Water Pump - converting riding lawn mower or car to drive pump

[GaryDG]

Anyone familiar with the mechanics associated with either using a car's driveshaft or a riding lawnmower to drive a water pump? I pump water from a creek using conventional trash pumps for irrigation. These trash pumps push water underground through 3 inch pvc pipes to various locations on my property. From these locations I can run approximately 14 5/32 inch sprinklers.
The trash pumps only last about 2 years as they do a lot of work. I have often thought about using either a car's driveshaft as a mechanism for driving a larger pump or using a riding lawnmower as the pumps power source.

The benefit I could achieve are: increased pressure, more reliability, and potentially lower all-in cost of operation.

What are your thoughts on how to rig the transition of power to the pump for either of these sources?

 

[bcp]

Your question reminded me of an outfit I once saw. There was a frame with two rollers spaced about 12-16 inches apart, and a pump on the frame about 2 feet away. One roller had a belt drive to the pump. The car was jacked up, rollers placed under a rear wheel. The car was lowered onto the rollers, started, and the transmission and throttle were adjusted for proper pump speed at low engine speed.

Bruce
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[Gary Fowler]

It shouldn't be too hard to rig a series of belts to run a pump off the lawnmower power belt if you want to just let it set there for pump use only. Or you could remove the mower deck and use that drive belt to turn the pump. The problem is getting the belt to go from a horizontal run to a vertical run for the pump.

 

[pat32rf]

My old Wheel Horse has a vertical pulley and clutch on the side. I'm hoping to add a hydraulic pump to it someday...

 

[Streetcar]

What is wearing out on your existing pumps? The engine or the pump
The pump should be designed as a system.
Why do you want to add a much larger engine, the car.
Why do you want to design your own transmission, the lawn mower
It would seem easier to buy a pump that is sized properly for the work you need to complete

 

[Egon]

Used to be common to jack up one wheel on a truck, block the other wheel and use it to drive a pipe threader. Basic idea should work for you.