Adding water tank to dog trailer---Opinions wanted

[Southwind]

Years ago, when I built my dog trailer I did not put any kind of a water tank on/in it. All of the water tanks I see for sale are all metal/aluminum. With money and space an issue, I have decided to use a blue 6Gal jug from Wal-Mart. I will mount this inside the front storage box of my trailer, drilling a small hole in the side of the box for the spout to stick out. Attached are pics of the trailer and the water jug. The jug will be laid on its side (as you would normally use it to pour water from). The cap/spout was already threaded so I simply added metal pipe and spout for durability. I imagine the cheap plastic spout would break off if a rock jumped up and hit it. I cut a small hole in the new top section to use as a fill spot with a screw on lid. The jug will be mounted in place, but in such a way that unscrewing the spout and removing a bracket will allow me to take the jug out and empty/clean it when needed.

The only potential issue I can see is the water freezing is cold temps when not moving down the road. Other than that, am I missing any other potential issues?

thx, Steve

[Neil]

Nice. Water is not much use when frozen, so I drain my tank and carry water in the heated truck during extended cold weather But plastic was a good choice, it should be good into the 20's overnight, if it warms during the day. Good job.

[Southwind]

Thx. Seems pretty logical to me, but just wanted to make sure I wasn't forgetting something before I drilled a hole in the storage box. I will have some room on all sides of the jug to insulate it for real hot/cold days.

[Neil]

Oh, you may have a slow water flow unless you open the fill cap to vent.

I use a 5 foot 8" PVC water pipe, with facets at each end, one at the top to vent, the other at the bottom with a 3 foot water hose with two female connectors for fill and drain, lashed to the side to save storage. Your' s looks better and will work fine. The pipe was free, as was the hose; connectors, clamps, end caps, and faucets were under 20 bucks. Ten years ago I used plastic for everything, still not broken.

[Southwind]

There is a small vent cap on the end with the spout and I also can use the fill cap for one as well. That is specifically why I went with a fill cap that had a threaded lid. I had thought of that, and I have already tried it out to make sure it works. I will probably add some sort of shims underneath it to tilt it forward a little bit. Sitting on level ground I don't think I can get the last gallon out of it.

[CCBIRDDOGMAN]

I hauled two of those jugs on the back shelf of my old dog trailer for years. They are pretty durable. Only issue I can think of, is with it being inside the box, if any water splashes out of the little air hole, it will be inside the box and it will splash out of that little air hole. Even if you have it in place, it pops out. Wasn't a big deal for me but depending on what else you have in that box, it might be an issue for you.

[CCBIRDDOGMAN]

Nevermind, I forgot they changed it to the screw on cap that covers the vent hole. Used to just be a little plug.

[Springer]

You could buy one of the small vents for a plastic gas can and use that for a vent. I bought 5 for $2 on eBay awhile ago.