So my hubby made my dreams come true this summer by helping me make a stock tank pool in our backyard! If you’ve been wondering how to make one too, I am going to outline all the steps for you here. It’s definitely not as hard as you think it may be! I was honestly surprised because I thought this project would be a little out of our DIY range. But it turned out to be just fine and it only took us a couple of weekends to finish. This is the perfect solution if you don’t have a neighborhood pool to enjoy this summer. Keep on reading to see just how easy and simple this DIY stock tank pool is!
This is also a great alternative to doing an in-ground pool. I would definitely love one of those too, but they are way more expensive to do! So this backyard pool is very budget friendly and easy to install! And as far as above-ground pools go, it is pretty cute and small too! Which means it can fit in even the tiniest backyard!
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Materials Needed for DIY Stock Tank Pool:
Here is everything you need to order if you are planning on making a stock tank pool yourself. This is exactly everything we used:
- Stock Tank (we picked ours up at Tractor Supply Co, they have plenty of metal stock tanks to choose from. Which is basically just water troughs for cattle! But you can probably find them at your local farm supply store too!)
- Paver Sand
- Flex Seal
- Flex Glue
- Intex Pool Pump(The following list below will need to be ordered as well to go along with the pool pump. These pieces are not included in the kit so therefore need to be ordered separately. I ordered these from the Intex website directly.)
- Carbide Hole Saw (70mm/2.75″ Cutting Dia for Stainless Steel)
- Clorox Pool & Spa Small Pool 1″ Chlorinating Tablets 1.5 lb
- Mini Tablet Spa Chemical Dispenser (For the Chlorine Tablets)
- Chlorine Test Strips
- Pool Skimmer
- Intex 25006 Large Strainer Rubber Washer and Ring Pack Replacement Parts
- Replacement Filter Pump Cartridge (3 Pack)
- Submersible Underwater LED Pool Lights (Optional)
And if you aren’t big into DIYing, there is a company called Cowboy Pools that can do it for you, if you are in their area. Plus, they sell DIY Stock Tank Pool Kits altogether too, which is nice and convenient.
Also, keep in mind that creating this galvanized stock tank pool is an initial investment when you first start it. However, after a few years, it is a very affordable way to enjoy a pool in your yard during the summer months. We have had ours now for going on 3 years and the only thing we have to continually buy each year is minimal, such as chlorine tablets.
Pick Up The Pool And Order Supplies
As I stated above, we purchased our stock tank from Tractor Supply Co. A lot of times, they will not deliver this because it is such a big piece.
So you need to make plans on how to bring it home. Thankfully, my hubby was able to get one of his friends with a flat bed truck to come with him to pick it up.
But, I have also seen people who put it on top of the bed of their trucks and tie it down. Here are the dimensions to the one we got: 8 ft. W x 2 ft. H x 8 ft. L.
Also, my hubby sprayed flex seal all over the seams and cracks of the stock tank before doing anything with it. This is totally optional, but we wanted to take every precaution to make sure it doesn’t leak on us during the process.
Also, if you are serious about doing this, it is probably best to order the supplies ASAP. I was reading that a lot of retailers sold out of these materials during the middle of summer last year.
So that may be the case for this year too. We ordered everything towards the end of May this year and got it within about two weeks. So thankfully we didn’t experience any major delays in our progress!
Level The Pool
The next step in this DIY Stock Tank Pool Project is to make sure the ground is level. You obviously don’t want it to be uneven on the ground or else the water will spill out.
Thankfully, we have a pretty flat level area in our backyard. It just needed a little adjusting to make it perfect. We just dug a little out of the ground and had to dig more on one side.
My hubby spray painted the yard so we could see the exact dimension that we needed to dig out.
After we dug up all the grass, we added in some paver sand. You don’t want to put the pool on gravel because it may make it not level.
We are planning on adding in some river stones around it to make it look better. But we didn’t add any underneath it. I think it took us a total of 20 bags of sand or so to finish the area.
We just used a rake to make it as level as possible. Once we had the paver sand all out, we placed the stock tank on top.
To check to make sure if it was level or not, we put a piece of lumber on the rim of the stock tank. Then, we set the level on top of the lumber to check.
