Suggestions for brushfire pump

[bcarwell]

I have a 500 gallon plastic container I am putting on a wagon to pull behind my tractor so I can fill it with water and use it as a "mini-fire truck" when doing some brushpile burning.

I'm looking for recommendations for a water pump for such an application. One possibility I had considered is a tractor PTO pump like a Delavan 10 GMP @ 40 psi I think or something like that (saw one on Ebay for about $50). Another consideration is a 12volt pump run off my tractor or maybe putting the container in my pickup truck bed and running the pump off the truck 12v (or would I fry the alternator ?) or a portable generator.

I don't need alot of flow or pressure- just something like a garden hose to wet down the surrounding area and maybe a small garden 'firehose' nozzle to squirt 20 feet or so to put out any little patch that gets loose in emergency.

Another alternative is to use the bottom of the container (does it have enough pressure ?) to feed my gas powered pressure washer if I need a little distance and a spray to wet down areas.

What are your thoughts/suggestions ?

Bob

 

[Tom_Veatch]

Gonna show my ignorance now, but a quick google search didn't turn up any 12v pumps with more than about half the 10 gpm @ 40psi you mentioned for the PTO pump. Quick fingercounting indicates a 12v pump would draw 15-20 amps at that flow rate depending on the efficiency of the pump.

Ain't saying there aren't any out there, but if the 10 gpm/40 psi specification is a hard requirement, it may take some looking to find one.

If it was me doing it, I'd opt for the PTO pump simply to be sure I had sufficient pressure and flow rate when the wind kicks up and the sparks start flying. Don't know about Austin, but if I waited for slack winds around here, I'd never be able to do any burning.

 

[whodat90]

I'd go with the PTO pump, no question. The PTO pump can put your tractor's full PTO HP into the pump, a 12v pump is really only meant for small volume/small pressure applications. Look at it this way, if you have a 10HP PTO, you can put 10HP into the pump with no additional requirements. If you put a 1HP 12v pump, you'll be drawing 62 amps. Lots of amps from a small tractor battery/alternator. Most pressure washers produce relatively small volumes at high pressures, and aren't too strong at just being pumps. Also, many pressure washers require a certain amount of pressure be fed into them, otherwise the pump cavitates and does nothing.

 

[vallyfarm]

I use a 250 gal tank on a wagon pulled by my Farmall Super C. I put one of those PTO roller pumps on...the 4 roller I think (the cheapo one) and at 1/3 throttle it'll out pump my garden hose to the house! They are the cat's meow for this type of work. A 12 V will not be able to keep continious flow without overheating. They are made for limited use. Just a tip... if the pump seises up over the winter from lack of use just crack loose the back plate and give it a spin by hand and then tighten it back up. Make sure it is free turning before you engauge it on the PTO. Mike

 

[rayh76]

Gonna show my ignorance now, but a quick google search didn't turn up any 12v pumps with more than about half the 10 gpm @ 40psi you mentioned for the PTO pump. Quick fingercounting indicates a 12v pump would draw 15-20 amps at that flow rate depending on the efficiency of the pump.

Ain't saying there aren't any out there, but if the 10 gpm/40 psi specification is a hard requirement, it may take some looking to find one.

If it was me doing it, I'd opt for the PTO pump simply to be sure I had sufficient pressure and flow rate when the wind kicks up and the sparks start flying. Don't know about Austin, but if I waited for slack winds around here, I'd never be able to do any burning.

Amen to that Tom! However today was a beautiful day!

I have used a PTO pump probably more than 10 years ago. Extremely handy. My dad and I would use it to pressure clean potatoes. Increase the pressure and we would deskin the potatoes. Ready for canning!

 

[Fredex]

For a fire wagon I would consider the pto roller pump as a minimum. Better would be the pto turbine/centrifugal pump as used for larger field sprayers. That's the one with a step-up belt drive between pto & pump shaft. Then if you want to get really serious, mount an engine driven transfer pump (1.5-2.0") on the trailer with the tank. Those run something like a 5hp Briggs direct coupled to the pump; cost $120-150 at places like TSC. You can feed inch and a half fire hose & nozzle with that. I think you will be disappointed, and maybe unsafe, with the electrics. Fire management takes more volume than most people realize.