The gully to pond project

[pacerron]

Quote:
Originally Posted by jinman
Hindsight is 20-20 .

Here's a little pump story that proves that. Many years ago when we first got out of the military, we rented a nice 10 acre place near Gambier, OH. It had a great place for a garden right next to a creek. Since it was quite a ways from the house we used the creek, ( up here we pronounce that as "crik") to water the garden. The weather got really hot that summer in August and I decided to buy a pump like yours that had a 4" input. I adapted the outlet down to handle a large diameter hose. In those days I was sure I knew everything about everything, so without any testing I told the wife to hold the hose, ( no nozzle, we used our thumb in those days ) pointed at the garden while I wrapped the rope around the non-recoil starter ring.
It started right up, primed itself, and coughed and blew water and air out the hose with such force she dropped the hose. It started wiggling around on the ground and then blasted solid water at such pressure it leveled the corn that was 4' high and cut off most of the tomatos and other plants before I got back to the pump and grounded the spark plug to kill it..
That 20/20 hindsight taught me real quick that I was not near as smart as I thought I was at the time. Every once in awhile the wife reminds me of that incident when I get to doing something without thinking it out first..

Now, that's a "drinking from a firehose" story if there ever was one.:laughing:

Well, there she goes...almost!
I was thinking about the story of my old pump that I told a while ago and figured that old pump must be in one of my barns somewhere. Sure enough, I found it complete with input strainer and pull rope tied around the handle.
It is not a modern Honda for sure, but I turned the starter pulley by hand and it turned slicker than a whistle. I figured it would be froze up for sure. Must be that old wax based Pennyslvania sweet crude that was so great many years ago. It has been at least 35 years since the last run. I guess I'll clean it up, gap the plug, change the oil, see if the carb gaskets will hold gas and give her a whirl. Might as well make a water cannon out of it to aireate my pond.
Ron

 

[jinman]

It looks like your sand layer goes most of the way around the pond. Were you planning on putting a layer of clay all the way around to cover it up?
I hope that there is not any rain in your forecast for a little while to give you time to pump it out and for it to dry out before you get into it. Rick

Yep! To seal the seep, I'll have to cover the sand layer anywhere it is exposed. Thankfully the hillside slopes up and the sand layer also rises away from the dam. After I go back about 30', it is above the water level.

I'd sure take rain no matter whether I'm fixing this pond or not. It's been so long since we had a good rain that I'd make the sacrifice just for a few inches. However, the end of the week it will be in the mid-90s F with no rain in the forecast.

 

[txdon]

pacerron, that B&S motor brings back memories. It is the same motor we had on our mini bike back in the 60's.

 

[pacerron]

pacerron, that B&S motor brings back memories. It is the same motor we had on our mini bike back in the 60's.

It sure is a lot heavier than I remember. The pump body is cast iron.
I'm either losing memory or muscle. I suspect both

I found the booklet. It is supposed to be capable of pumping 265 GPM at a 5 foot draw height at a head/lift of 20 feet.

When I was a kid there were only 2 small engine manufacturers. Briggs-Stratton and Clinton. Briggs was very good but Clinton was not. No imported small engines. Not much of any imported consumer goods. Then little VW bugs broke the bubble.

 

[txdon]

Pacerron I looked at the motor again and I realized the wrap around pull start rope. Now I think that was the motor on my Dads reel mower, our mini bikes start rope recoiled.

 

[jinman]

I have two old front-tine tillers with similar engines that are rusting away in my old ramshackle barn. Mine have the recoil starters, but the older ones all had a pull rope. I always liked the pull rope because you didn't have to worry about the recoil spring breaking or the ratchet seizing up.

Ron, I'm not sure B&S and Clinton were the only US manufacturers of small engines. How about Tecumseh and Power Products engines? The Tecumseh-Lauson engines were 4 cycle and the Power Products were 2-cycle as I remember. Lots of go-carts were built with Power Products and McCulloch engines. The old Wisconsin-Robin engines were really Japanese and now they are just called Subaru-Robin. Also, don't forget Kohler small engines and the LawnBoy engines produced by Evinrude. There may be others that I've overlooked, but I'm pretty sure that for 4-cycle vertical cylinder engines, both Tecumseh and Kohler would have to be added to your list.