We got it pretty close but it’s not 100%. However, it was good enough because the water will not be constantly spilling out.
Drill The Holes For The Pool Pump
After you have the pool all level and set, now it’s time to drill the holes in the side of the pool for the pump. You will need two because the pump has two hoses.
One for sucking in the water and one for spilling it back out. Be sure to choose a spot on the side where it is completely flat. You can see in the photos below how there is a little ridge in some places to the stock tank.
Obviously, if you drill your hole there it will not seal properly and cause a leak. My hubby first drilled a small hole with a regular bit (as you can see in the first photo) and then attached the hole saw to his drill to drill out the full sized hole.
The one I have linked for you is the perfect size for this pool pump attachment as well.
Im not going to lie, this was probably the hardest part of the whole project. Just mainly because he had a hard time drilling the hole in evenly. We had to stop and start it a lot but we finally got it.
It wasn’t a perfectly smooth circle, but that was fine. It just needed to big enough for the pool pump attachments to go through. So it turned out perfectly! He also used gloves to remove the circular piece when it was cut.
Be careful with this step because it will be sharp. Also, be sure to vacuum out the pool after you drill the hole out. I just used a shop vac to clean up any sharp metal pieces that fell inside.
Attach The Pool Pump
The next step to this DIY Stock Tank Pool, is now to attach the pool pump! This part was kinda tricky too, but after watching a few YouTube tutorials, we were able to figure it out!
Also, the kind of pump you order should have it’s own directions included and it is pretty straightforward from there. However, the pool pump we ordered did not come with enough rubber washers.
That’s why I included the replacement washer parts pack in my list of materials above. We didn’t use all of them included, but we did use the two larger black ones.
I believe our pump came with two in the box, but we needed two more. So be aware of this and be sure to order ahead of time so you have everything.
You attach the rubber washers to the vacuum attachment and jet attachment for the pool pump. This just ensures an extra tight seal.
And to make it even more secure, we used Flex Glue around the attachments before adding the rubber washer on top. It’s important to take these extra precautions to avoid any leaks you may have in the future if you don’t!
Once all your attachments are added into the pool, you can then attach the hoses!
As you can see here, it doesn’t look very pretty right now. But it’s functional and it works! We are wanting to build a small deck with steps leading into the pool in the future.
So that would hide this pool pump and make it look more like a pool area instead!
Fill Up The Pool
After you have your pool pump all set up, now is the fun part! Fill her up! Now, keep in mind this is a 700 gallon stock tank pool.
So it will obviously take awhile to fill it up completely. I want to say it took us maybe like two and a half hours to get it completely full.
We were worried that our pool pump wasn’t working right because we thought once we filled the water to the first attachment (which is the vacuum) that it would work.
Some of the YouTube tutorials we were watching showed that happening. But it wasn’t working with ours. We had to wait until the water came up to the second attachment (which is the jet ) before it would work.
It turns out it just depends on the model of pool pump you get. If you order the same one I did, then just know that you need to fill your pool up almost all the way before it will work!
An important step to this DIY Stock Tank Pool is to make sure you don’t have any leaks. Since we have a little bit of that paver sand peaking through on the bottom, it was fairly easy to see if we had any leaks coming from the pool pump.
And thankfully we didn’t! We did have a small leak coming from the back of the stock tank, from one of the seams back there.
But we just added in a little Flex Glue and it stopped the leak instantly! That stuff is amazing! After you have made sure you don’t have any leaks, you can then add in the chlorine.
I got a small floating chlorine dispenser. To use, I insert a chlorine tablet into the top and just let it float around to distribute the chlorine evenly. Right now, I am only using about one tablet per week.
But once we get to the heat of summer here (probably around July) I will start adding around two tablets per week.
I also ordered chlorine test strips to make sure the levels were okay. For a small pool like this, you want to keep it on the low side.
There is an adjuster on the side of the dispenser to determine how much chlorine you want to spill out. I usually keep it on the lowest setting here.
Enjoy Your DIY Stock Tank Pool
Well, this was definitely a crash course in the making of a stock tank pool! I hope you enjoyed reading this and learned a lot from it as well. This entire project was so much fun to create and I am definitely reaping all the benefits from it now!
