The Prequel: Crop Circles and Other Hieroglyphs

We started on the barn plumbing a few weeks ago because I had started the new barn doors. Which I wanted to hang on the shiny new round track installed way back on Labor Day.  The hanging would have gone flawlessly except for that pesky non-functional hydrant just to the left of the main door, directly in the path of the new sliding door.

I was perhaps more sensitive to non-functioning plumbing since Old Man didn't drain the 200' long hose completely that day in January when he left town for a week and the bottom actually fell off the thermometer and shattered on the 6 degree F ground. It took me a LONG time to get water down to the barn. We have one water trough heater (for our only electrical outlet), but for reasons that elude me now, we needed more. It was probably hailing, sleeting, snowing, or raining. Or not. It was definitely below freezing.

When attempting to break the ice on the main pasture trough I discovered its perfect ice sculpture self portrait 12" thick. I tried to take it to a wedding. I couldn't lift it, but I did flip it out of the trough. I could not get the 200' hose popsicle thawed, even on the asphalt. It was then I became cranky.

After talking to a plumber and a borer, the course of action became clear: Bore a new water line under the drive and the barn to a new frost-free hydrant location conveniently located in the barn; attach it to the old water line. Add a sink with stainless steel counter, a drain down valve, a laundry faucet, and a cut off in heavy duty cast iron for sub freezing weather --a perfect wash rack for horses. Max 25' hose required for any task, any weather.  How hard could it be?