Said Meade, when the topic of inflatable backyard pools came up in a news report (they're selling well, these days, we're told).
This guy did it — spent $29 [OR: did he say $129?]:
ADDED: I did a little more googling and am seeing this referred to as a "hillbilly hot tub." I say that to Meade, and he says "I invented it — 40 years ago," then adds that a lot of other guys also "invented" it. And now that I'm thinking about it, I remember seeing many TV/movie cowboys getting immersed in a horse trough (against their will). Something about like this...
That's the sort of high jinks I'm picturing for our backyard. You can play too!
BONUS: If you scroll back to the beginning of that cowboy video — for the non-horse-trough part of the fighting — you'll hear different music. I was trying to figure out what that song was, and the lyrics came to me... He's the pip... he's the king, but above everything...
Notice that Top Cat's trash can is made of galvanized steel — same as a backyard guy's horse trough.
July 7, 2020
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Useful for making a wood-fired hot tub.
https://youtu.be/HMjpWlgcK-M
$129. Must get heat from sun. Wisconsin winters would turn it into a big ice cube tray.
Back in the early 1980s, I had two sheepdogs, and when it got really hot out they jumped into the horse trough. The horses were not impressed.
I got a kids pool a couple years ago. The groundwater here is so cold that it makes a great cold plunge. Good for what ails ya. But only when it's really hot out.
The trough would be even better.
That’s a brilliant idea. Can fit two people comfortably if each one sits at the ends. He said they were $129, but that’s still damn cheap.
You could get two of them side by side and pretend it's a Cialis ad.
That's the sort of high jinks I'm picturing for our backyard.
Do you and Meade also picture large birds belonging to protected species falling in and drowning?
spent $29
He got a good deal, a trough that size usually runs > $100.
"You could get two of them side by side and pretend it's a Cialis ad."
That's what Meade said.
Once word gets out the horses start showing up.
And word always gets out.
Holy Hell!
After the video played, the next video up was a NOOSE!!!! Well a video showing 5 popular knots, but the one on display was a NOOSE. Who knew woke youtube was promoting white supremacy.
I never got hot enough to jump in the cattle tank 6X3? I think. By not hot enough, that would be an hour in the barn mowing hay bales in weather just like this. 92 degrees and +70 dewpoint. Not so hot as to jump in scummy cattle tank. But mostly because I was the one that had to clean the green scum off the inside, when it got bad.
My uncle worker for Bell Textron and had a home on a hill above Lake Worth. He had a round horse trough buried in the ground with about a foot above ground. Once a week he would use a sump pump to water his garden. This was in the late 50s early 60s. I remember he occasionally have a block of ice delivered when the heat in Fort Worth got scorching. Good times.
Search 'stock tank pool' for some aspirational images of this idea on Pinterest.
This summer with all the pools and beaches closed it looks like a pretty good idea.
A round stock tank might be a good compromise- it looks more like a pool...
There's a Youtube farmer who uses one of these every day to take an ice bath with his wife.
You can get something close to it through the Althouse Amazon portal here.
https://www.amazon.com/Achla-Designs-C-55-Large-Galvanized/dp/B001E8LZBA/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3PUK3B0SCMZGY&dchild=1&keywords=horse+trough+tub&qid=1594128900&sprefix=horse+trough%2Caps%2C182&sr=8-3
Live near the ocean, as I do. The only cost is the time it takes to walk to and from.
It is great how even warm water can cool you down. My grandkids love splashing around in an inflatable pool. We sit nearby, preferably in the shade, and encourage them to splash us by telling them not to.
Reminds me of when I used to go Mule Deer hunting in the High Desert area of NE Cal and Nevada.
The area has a few trees (junipers and pines with some poplars in the few vales with creeks) but mostly brush and rocky land with little shade. Open grazing for much of the year but not during deer season when the cattle have (mostly) been gathered up.
After walking and stalking....one of the greatest pleasures was to find a spring fed watering trough that the cattle would use when they were on the range. Generally a round galvanized 'tub' about 8 feet across about 3 ft deep and and always filled with cool spring water and a nice sandy bottom.
We would put down the rifles, me my camera, and strip down to 'fighting weight' and relax in the cool clear water. It made the hunting experience!!!
Then back to camp to have drinks, make dinner and tell stories about the day. Rinse and repeat until everyone had deer or we ran out of time. Ahhh. Memories.
