Thank you for purchasing our automatic water kit! You'll find the directions to assembly your waterer below. If at any point you run into a problem putting your waterer together then please don't hesitate to drop me an email at: [email protected] and I'll be happy to help! I usually respond by the next business day.
Where to Start
- You'll need a board or wall to mount the hardware to. It needs to be at least 3/4 inch thick but no more than 1 1/2 inches thick. I recommend a board so you can move it if necessary and so that you aren't drilling holes in your barn. The board should be at least 5 inches wide and 24 inches tall (go 36 inches tall minimum if for standard size sheep and goats), but the waterer is easier to disassemble later on if you stay between 5 and 7 inches wide.
- Draw a pencil line through the center of your board top to bottom. This is easiest with a sliding combination square, but you can also measure it with a tape measure and use a straight edge. If you are mounting to a barn wall use a level to get a vertical line
- Lay the template that came with your waterer over the board and match the blue line up with your pencil line you just made.
- Next, slide the template up or down until you get the red line where you want the water bucket rim to be. Remember, since the water level is always maintained at the top of your bucket you can position you bucket higher out of reach for sheep/goat berry bombers since the animals never have to be able to reach to the bottom of the bucket. Measure to the base of your animals tail head to get this measurement, or put the red line about 15 inches from the ground if you have Nigerians like me.
- Tape the template in place and drill 6 holes on the indicated cross hairs of the template with a 3/32 inch drill bit.
- Use a hole saw or paddle bit to drill out the 1 3/8 inch hole for the water inlet that's indicated in the center ring of your template.
- Remove the template and instal the bucket rim holder first, followed by the handle catch and then the faucet using the screws that are provided.
- Turn the board around and through the back of the hole you just drilled insert the brass and copper elbow into the back of your faucet. It's a special design, so all you do is press the copper end of the elbow FIRMLY into place with your hands. No tools needed. It'll go in about an inch and when you give it a tug it won't come back out.
- If you are mounting the whole assembly to a wire fence then you can place a little strip of wood behind the board at the top and bottom with your fence sandwiched in between and put a few screws through it to clamp the whole assembly to your fence. Make sure the screws you use don't poke out to scratch you or the animals when moving by!
- Hang an 8 quart flat back bucket from the catch, hook up your water supply and presto! You're done.
For a better visual of how to assemble the kit I left a video for you down below.
Here is an extra copy of the template if you ever need it:
| automatic_waterer_template_.pdf |
Assembly Video
*Important Info on Winter Care*
There isn't many things you need to worry about in terms of maintenance, but there is one thing that's VERY important. YOU ABSOLUTELY MUST REMOVE THE HOSE, THE BUCKET, AND OPEN THE FAUCET TO DRAIN THE WATER DURING THE WINTER!! You can't leave water inside the pipe when the weather goes below 32 degrees Fahrenheit. If it freezes then it will break, even though the parts are metal. You don't have to necessarily bring the whole assembly inside (although I would recommend it so the animals can't beat up the end of the float valve since it won't have the bucket there to act as a guard), but at least get all the water out by removing the hose and leaving the faucet open all winter.
Should you forget and get a surprise freeze that breaks one of the fittings I can probably fix it, though there will be a fee for any parts I need to replace (I'll only charge what it cost me to purchase that part) along with a charge for the return shipping. If you need to have repairs done just send me an email with your address and a short description of where it broke and I'll send you my address so you can mail it back to me. In some cases, I can mail you the needed part with directions on how to fix it and save you the trouble of mailing anything to me, that's why I ask for a few details about what's damaged.
Should you forget and get a surprise freeze that breaks one of the fittings I can probably fix it, though there will be a fee for any parts I need to replace (I'll only charge what it cost me to purchase that part) along with a charge for the return shipping. If you need to have repairs done just send me an email with your address and a short description of where it broke and I'll send you my address so you can mail it back to me. In some cases, I can mail you the needed part with directions on how to fix it and save you the trouble of mailing anything to me, that's why I ask for a few details about what's damaged.