Help with Brush Fire Water Rig

[whitechevy]

These are all great comments and points to help with burning and permits and such. But the original post by TROOK is concerning pump size and water volume. I too have questions about this but the most common feedback is concerning issues other than water and pump questions. Again, it is all good information but if someone can contribute to the original question I would be interested to hear what is recommended.

TO_Bud - Do you have a picture of your "quarter turn valve"? I was wondering how you allow water to bypass the hose when the nozzle is closed. Is there some sort of pressure relief valve that will allow the water to be diverted with the open and closing of a hand nozzle?

 

[TO_Bud]

These are all great comments and points to help with burning and permits and such. But the original post by TROOK is concerning pump size and water volume. I too have questions about this but the most common feedback is concerning issues other than water and pump questions. Again, it is all good information but if someone can contribute to the original question I would be interested to hear what is recommended.

TO_Bud - Do you have a picture of your "quarter turn valve"? I was wondering how you allow water to bypass the hose when the nozzle is closed. Is there some sort of pressure relief valve that will allow the water to be diverted with the open and closing of a hand nozzle?

The quarter turn valve would go on the tee'd off short hose and would remain closed when flowing water through the nozzle. When the nozzle is shut down the quarter turn valve is opened to allow water to circulate back to the tank. The tank water would eventually heat up if this was carried on for too long a period but I think in the OPs case it would be fine.
Fire apparatus do have pressure relief valves built in but you are getting into an expensive technical setup now. The relief valves are also on the intake side of the pump for the fire truck to relieve pressure when the supply rises too much say from another piece of apparatus. These valves don't assist in keeping heat down in the pump when the nozzle is closed.

 

[RPW]

A pressure relief valve used in staying rigs would work for bypassing also.

 

[RFB]

TO_Bud is correct in his assessment of creating an alternative flow path to prevent pump overheating. A worst case scenario of pump overheat is boiling and then cavitation resulting in loss of prime if occurring during a draft operation. All multiple combination fire engines have a "tank-to-pump" (sometimes called a tank dump) valve. When using low flow,high pressure operations, it is very common to "crack" the tank dump valve to create a recirculation path to reduce pump overheating.

 

[CBW1999]

TO_Bud is correct in his assessment of creating an alternative flow path to prevent pump overheating. A worst case scenario of pump overheat is boiling and then cavitation resulting in loss of prime if occurring during a draft operation. All multiple combination fire engines have a "tank-to-pump" (sometimes called a tank dump) valve. When using low flow,high pressure operations, it is very common to "crack" the tank dump valve to create a recirculation path to reduce pump overheating.

"Tank Fill" valve is used to recirculate or top off the booster tank- comes off the output side. Both need to be open if circulating off the booster tank only. If running off a supply line, you can crack the tank fill and let it flow over.

For trash pumps, having the water level above the impeller will allow water to flow to self prime- just need a bleeder valve to let air out. When drafting, sometimes we would open the tank to pump with the rpm down, wait for the suction tube to back fill with water (till no more bubbles)- then quickly shut the valve and throttle up to achieve prime. Handy trick to practice in case the priming pump failed.

 

[scollins]

I built a "fire cart" out of a heavy duty lawn and garden cart, Fimco 15 GL spot sprayer with the 1 GPM pump replaced with the bigger 3.8GPM 12V electric pump. I plumbed it into a sprayer hose reel with 100' of 5/8 inch garden hose & nozzle. I mounted tools, portable pump can, etc. It can tow behind an ATV or lawn tractor, with the electric pump plugging into a pigtail ans switch on the lawn tractor.

Go out 10' or more and brush/mow out a wide fire break to burn out to secure your pile. Burn when the relative humidity is at least 40%, and secure the downwind side of the fire break first with a "black line".

 

[CBW1999]

View attachment 288232

I built a "fire cart" out of a heavy duty lawn and garden cart, Fimco 15 GL spot sprayer with the 1 GPM pump replaced with the bigger 3.8GPM 12V electric pump. I plumbed it into a sprayer hose reel with 100' of 5/8 inch garden hose & nozzle. I mounted tools, portable pump can, etc. It can tow behind an ATV or lawn tractor, with the electric pump plugging into a pigtail ans switch on the lawn tractor.

Go out 10' or more and brush/mow out a wide fire break to burn out to secure your pile. Burn when the relative humidity is at least 40%, and secure the downwind side of the fire break first with a "black line".

I like what you put together, seems pretty complete. Several fire departments have essentially done the same thing to tow behind ATV's.

Question about the round point shovel- did you re enforce the edge or is the red metal just the tool holder?

 

[Artisan]

I might suggest that you do not forget about the man who
is using all those tools and pre-load some drinking water, maybe
have a pair of gloves and dust masks etc in place ready to go as well...
(a fire shelter or two would be very wise too.)

The pull carts are very cool, great job.

 

[scollins]

Firefighting professionals shop for helmets, flashlights, boots, badges and shields at TheFireStore.com - Brush Fire Broom, 5 Ft Length

This is what he is talking about. Heavy duty bristles that you wet down before using. We used them to sweep the edge back into the burned area on smaller fires/smoldering stuff. Not too useful on anything free burning.

View attachment 278262

There is also another version of the "fire broom" that is available from Cascade Fire Equipment that is essentially a "push broom" with metal bristles. It is used similar to the Perfex fire fighting broom of rattan fibers, but is pushed instead of "swept".

As with all the "brooms" and "flaps", they work good on creeping fires in light fuels. For hotter fires, you need someone to cool it down with water spray from a backpack pump or small spray hose.

I use a heavy-duty "broom rake" or heavy-tined "leaf rake" to sweep in the flames and debris wen cleaning up along a mowed fire break that has been burned out. Next to a leaf blower, this is the fastest portable hand-carried tool for putting in a fast fire break in hardwood leaf litter. Don't try the cheap rakes. Get one with heavy reinforced steel tines. I found mine at a farm supply store and the Forestry supply catalogs stock the same rake, made by some company in Missouri.

 

[scollins]

That is just a rubber tool guard to protect the edge and avoid cutting someone.

The edge of the "fire shovel" is sparpened within 1.5 inches of the step on either side, for scraping and cutting very light brush. It is a bit different from the standard hardware store shovel.