Barber Industries founder Shane Barber is a third-generation cattle rancher near Hermosa, S. Dak. Ten years ago, Barber and his father set out to create an easier way to get water to their cattle.
“We had good water but could only get 2 to 3 gals. a minute, and that supply was intermittent,” says Barber. “I needed to solve the problem of watering large herds of cattle with low incoming water flow rates.”
The goal was to create a high-capacity waterer that was portable, easy to clean, and designed to keep cattle from climbing into it. Relying on his engineering background, he developed a heavy-duty mobile waterer made from refurbished fuel tanks. He calls it the Storage Drinker (SD).
“Mobile tanks can move with the herd. Intensive grazing practices, droughts, acquisition of new land with different water systems, ranching on rented ground, and putting livestock in temporary grazing areas all require flexibility with water infrastructure,” says Barber.
Another advantage is that the SD can be used by calves and adult cows alike. “Many pipeline and tank watering systems do not provide adequate access for calves,” Barber says.
When Barber started out, he sold 5 to 10 tanks per year. Each was custom-built with large troughs and averaged around 6,000 gal. capacity. Now, after almost a decade of development, Barber landed on the tanks’ current design and has ramped up sales to well over 100 tanks a year.
Standard sizes include 1,400 and 2,300 gal. Every system comes plumbed and ready to use. A 1,000-gal. tank will be released in late 2021, suitable for herd sizes of around 50 mothers. Each is easy to move with a skid steer, tractor, or pickup mounted bale bed.
Barber believes his tanks make work easier for ranchers in the long run. “Cattlemen spend a lot of time fixing substandard water systems. The SD water storage tanks just work; they don’t create more work. My customers keep coming back because they don’t want to spend their time on other types of systems that are a little less expensive but create more work in the long run.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Barber Industries, 15003 Lower Spring Creek Rd., Hermosa S. Dak. 57744 (ph 605-343-5472; www.barberindustries.com/sd1.htm).