Tank Heaters

    What do you think of when you hear "tank heater?"   A few will think of the electric heater that could be attached to the engine of a tractor or car for aid in cold weather starting.  Perhaps most will think of the water heater that heats water for the home.  But mention "tank heater" to a farm boy in the 40's he'd likely think of the heater that keep the cattle water tank from becoming a solid block of ice.
     Our cattle herd lived outside all winter with the exception of the rare occasion of s severe blizzard.  Those cattle needed water to drink all year around.  Between the windmill that pumped the water using wind power and the cattle yard stood a wooden water tank about 10 feet in diameter and about 30 inches high.  In the cold of winter that tank would quickly become a solid block of ice without some method of heating it.
    Our farm was one of the first in the area to be served with electricity because we were next to US Highway 81, and the power line followed the highway.  It reached us in 1943.  But, use of electricity expanded very gradually.  At first we got electric lights and a refrigerator and not much else though we did have an electric cream separator as early as I can remember. It was on object of envy for my friends who had to crank theirs by hand.  It was many years before electric tank heaters appeared.
   The tank heater of my memory was an oblong steel tube about 18 inches wide and 12 inches deep with about a 45 degree angle.  One end lay on the bottom of the water tank weighted down with stones so it wouldn't float.  A chimney rose from this section above the water. The angle part protruded above the water and had a hinged cover. Combustible material...coal, wood, corn cobs...was ignited inside the tank heater and that heated the water in the cattle tank,  Cobs were very combustible, easy to light and gave great heat but quickly burned up.  Wood and coal would burn for a long time, and, because the heater needed to function 24-7, were more desirable.  Cobs were a great starter to get coal or wood burning.  \
    I have memories of  looking out the kitchen window and seeing smoking drift up from the tank heater chimney.
  ( Perhaps some time I'll do an essay on corn cobs.)