Allotments 4 All

Anyone else had all their water butts destroyed by the ice ?
I've had all 10 of mine ruined....
50 Gallon solid ice cubes..
Great.
I'm really getting sick of all this global warming.. ???

I've never seen anything like that; mine froze but the ice just rose up rather than bursting outwards. You may well be right about global warming; they're suggesting that open water in the Arctic Ocean is upsetting the weather across the entire northern hemisphere.

wow no idea why thats happened ideal question for the radio gardeners world?

Ok this is just a guess but if the water froze at the top of the butt first. then as the lower part froze it could not expand upwards so it went sideways. the butts seem to have split where there is an indentation so it might be a sort of weak point.
Just got in from the pub so this might be inspiration of tosh!!! tough though for you
Good night and Happy new year.

Sorry to see that. As other said it might be that it's frozen top down and that's the issue.

Don't lose heart. Maybe next year just in case, insulate the new ones with a quilt or something ?

I haven't got my guttering up yet so my water resource is dry

Just throw a larger piece of old wood into the water before the winter starts and this'll help when the water freezes.

We empty all of ours just in case

Blimey Dan, that's pretty bad & realise I've been really lucky! All three of mine froze solid & since they're brand new & I can't really afford to keep buying water butts I was rather worried they'd explode. I guess since mine are linked they weren't quite full to the brim so there was room for expansion. Although then again the one on the end of the chain is slightly too low & overflows so maybe I'm talking nonsense! Going to drain them down or wrap them in bubble wrap if there's any more bad weather forecast as I don't want to take the risk.

Were they old & maybe a bit more brittle? Other than that I guess maybe you were just unlucky  :-\

I'd have thought they must have been brittle, either through age or because they were a type of plastic which becomes brittle at low temperatures. Normally the ice will expand upwards, and you get a domed top to the mass. It flows under pressure, so unless it's a situation like a water pipe, where there's no room for expansion, there shouldn't normally be a problem.

it's always worth looking out for the large blue "chemical" barrels. We are lucky in having got a few from when this was an industrial area. They are really strong. I think they are sometimes advertised on the internet.

More than likely it will be the recycled plastic the butts are made from and looking at the split in the butt it is a weak point in the manufacturing process of the butt, I have two water butts one from Wilkos very soft plastic but still in one pieces after the frost and a fifty gallon industrial one which must be ten mil plastic, :)

Mine are the industrial blue things. I agree they're almost indestructible; I once had a terrible job sawing the top off one. Soft plastic should be able to absorb the pressure well.

Thats a shame about your ruined water butts :(. Global warming does influence the position of the gulf stream which is what determines our winter weather.

My industrial blue ones (old orange juice containers around £6 each) all fell over as the ice bowed the bottoms and they are to heavy to lift back into place so have four butts on the floor with ice inside that each day i try to pick up and fail! so if you get the blue industrial ones tie them up with a loop of hosepipe. :)
x sunloving

As said I would empty them before the freeze, or you can go along with the wood in the top idea, drop in a carton of orange juice and have yourself a giant ice lolly.   :-X        ;D ;D ;D

How long have you had them? My reaction to that is that if they're going to burst in a freeze, then they're not fit for purpose, and if it's still possible, you should complain.

I regularly give thanks to whoever sunk my blue butts into the ground (at different depths so that they feed into one another) long before I took over the plot. This must stop them from freezing so hard too, I should think.

i ONLY HAVE ONE BUTT(NO JOKES PLEEEEEEASE!), and it is one of the blue chemical types, I think they are manufactured much stronger, and should be sought out instead of the manufactured butts, which have weak seams.

Quote from: caroline7758 on January 01, 2011, 15:02:20
I regularly give thanks to whoever sunk my blue butts into the ground

Must still have been very cold! ;)

The ones used to distribute bulk fruit juices are very similar to the blue ones but different colours - very tough and cheaper second-hand than paying retail for the purpose-made ones (that use inferior plastic and then skimp on that to make a profit - not to mention cheaper distribution).

You need to ask around at wholesalers and catering places etc.

They are so thick and tough it's even possible to repair warehouse rejects (slightly cracked ones) with a soldering iron and glue gun.

I get fed up paying absurd retail prices for shabby plastic stuff (like rootrainers) when for the same price I can buy a load of sausages in 3 free trays - trays that are just as complex to mould but are made from better plastic!

NB. people should consider moving water butts into their greenhouses or polytunnels for winter (and refilling them) - it will slow down the freezing but more importantly the temp around them can't fall below 0C until they are heavily frozen... 3 big barrels will protect a 5m tunnel.

Cheers.

That's a good idea!