If you made it this far, then you deserve a nice float in your stock tank pool then! It definitely makes for the perfect soaking pool during a hot summer day! Be sure to let me know if you have any questions about this process.
I tried to explain it as easy as I could, although I know some of it can be a little confusing. Feel free to send me a message and I will try to help out in any way that I can!
We are also planning on adding in a few more fun items around the pool such as some loungers and maybe an outdoor table.
We also want to do some patio lights strung around the area, kinda like what we did at our camper this past summer.
So be sure to keep checking back for some more fun things we will be adding to this space. But, as you can see in the photo above, we did add in some cool underwater LED lights!
And the cool thing is you can control it with a remote and change colors too!
Thanks for checking out my DIY Stock Tank Pool! Have you guys ever tried to make your own stock tank pool too?! I can’t wait to enjoy it all summer long and I am so happy that we were able to get it done this early in the season too!
I hope to get many years of use out of our little DIY swimming pool here! And with regular maintenance, there is no reason why it can’t last for a long time in your outdoor space too!
Learn more about how to turn your builder grade home into something more here too!
This is so cool! When I read the title I didn’t even know what a stock tank was let alone that you could make a pool with one. It’s such a neat idea. I love it so much more than a plain ol’ plastic pool. This is going to be so great for the summer!
Thank you so much! It will be so perfect to use this summer for sure!
This is such a seriously creative idea! I don’t know why I’ve never thought of something like this before. It would be the perfect solution when you don’t have space or the funds for an in-ground pool! Great DIY!
Thank you! Yes, I would ultimately love an in-ground pool, but they are so dang expensive. This was the perfect alternative for us to do and it didn’t cost an arm and a leg!
You had me sold when you added those cool lights! I’m going to investigate this, maybe see if I can sink it into the lawn for the frogs. Thanks!
–Sue
http://www.susanberkkoch.com
Yes, I’ve seen where some people dig a hole big enough to place the stock tank all the way in the ground so that is an option too!
Wow this is such a cool project! I never would have thought of doing something like this. What a great idea! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you! I am so glad you think so too!
This looks incredible and such a creative idea! I’d love an outdoor pool xx
Thank you! It has been so much fun so far!
OMG, how fab for summer! You guys did a great job! Hope you enjoy a cold one while soaking up the sun! x
Lynn | https://www.lynnmumbingmejia.com
Thank you so much Lynn! We have definitely been enjoying it so far!
What a great idea this is! Perfect for Summer! x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
Thank you! I think it is too. We will definitely be enjoying it for sure this summer!
This looks simply AMAZING! I have wanted to do a stock tank pool for years now; those galvanized tubs are the perfect size and so durable. Seeing how easily you were able to set everything up to an enviously nice backyard summer retreat is inspiring.
Thanks for sharing your process and plenty of visual aids!
Oh yay! You definitely should try one out! It was easy to set up and I love the finished result too!
This is such a cool project and idea! I never thought you could make your own pool at home, so this went over and beyond! Honestly, the end product is lovely and I am in love with the LED light add on! x
Awe thank you so much my friend. I am loving the LED lights too!
Looks fab. 😀
Thank you!
Where you live looks beautiful and this is such a great addition to your backyard – perfect for spending hours in in the summer! What an amazing project 🙂 x
Awe thank you so much! I appreciate it! We will definitely be loving it this summer!
Oh wow! This is so cool! I know my dad was making a stock tank hot tub, but I’m not sure how far along he got (I know he already has the stock tank)
Oh cool! I have seen people make it into a hot tub too! That would be awesome at night as well!
This is such a cool project! I hadn’t even heard of a stock pool before so you’ve really enlightened me today. I hope you have a lot of enjoyment from the pool. Thanks for sharing.
Awe yay. I am so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks so much!
That looks like a lot of hard work but when it is up and running it must be very relaxing.
Thank you! It is very relaxing. And it actually wasn’t too hard either once we figured out what we were doing! It was definitely worth it!
I love this post! I think that it’s a great idea to buy the supplies early as you say- everyone has the same idea during the summer!
Yes I think so too! I didn’t want to start the project and not be able to finish because things were getting sold out!
Awwwwww…. this DIY is so cool. At first, I didn’t understand what a stock tank was but following through with the step, it started to all make sense. It’s so cool for summer. Thanks for sharing
No problem at all! It is very cool for summer and we are loving it so far!
