Pushing Water Uphill: PTO pump or HF Predator?

[bcp]

Looks like a hill behind the tower. Could you go back maybe 100 feet and be about the same level as the tank, but at ground level?

Bruce

 

[pmsmechanic]

I would buy that Harbor Freight pump along with enough hose to get to the tank. Rent a small trencher and trench the hose in to the tank. Keep it simple and run the hose into the top of the tank. Figure out how much gas it takes to fill the tank and measure it out. Start the pump and walk away. When the pump runs out of gas the tank is full.

If you teach your wife how to do this you will never have to fill the tank again. As long as the motor starts easy she will fill the tank up herself as it's less of a bother than getting you to do it. The key is to make sure that the motor is easy to start.

I used to go to a neighbour of mine every year to get his yard pump started for the year. Finally I told him to just to go buy a good pump that was easy to start. I also told him that his wife probably wouldn't bother him to irrigate the yard if she could start the motor herself. He laughingly told me about a year later that the plan had worked.

 

[YardBikeBob]

I'm going to resist the advice to tear down the tower and start over. Moving the tank to higher ground or running 100's of feet of underground pipe just isn't feasible.

You can't rent a trencher around here as they self-destruct in our rocky Ozarks soil. A backhoe is needed to run utilities and, since I don't own one, I'm avoiding underground piping.

Expecting my wife to start/run motors and tractors? You guys crack me up!

~Bob

 

[Deerherd]

I have the 3” HF Predator pump and it’s been very reliable.

 

[countrybumpkin]

Are you looking at making a small water tending trailer with the pump mounted on to haul to your tower?

 

[YardBikeBob]

Are you looking at making a small water tending trailer with the pump mounted on to haul to your tower?

No, I have a 250 gallon off 3-pt. Will likely leave pump at tower.

 

[countrybumpkin]

I see, your tower looks good.

 

[flingwing1969]

UV (Sun) is going to kill PVC. Based on what I've seen for polly pipe for sprinkler systems laying around dead it's likely torn up by UV too. Luckily paint is a great UV protectant, although you have to redo it from time to time.

Actually, I have a lot of 1 1/4" quality poly pipe that's been above ground for 17 years and it is still showing no sign of UV caused deterioration. Same for my poly tanks. And that's in the "hot California Sun".

 

[flingwing1969]

I'm going to resist the advice to tear down the tower and start over. Moving the tank to higher ground or running 100's of feet of underground pipe just isn't feasible.

You can't rent a trencher around here as they self-destruct in our rocky Ozarks soil. A backhoe is needed to run utilities and, since I don't own one, I'm avoiding underground piping.

Expecting my wife to start/run motors and tractors? You guys crack me up!

~Bob

Bob, I'm kinda with the guys who suggest laying pipe from your well to the tower, putting in a float shut-off in the tank and having it work automatically for you. 600' or 700' of 1" or 1 1/4" doesn't cost much and you can just lay it on the surface (covering it with hay or leaves if you feel the need or if your bride is against ugly). My ranch was in the Santa Cruz Mountains of the southern SF Bay Area. Water was unreliable and my upper well went dry in mid-June every year. I had a reliable spring that was almost 300' of head below my water tanks and I used its meager 600 gallons a day to keep me from having to buy water during our five to six month dry season. I had a bored well with a submersible pump in it, but it had a very slow recovery. I used a HF sump pump to pump the spring water into the well and then let the 3/4 HP submersible push the water up to my tanks (20,000 gallons of storage in six tanks).

When the rains came in December or so and the wells and spring began flowing in earnest, I could easily fill a 2500 gallon tank in a day. The point is, don't pay too much attention to the advertised dynamic head, the pump in the bottom of the well will push water considerably farther than what the manual says it will.

 

[Deerherd]

Let’s not overthink this. Looks like mama’s garden won’t require ANYWHERE near the water of some of these suggestions.

The trash pump idea is a sound one. He can hook up the discharge pipe that dumps into the tower and a quick connect to his 250 gal transport tank. If things got really dry he could drop the 3 pt tank next to the tower.

And he now owns a trash pump!

PLUS, how many people have their own tower?