Pushing Water Uphill: PTO pump or HF Predator?

[LittleBill21]

every pump i looked at will do over 20 feet of head, even cheap electric sump pumps, the 1" HF pump does 65 feet, it should work just fine

 

[Egon]

If the stream is flowing put in a Ram Pump.

 

[4570Man]

Amps * Volts = Watts

So a 10@ automotive voltage pump is going to be around 1,200 watts.

Not viable off a solar panel at all. You are looking at $1 per watt for solar power. $40 for a charge controller.

Most batteries are going to be rated for amp hours. That just means it will produce 1 amp for that many hours or that number of amps for one hour (in theory, generally as pacaty decreases as the drain goes up).

A car battery sized deep cycle battery might be rated for 100ah. But if you draw a battery down it will start to get damaged. Generally you dont want to drain a car battery below 70%, or a deep cycle below 50%. You could mitigate that with some electronics to only run the pump until the battery is slightly discharged then let it charge back up.

I'm not sure what the lower bounds for amp draw on a pump would be that can reasonably pump the heights you need at a flow rate that could fill the tower in several days.

RV pumps are generally a couple gpm & pushing 10@. So a couple hours to fill an IBC tote.

I'm sure solar can get the job done, but won't be super cheap & easy. And unless you throw a lot of $$$ at it it's going to be slow (which may or may not be an issue if you have days to fill).

I found a 12 volt pump that pumps around 300 GPH, produced 40 psi and draws 10 amps. That seems practical with only one battery and a $100 solar panel. It’s 120 Watts not 1200.

 

[Fallon]

Lol, crap, I stuck at math.

Under 200 watts is going to be rather reasonable then. Solar panel, float valve & pump should keep things topped up. Might run into issues with low light (low voltage/amperage) situations causing problems with the motor. Would be a fair bit easier to have some electronics to close a relay only when voltage was over a minimum threshold.

 

[FarmWrench]

Does the stream dry up? Lots of solid set pipe around.

For the distance a hard hose real from the creek would reach.

I'm not bad mouthing the tower. Tower is cool.


But if irrigation is your objective, start by figuring out area, water needs (this depends on soil, crop, water delivery method, climate) water supply.

The distance you need to go is a day rental on a mini excavator.

Possible to plow or trench in a 1.25 poly pipe if you go to drip (subsurface) irrigation.

 

[YardBikeBob]

Go up to the HF 2" pump at $199.
I have one and it works great.

Thanks for making me think a little more. This is a good deal and I've found a no-brainer coupon. I really like the ability to shut the gas off and let the carb run dry. Don't look like the little one has that and a retrofit would be even money!

Now to discard the smaller connections and upgrade to the bigger ones!

~Bob

 

[YardBikeBob]

I guess I wasn't very clear on this project. For very valid reasons, there is no power or water at the wife's garden spot. I have to haul water on the tractor (from the well near the homestead) and the new water tower means I can fill it fast and be on my way.

Previously I had two 55 gallon barrels extended high on the loader/pallet and had to wait for it to siphon out with her hand watering. Trying to schedule that for a 2-beer afternoon break wasn't meeting her expectations.

~Bob

 

[countrybumpkin]

You’ll be fine with that pump.

 

[newbury]

I guess I wasn't very clear on this project. For very valid reasons, there is no power or water at the wife's garden spot. I have to haul water on the tractor (from the well near the homestead) and the new water tower means I can fill it fast and be on my way.

Previously I had two 55 gallon barrels extended high on the loader/pallet and had to wait for it to siphon out with her hand watering. Trying to schedule that for a 2-beer afternoon break wasn't meeting her expectations.

~Bob

If her use does not require the pressure available by your nice tower I'd rethink.

I'd cut the legs down on the tower so I could just barely lift and set a tote on it.

If her application requires that much head I'd rig up a platform at the max height I could comfortably put a filled tote on.
Then I'd put a solar panel and small pump on that along with a tote to swap out. That would decrease the pressure needed to lift the water 20 plus feet.

 

[joecoin]

Have you considered the simplest idea of all and just catching the rain off the roof? I致e got about 500-700 square feet of roof draining into a 2500 gallon tank and one hard rain will fill it.

^ I was gonna post this.

Make the surface area over the roof larger with a good tarp?