Would you prefer to be warned, advised or merely told to reconsider your spelling of hijinks? (also hijinx)
Meh, just one more mosquito-bait attractive nuisance to take care of. Buy a hose, douse yourself with it, water the garden, coil it. I’m still in my fifties but the metaphorical weight of things is a constant consideration in any purchase. Particularly the whimsical.
Just the mugwump perspective.
When I was abt 12 I played in a stick tank in Cayucos. The kind they dig in the ground. Seemed fine to me!
I also played in the LA River which was a sewer.
IMO I owe my good health to that.
Any red blooded man who watches the “Beth in the horse trough” scene in Yellowstone would have little need for Cialis...if you can find the complete scene.
I prefer our backyard pool.
But, goddam... any post that mentions TC garners my attention.
While it's true that Top Cat was not created by the absolute genius, Chuck Jones, who was simply brilliant. None the less, Top Cat was my favorite Saturday morning character. Who wouldn't want to have his attitude (optimistic, practical and not too afraid of authority)? Today, I would suppose that the the ethnicity of the cast would be inexplainable though.
Cracker Meh, just one more mosquito-bait attractive nuisance to take care of. Buy a hose, douse yourself with it, water the garden, coil it.
True. Then there is always the solution of running through the sprinklers to keep cool. Wheeeeee! Keeps the grass green and it is fun.
Ahh, summertime, when academics escape the classrooms and discover things normal people do.
Just watch out for Charlotte Corday.
I fill a 5-gallon collapsible water container with hot water and keep it in an ice chest when I go to Walden pond for a mile swim. Nothing like a hot shower to rinse off the pond water and make you feel like a human bean.
The old Hillbilly Hot Tub.
We just ordered one (the blowup kiddie pool kind) and it might show up today. It is very hot right now where we are, and my wife thought it would be nice. Just over $100 and it's got a fancy built-in seat.
We use a smaller tank for indoor firewood storage in winter. I've seen them used as patio planters too. Useful things, those galvanized tanks! My DIL had a hard time finding a large inflatable kiddie pool at the beginning of summer: they were all sold out back then.
A cattle trough...the big round kind, make great garden feature pools. Bury them a few feet into the ground. Fill with a layer about 2 inches of sand and gravel...or cut out the bottom and line with ground cloth. Pave around the edges with rocks and plants. Make a small rocky waterfall to keep the water recirculating and aerated. A few water plants in pots provide a nice feature and make shady safe places if you want fish in the pond.
It is hard for us in our climate to have them in the winter due to freezing, frost heave and permafrost sometimes in the bad winters.
The long oval troughs are perfect for raised gardens. Much better than wooden raised beds. The galvanized lasts much longer.
Temperature control would be a problem. Plus, changing the water. Chlorine would keep away the skitters, but causes other problems. Why not rig one of those outdoor showers one sees in old films. Pull on the rope, and whoosh down comes the water.
I fill a 5-gallon collapsible water container with hot water and keep it in an ice chest when I go to Walden pond for a mile swim. Nothing like a hot shower to rinse off the pond water and make you feel like a human bean.
Yes, but does it do the job on the scum? Or do ya loofah dat?
I have a pool and want to get one of these as a storage bin for the pool stuff. Need to make a lid, though.
I have a plastic one that won't hold up as well as one of these.
The reference to an "ofuro" reminded me of an old-fashioned "sento" public bath I visited in Kyoto years ago.
A slight electric current ran through one of the heated wooden tubs, giving the bather an odd sensation...a bit exhilarating and a bit scary at the same time.
(Remember James Bond dispatching that assassin by throwing an electric heater into a full bathtub the guy had fallen into? zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!)
Just don't dip your hat in it. That's a 907.
I don't know why it's called a hillbilly hot tub. I think it looks chic compared to a standard hot tub. Seems to me that an actual hot tub is pretty much of a "hillbilly" thing... comparatively.
They make those in heavy plastic now, possibly from recycled plastic. I also notice they used a smaller one of the galvanized ones as a bathtub in one of the tiny house shows. Take a look through a Tractor Supply store, lots of interesting multi-use items there.
The true hillbilly hot tub would most likely be the water tower in the opening sequence of Petticoat Junction.
@Althouse (12:09) now you’re “thinking” with your biases and prejudices again.
He's the most
He's the king
of a lotta great things
He's the most tip-top
Top cat!
--gpm
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