3 pth water pump?

[GarthH]

Is there such a thing? Is so who sells them and what are the specs?

Thanks again for you help.

Garth

 

[dynasim]

I think most tractor operated water pumps hook directly to the pto(with an anchor on the hitch). Try looking for sprayer or transfer pumps at your local farm supply store, grainger, or mcmaster.

Chris

 

[3RRL]

There are all kinds of PTO driven water pumps, just depends what you are looking for.
Here's one for irrigation
PTO Caprari pump :: Manure / Irrigation Pump | PTO Pump - (Dubois Agrinovation)

And here's one like a pressure washer
Comet PTO-Driven Cold Water Pressure Washer 4500 PSI, 4.5 GPM, Model# PTO TW 5050S | Pumps | Northern Tool + Equipment

You can find them used also.

 

[GarthH]

I'm amazed at the prices. I thought by eliminating the motor the price would be in the mid 100's not $1,000 plus. I have not seen anything on length of suction line or how far up will they pump - is 40' up and 50' distance.

 

[GinNB]

What kind of volume and pressure are you looking for? I use a bunch of 3pt hitch pumps for spraying, the most common and reliable being the Hypro 5200 Big Twin piston pump (10gpm at 600 PTO rpm for $450ish). For low hours/pressures/volumes, try a Hypro roller pump- they're a lot cheaper (120ish). For larger volumes and hours, look for a diaphragm pump. They're available in higher volume applications. 3pt pumps are expensive for the volume they pump- I'd only use one if I had to, like for spraying with a 3pt sprayer. For a simple transfer/trash pump or whatever, just buy something with a gas engine. Honda water pumps have been reliable for me and cheap for what they'll do. Just look at the volume you want to move, the pressure you have to push it into, the price of the pump, and the opportunity cost of tying up a tractor that could be doing other work while moving water.

 

[GinNB]

Oh, if you're looking for high volume AND pressure, 3pt is the way to go. I've got an irrigation system that pushes 400gpm at 130 psi at the pump that woulde be terribly expensive with a dedicated motor for short-term applications. The cost of the pump is relatively small. Then again, tying up a $60,000 80pto hp diesel tractor for long periods isn't cheap either. It all depends on what your needs are and how long you need to do it for.

 

[dynasim]

3RRL,

I guess I was thinking to small!!

I have used something like this before:
Tractor Supply Company - Pump 6 Roller Kit

Chris

 

[GinNB]

Just thought I'd mention that you won't find any pump that'll prime itself 40' vertically and you might not find one that'll lift 40' even if you prime the line and have a foot valve at the bottom to hold the prime. 26' is the magic number for maximum vertical priming for any transfer and irrigation pumps I've worked with and might even be the highest possible lift even when primed. 50' distance is nothing to push the water after it gets to the pump, it's the lift that'll give you the trouble. Might be worth a look into something like a deep well jet pump if you can't get around the 40' lift problem, depending on your gpm and pressure needs.

 

[3RRL]

3RRL,

I guess I was thinking to small!!
Chris

Chris,
It might not be too small?
It just depends what someone is looking for.

 

[keeney]

You can't "suck" water more than 26' or so - the weight of the water will exceeed the atmospheric pressure available here on earth at sea level (or in other words, you can't pull more than -15 psi of vaccum).

Pump performance will suffer greatly whenever you are trying to push the edge of things on the suction side. Besides running out of vaccum and not being able to prime at all, if you are able to get it to hold a prime, depending on the temperature of the water, you may still cavitate around any portion of the pump vanes that cause a pressure lower than the vapor pressure of the water at that temperature. Once cavitation starts, its downhill from there in terms of performance and durability of the pump.

For medium-depth wells, there is something called a "jet" pump. This kind of pump pushes a stream of water down the well. There is a special venturi fitting down in the well-point (or suction entrance) that uses the energy from the "jet" water to pull more water back up the pipe. Priming these can be kind of tricky - you have to get both suction pipes filled.

For deeper wells, of course, the pump is small enough diameter to just fit down into the well. This setup where the pump is actually submerged below the level of the inlet - called a flooded inlet - there is no suction lift because the water flows into the pump by gravity.

For a tractor-PTO-driven pump, I have seen setups where there is a long driveshaft that extends to the pump unit which is backed down the bank some distance to be closer to the water source. This allows the suction lift to be reduced and greatly improves the performance of the pump on the output side.

- Rick