My New Ram Pump - AMAZING!

[@kurtschultz8199]

Couple of tips for you: When you open or close your gate valves (not the check valves, but the ones with handles on them), back the handle off a quarter-turn before walking away. In the event that you leave the valve in the same position for a long time (like over the winter season, maybe) you may find it necessary to turn the handle in both directions before it comes loose and will let you run it all the way to the other position. This approach does not work for Stopcock Valves (which only swing 90 degrees to open or close). This tip is something I learned at my grandfather's knee... he was a Journeyman Plumber. The other thing I would recommend is that you get a two foot long "Retrieving Tool", with a plunger on one end and three or four expanding prongs on the other end. I generally soak mine in clean engine oil when they are new (or if they stop operating smoothly). Throwing that into the end of your drive pipe to pull out debris will save you lots of time. It is much more "the right tool for the job" than using a straight slot screwdriver.

[@michaeldougfir9807]

That's right about a gate valve. Back the handle off a little bit from a full closure, not only to help loosen it if necessary, but also that when you come back after a long time, it confirms that it is closed. We happened to use 1/2 turn. I learned this in Sea Scouts, on our boat. This has served me well for a loooong time.

[@michaeldougfir9807]

AMEN: Good Idea.

[@jamesavery6671]

use my shitter snake for cleanout

[@dalemaloney255]

use olive oil on that instead of engine oil. u dont want engine oil in you water! animals dont like it! a drop of motor oil will contaminate a small stream!

[@BigKatz]

I've been thinking about these for years, and I just 'got' it. A Step-Up Transformer for water. You're exchanging cfm (cubic feet per minute) flow for pressure. Just as you'd exchange amperage for volts. Watts = Amps X Volts. You use a bigger wire to have no resistance (heating). Here, you use the bigger drive pipe to have no resistance (water friction from speed). It goes into the transformer (pressure PVC pipe), a water-driven piston that converts the momentum (cfm) into pressure (psi, ~20), which waits for the swing valve to close then converts the pressure back into momentum for the smaller feed pipe. Watts = cfm. Amps = Pipe diameter Volts = psi The magic for me is the 1:7, drop height to pump height. Maybe that has to do with the volume building up in the pressure pipe and the feeding flow rate: you could build up more pressure with a high-flowing, high feet-head feed, going into a larger pressure pipe? If it's too large, it won't 'prime.' There's a related pumping system, called a trompe, or hydropneumatic plant. Bill Mollison has a video on one, and here's an old video of the one he discusses, in Canada: kzbin.info/www/bejne/i6W8fYmCoLysfcU

[@viewsandreviews180]

You're correct, the ram pump has been around for a long time. When I was a teenager I helped a friend rebuild one. Of course the rebuild on this cast iron only amounted to removing the ram (first) valve and replacing the brass valve stem. To my knowledge that same pump has been working for the last 20 years and seems to be in shape to work for another.

[@viewsandreviews180]

Oh, I forgot to mention the date on the cast body of the pump was 1878.

[@Cafferssss]

as a man who works in the water industry as a mech fitter i enjoyed this video! I would be wary of using the plastic pump in winter, although it has constant flow i reckon it is likely to freeze and crack, we use pvc-u a lot. We dont even really get that cold of a winter here in england either haha. Also, when using your stilsons to free the union, take a ball peen hammer and just knock the union without the stillos on. this is usually enough and avoids you having to hit your tools :) nice video!

[@mik1o9999]

Your old ram pump videos were what got me hooked to this channel ages ago. Nice to see you do more work on those amazing things.

[@wranglerstar]

Thank you.

[@saucercrabzero]

Same for me, glad I stayed!

[@davejack8973]

this "waste" you are speaking of is the energy that is used to make the pump work. There is no such thing as free energy and thus the water is the energy. Hope this helps :)

[@CncObsession]

Wasnt this an open spring before? He just rerouted it for a short distance.

[@aurorasinplex5947]