This is amazing. I had no idea what a stock tank is. Amazing that you made a pool out of it. It looks so cool.
Thank you! So glad you think so too!
What a neat idea! I had no idea what a stock tank was before reading your post either. Looks a lot better than a plastic pool would and obvious lot sturdier! Does the water get really hot from sitting in a metal tank?
Thank you! It actually hasn’t gotten too hot, although we aren’t really to the heat of summer here yet. We tend to get a lot of rain though, so that has been cooling it off in between hot spells! It has been nice and refreshing so far!
Impressive article !
I do not have any idea of the subject. But I really admire the way in which minute details are given which setting, pursuing and achieving the goal.
Thanks.
Thank you so much
Okay, so I didn’t know what a stock tank was or that people could use them to make a pool. This is REALLY cool! It seems so much easier to maintain than the other pools. When it gets too cold to swim maybe it could be drained and used as a sandbox? Thanks for sharing this cool idea!
No problem at all my friend! It was a lot easier than I expected too! And yes, I’ve actually seen some people turn them into hot tubs too! That would be perfect for winter!
Never heard of a stock tank pool but this looks awesome. Perfect for my nieces and nephews to enjoy outdoors. Love how you showed to us a detailed procedure on how to make it with pics. So helpful xx Thanks for sharing!
http://www.lifebeginsattwenty.com
Thank you so much. So glad you thought so too!
I’ve never seen one of these before but I’d bloody love one. It’s soo hot in the UK right now and I would love a little water to dip my toes in
Rosie
Thank you! It is perfect for dipping your toes in!
Oh wow……this is so cool! I remember when I was a kid, one of my friends had this kind of tank pool at her home. And we, girls had an all-girls pool party almost every month at her home.
Awe that sounds like so much fun!
Ah, this is amazing! I love the idea of having a mini pool in the garden, especially with all this sunny weather we’re having at the minute! x
Yes! It is so perfect for the sunny weather right now!
This looks like a really cool project – and just in time for summer, too! I’d have never thought about doing something like this but it looks amazing! Thanks for sharing x
Thank you so much! I am so happy we got it done in time for summer too!
You have a lovely backyard. That’s cool you can put a tank pool and it’s summer season which will be perfect.
Thank you so much. I am definitely enjoying it so far for summer!
Thanks for sharing, this looks like a great idea, if I had the space then I would be tempted, or even a blow-up one 🙂
Yes a blow up pool would work just fine too!
I’ve never seen anyone do a pool out of a stock tank, but I have a big patch of dirt in my backyard from where the previous tenants had an above-ground pool that is just begging for something as awesome as this. Not sure the water would stay cool enough here in south Alabama but worst case it would be a spring and fall pool and make a hot tub for winter! Thanks for the inspiration!
That is very true! That would be perfect!
I love this post, it’s so interesting to find out bits of DIY from you and you give me such inspiration!
Thank you so much. I appreciate that!
Wow! This stock tank pool looks great and stylish. The idea of using submersible LED Pool Lights is especially interesting. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you! I love the submersible LED lights too!
This is a fantastic idea. I’ve seen these stock tanks but always thought of them mainly as being for raised gardens and planters. The LED lights are a nice touch, btw!
Thank you so much! I am so glad you think so too!
I’m most likely reiterating what everyone else has said, but this is seriously so cool! And a DIY project for DIY Jedis like yourself .
Awe thank you so much. I am so glad you think so too
Wow this is such a great idea! Every summer I wish I had a pool 😂 this is definitely going to help on those hot days! Thanks!!
Thank you! It has been perfect for summer so far!
I love this! Especially since I can’t find inflatable pools for the kids this summer. This would solve that whole problem forever. What do you plan to do to winterize it? Sorry. I have no clue.
We will just drain it and cover it for the winter. I have seen where some people turn it into a hot tub for the winter though so that’s another great idea
This looks fabulous!
What is the appropriate price tag of the pool project? Not including landscaping.
Thanks for sharing!
I live in the city, but can imagine this even in a small backyard 🤗
No problem! I think we spent around $1000 for the pool itself, then probably around $500 more for landscaping around it, which we did ourselves too.