only does Clinton get a firsthand look at how our waterers are created,  he also joins our production line and assembles his own waterer.

If you follow our Facebook page  you may have seen several posts about our friends at the Quakerdale Wolfe Ranch in Marshalltown, Iowa. During the Clinton Anderson Walkabout Tour in Des Moines 2012, Quakerdale was the feature not-for-profit organization that participated in the Ritchie Ball Toss.  We were happy to be able to include Quakerdale  in the “Water for Life” program. Watch for them and for a special way that with your help, we can continue to support this wonderful organization. 

“Water for Life” will air on Tuesday, March 12th, 2013 at 12 pm and 10 pm EST on RFD-TV.  We hope you enjoy the program.

Will you be watching the show?  Be sure to share your thoughts on our Facebook page. 

Chat live with us on Twitter during the show #ritchiewater.

Today I came across an article from Drovers called “Extreme weather dominates Central Plains”. Click here for the article. Flooding in the north and drought in the south. This reminded me of a question that we often receive at shows that we attend in the south where the benefits of a heated waterer generally are not needed. “Why would I need your waterer if I can just fill up a stock tank?”

This is a very valid question. My response…low water waste, especially if you live in a drought affected area. Over the past several years, it seems as if drought has been a continuous concern in the south and in California. Studies have shown that the drought will continue for much of the United States. Dumping 50-100 gallons of water to clean a stock tank can make one stop and think about the waste in these drought areas.

Ritchie carries close to 40 units.  While some are quite large, often times, the smaller units will satisfy the needs of your animals. Once the water level lowers, the valve will allow the trough to refill, even as your animals are drinking. The water capacity in these troughs is between 2-6.5 gallons of water, will be all you will be removing when cleaning the tank. Another benefit of these low capacity automatic waterers is that the incoming water is fresh and cool.  Water will not have a chance to become warm or stagnant.

To go a step further, a covered waterer will help reduce the amount of water lost to evaporation. We carry two covered units, the heated EcoFount series and the heat optional Thrifty King series.

So, if you live in an area that has been dealing with drought, the automatic waterer may benefit you, besides saving you time in having to dump and refill your stock tank, much more than previously thought.

Thanks to our distributor Ferguson Enterprises, we have a tip regarding the Ritchie valve that will help you with your new installation.

At times we have concerns from customers who notice a drip in their valve with their new installation. The majority of the time, this is caused by a small piece of debris that lodged itself in the valve, causing it to stay open. The Ritchie valves can handle a reasonable amount of debris, however small pebbles such as the one shown in the image below, are often the culprit in the malfunctioning valve. The small pebbles, which are too large for the valve orifice,  fall in the water line during installation and once the waterer is installed, lodge themselves in the valve.

A simple way to remedy this issue is to blow out the waterlines before you connect the waterer to the main line.  This is shown in the image below. This simple step can ensure that all debris in the line is removed prior to your complete installation and save you a headache later on.

In the case you notice a small drip in your valve with your new installation and would like to check for debris, visit our instructional page.  As always feel free to contact us at 800-747-0222 for assistance.

Did you know our WaterMaster 1200 has a lower water capacity than our competitors?

The WaterMaster 1200 has a water capacity only 60 gallons of water.  Our competitors equivalent holds 110 gallons.  The benefits of this to you are:

1. There is fresher water available for your dairy cattle, the longer water stands in a trough, the more apt it is to become stagnant and have higher levels of algae and bacterial growth. With only 60 gallons in the trough at a time, the water turnover is more frequent. Considering 80-90% of the end product you produce is water, wouldn’t  the water that they consume should be of higher quality?

2. Heating water costs money. Should you be required to heat your waterers during the winter months, you will be heating half as much volume of water with our units as you would with our competitors. Depending on the weather conditions experienced (extreme cold winter) the additional cost of the higher volume waterers can add up quite rapidly.

3. Less water also means less water waste. When cleaning the WaterMaster 1200, you will be putting less water into your manure system, reducing waste costs later on (manure handling).

• For example, if you have 20 Watermaster 1200’s and you clean them twice a month, you will only be adding 28,800 gallons of water to your manure storage per year. If you have our competitors unit and clean at the same frequency you will be adding 52,800 gallons per year. Multiply that by your cost per gallon to transport and spread your manure, you will see the amount of money you can save by purchasing a Ritchie versus the competition.

4. Ritchie waterers also have a ten year limited warranty. Poly products are protected against manufacturer defect for five full years, than prorated for the five years. That is five years longer than any other manufacturer in the industry.

Jeremy Tritten is the Ritchie Industries Accounts Manager for Ritchie distributor Ferguson Enterprises. Ferguson Enterprises is the Ritchie Distributor for Wisconsin, W. UP Michigan, and the majority of Illinois. Jeremy and other Ferguson representives can be reached by calling 800-950-4882, by visiting http://www.ferguson-ritchiefounts.com. You can also connect with Ferguson Enterprises by visiting their Facebook page.

Being in automatic waterer business for over 90 years has allowed us to hear and understand what customers and other watering companies are saying about automatic waterers.  Below is a collection of the most popular automatic waterer myths and truths of 2011.

Myth – Electric heated automatic waterers are unsafe and can cause your animal harm.

Truth – Electricity and automatic waterers have been combined much longer than any unheated unit has been on the market.  With modern regulations, each waterer put on the market that is CE, UL, CSA rated must meet a very high standard of safety.  Installing the waterer to the manufactures recommendations, including installing a ground rod under the unit, will help increase the safety of the unit and eliminate the chances of stray voltage carrying over to the unit.  Electric heated waterers have been and continue to be the most popular choice among automatic waterer owners especially in areas that have severe winters.    Thousands of these waterers are sold every year with no incidents.

Myth – Electrically heated units are expensive to run during the winter

Truth – With modern day technology, insulated automatic waterers can run throughout the winter for pennies a day.  They are fully insulated and efficient at the same time giving you the peace of mind that your waterers are open on the coldest days.  The newest combination plastic/steel trough waterers will run in the most severe climates for under $20 for the entire season

Myth – If a large animal, cattle or horse for instance, kicks an automatic waterer that features a float and valve system, the valve will stick causing it to stay open and flood the area around it.

Truth – This is completely false.  The float and valve system is the most popular among automatic waterers.  This system is safely housed inside the automatic waterer protecting it from the impact that kicking and rubbing may cause.  The float and valve system was developed and patented in 1921 which set the standard of waterering from that point on.  This system could not have sustained 90 years of top market performance if it failed each time an animal kicked the unit.

Myth – Paddle type, energy free automatic waterers do not freeze.

Truth -The design of these units allows water to drain as and after the animals drink. However, if any debris/feed etc gets into the bowl, it will plug the hole where the water drains out.  This will cause it to freeze and/or over run.

When doing research for an automatic waterer be sure to consider what will work best for you and what has proven to have continued reliability.  Ritchie Industries has been providing reliable and durable automatic waterers for 90 years.  For more information on Ritchie Waterers, please visit http://www.RitchieFount.com.