[liz from the fizz]

What do you do with water butts over winter? Do I empty them incase they freeze and split or leave them alone 'cause the one I have is brimful.
?

[arugula]

Its a shame to waste the water. There are various items you could put in the full waterbutt which float, such as an air-filled ball or empty plastic bottle with a lid. The air inside the object keeps it afloat and helps to keep ice from forming in the water and potentially cracking the waterbutt.

[liz from the fizz]

Its as simple as putting an empty lemonade bottle in the water butt?

[mumofstig]

That's fine for a normal winter, if they start to forecast extreme freezing like we've had in the last 2 winters, then IMO it is best to empty them before they split.
So keep an eye on the forcasts

[arugula]

Its as simple as putting an empty lemonade bottle in the water butt?

Yes, that's the sort of thing. If it happens to get damaged, it can be easily and cheaply replaced. We have had two very harsh winters in a row here and didn't empty the waterbutts.

[shoozie]

ours was frozen solid for about 6 weeks and didn't split.  But it did fall over and the tap broke in the process.  It was impossible to lift when frozen, so it had to lie about until it defrosted, losing all the water in the process  - So, must remember to secure it more carefully so that doesn't happen again - or empty and store it somewhere else.  By the way, it didn't have a lid, so that might have prevented it from splitting.

[liz from the fizz]

Thanks for all the advice. I will monitor the weather and act accordingly. 

[grendel]

tennis balls are good too, they allow room for the ice to expand. my butt was half full and froze solid last year with no problem.
Grendel

[JayG]

If using lemonade bottles as a float try adding a bit of gravel or soil to them before putting the cap back on so they float upright (they are so light that they tend to float on rather than in the water, which reduces the expansion-absorbing effect.)

In a winter like the last one the whole thing will probably freeze solid, floating bottle or no floating bottle, and if that looks likely to happen again I'd be tempted to at least partially empty an old butt which is likely to be more brittle than a newish one.