 

[pacerron]

Pacerron I looked at the motor again and I realized the wrap around pull start rope. Now I think that was the motor on my Dads reel mower, our mini bikes start rope recoiled.

I imagine so. Nothing like a reel mower. I'm not saying that in admiration for them.
I pushed my dad's to cut many a neighborhood yard for a few cents. Grass looked great until the buckhorn tops popped right back up.
Motorbikes of my day were "Whizzers" and if you were rich, small "Zundapps"
My bike just had pedals and no gears but it was great; healthy too.
Ron

 

[bindian]

pacerron, that B&S motor brings back memories. It is the same motor we had on our mini bike back in the 60's.

I'll. say. When I turned 12, I asked for a B&S 5hp "new" engine for my minibike. Up till then my brother and I had to beg, borrow, and/or scourge for engines. Up to my new B&S, all had rope pull starters. Nice thing about the old rope starter was that it could be hooked up to an electric motor via a long belt to trouble shoot and get running right. Dad had one set up on the wall in the garage just for that use. My first mini bike engine was an old 3hp long stroke Clinton off of my Dad's broken David Bradley tractor. It took a while to catch up with all the 3 and 1/4 hp B&S equipped minibikes of my friend's and brother's,......but once that long stroke hit it's power curve, I pasted all of the other minibikes.
hugs, Brandi

 

[bindian]

The old Wisconsin-Robin engines were really Japanese and now they are just called Subaru-Robin. Also, don't forget Kohler small engines and the LawnBoy engines produced by Evinrude. There may be others that I've overlooked, but I'm pretty sure that for 4-cycle vertical cylinder engines, both Tecumseh and Kohler would have to be added to your list.

When we ran across a Tecumseh engine back then, that was not running, we did not touch it, but trashed it. Seems we never could get them running with our feeble mechanicing skills and limited finances to fix, which led to a lack of patience.

Wisconsin engines, to us youngin's, were just pure "foreign".
hugs, Brandi

 

[pacerron]

I have two old front-tine tillers with similar engines that are rusting away in my old ramshackle barn. Mine have the recoil starters, but the older ones all had a pull rope. I always liked the pull rope because you didn't have to worry about the recoil spring breaking or the ratchet seizing up.

Ron, I'm not sure B&S and Clinton were the only US manufacturers of small engines. How about Tecumseh and Power Products engines? The Tecumseh-Lauson engines were 4 cycle and the Power Products were 2-cycle as I remember. Lots of go-carts were built with Power Products and McCulloch engines. The old Wisconsin-Robin engines were really Japanese and now they are just called Subaru-Robin. Also, don't forget Kohler small engines and the LawnBoy engines produced by Evinrude. There may be others that I've overlooked, but I'm pretty sure that for 4-cycle vertical cylinder engines, both Tecumseh and Kohler would have to be added to your list.

Jim,
I'm sure your right, but in my neighborhood in the late 40's and early 50's there were only Briggs-Stratton and Clinton vertical piston small engines. Not many of them either. I had a buddy down the street that got a set of "Soap Box Derby" wheels someplace. We made a base and seat back from some some 2 x 8 and axles from 2 x 4. Bolted a big pulley to the inside of one back wheel and put a small pulley on a piece of board screwed to the side of the seat back that stuck up as a handle so we could lever it against the belt as a clutch. Bolted the engine behind the seat back. Steered the front wheels with our feet. We would have to push the cart with a guy on the seat to get some speed and then the engine would move us pretty fast up the street about a 1000 feet to the bottom of the hill. We would try to get up the hill as far as possible, make a U-turn and really come flying on the way back. Lot of fun for about a week, then one kid almost ran into the city bus that came by about every 20 minutes. Nobody had a watch and the estimate of when the next bus would be coming got screwed up in all the fun. That was the end of the racing careers in that homemade cart.

Have you thought about using your water pump for pond aeration?

Pond Fountains and Pond Fountain Supplies

Ron