@@wranglerstar gov will have all heads for this tech thay teach us that we always have loss but never talk about the converted gain we can make from eletromagnets if u convert all the wast thermal energy around you u can use it universally as energy u need a true sine wave bipolar like the power comp dose a true pure sinewave like a grid tie inverter once the signal is made the system will turn on and consume wast thermal energy from the environment and space around you... there is free energy but it comes from Universal thermal loss and converted into a gain. so a pole Transformer and a microwave Transformer have a common between each other u can take 2 microwave Transformer provide a pure sine wave grid tie inverter to it or a true bipolar sinewave that inter acts with nature in a perfect spherical motion like a flower of life.. if ur home provides this use it as a Source signal then u can simply stack the Transformers on top of eachother in correct fasion and note that the 1 wire on the Transformer must stay connected and the other disconnected your only useing 1 wire on the hi side .. so test ur self 2 microwave transformer stacked on top of eachother same face sides. one side 120 to the wall and the other 120 side to what u want to power and useing the Transformer just the way it came out the microwave with the wire attached causes the energy in its perfect spherical motion to converted wast thermal energy to amp for u hot to cold in to out... should look a bit nuts with u use a form of wireless energy but its interacting with the environment...this is my work a compilation of Otis car. Tesla. and many other very smart people nowadays i think i found the gate source and drainif this gets out to much that it works the power comp and mib will have our headsdont do this at home warning high voltage yet i cant stop u lol DO NOT TOCH THE CORES OR THE WIRES OK u will die make sure u dont touch the core if the hi wire is mounted to it u dont have to mount the hi on the core if u dont want u connect the 1 hi wire to the same side hi on the other transformer then the core should besafe to handle if nessary grab your multimeter and prove me wrong thats what u do i have my whole home on this and u can take one of the lows side out the wall and hook it up to other stuff and power it for verry little amp makeing nature convert and pumping latent heat effect into the device. and u can have a microwave hi volt cap in between the hi side and make a system that powers its self u can flip the switch on ur breaker and the room stays on up to 2kva with both lows in the wall this is the zero point that was taken from us...

[@GadgetAddict]

It's amazing how you talk to each other as if you're still on your early few dates. What a great marriage. Congratulations :)

[@continental_drift]

At 9:00 if you can make the mesh into a conical shape then the leaves wont block the mesh (so much).

[@michaeldougfir9807]

Oh! VERY good point. And while we are at it, how about a screen at the open end of the stand pipe, Sir?

[@continental_drift]

Sure like the vent pipe for a toilet. Just to be clear, I mean for the point of the cone to point away from the pipe.

[@trespire]

Exactly by thoughts. A "self cleaning" design, often to be found in industrial components. 1) Look to increase the surface in contact with the in-flow, this will reduce the velocity. 2) Or, set up a meshed off pool in front of the pipe inlet, effectively increasing the surface area on the mesh. 3) Angle or taper the end, with the mesh screen, to use the stream flow to dislodge & wash away debris.

[@Zajebancije]

The mesh should have as much surface as possible. Sorry, but it was a mistake that you cut the mesh and did not make at least a ball-shaped mesh with a lot of surface. Regardless of that I like your stuff. Keep up the good work.

[@continental_drift]

+trespire exactly.

[@davidgagetta7935]

You are still the only KZbinr I can find that explains how and why the ram pump works and how to build, tweak and repair them. I often refer back to the videos for guidance. Thanks!

[@tactic00l]

For all us electro-nerds out there, the ram pump works analogously to a boost converter. The mass of the water in the supply pipe works like an inductor, while the air tube works as the smoothing capacitor.

[@stevenwrigley9694]

Very good comparison

[@stevenwrigley9694]

Very good comparison

[@PyroShim]

Now that is language I understand. Nice analogy.

[@gearheadted5110]

My background is more with plumbing and mechanical things. Hydraulic to electrical analogies are helpful.

[@sillyfly9530]

Somewhere close to the end of the video I had the idea it may work similarly, then I found your comment.

[@agentbertram4769]

I have a Stihl FS460 brushcutter/strimmer (I don't know what they are called in the USA) and I have found that when loading the string, it is best to bend it into a 1/2" hook on the end with a pair of pliers. This helps keep the strimming string/twine fastened into the spool. Also if I wind it too tight around spool, it melts, so wind it loose. Just a suggestion. I have a blade too but it gets terribly tangled with nettle and briar which are fibrous. Regarding the water collector... If you find a piece of drain pipe (the corrugated plastic stuff 3" or 4" with little holes in it) that slips over your 2" pipe (you can easily make an adaptor using a carved rubber bung) and then completely overwrap that corrugated pipe with gauze, it will extend the surface area for filtration and then you don't have to clean it so often. You can also make all of the holes in the corrugated pipe a little bigger with your battery drill.

[@beachboy679]

I really like how some shots will only be him walking away from a job well done it really tells what the channel is about, trying to do a job well done, maintaining things when they need to be maintained, fixing things when they need to be fixed, telling things when they need to be told, showning things when they need to be shown, teaching things when they need to be taught, and the list could go on. He is a person who tries to spread good things, not to be selfish, and this list could go on. So thank you all of the Wranlerstar family for showing other people and I great morals, ideas, and things. You have shown me so many things that I couldn't have learned from boy scouts So truly thanks and Godspeed Wranglerstar family, to you with the love of humanity. ,with that love from Aiden Saulnier

[@hassanburrows8535]

Nothing more satisfying than hearing that clack, clack, clack.With respect to the union -try mixing some powdered graphite with vaselene/petroleum jelly and applying this to the male and female threads of the union. It should make for easier dismantling of the union in future and as far as I know is non toxic.For the delivery line, install a check valve immediately post the delivery gate valve so as to keep the delivery line full of water after the first set up. That way your ram can get going full bore sooner.As you say, the ram pump is truly an awesome piece of technology. I have just been to see a commercial unit that was installed over 60 years ago to supply a small farmstead. It was second hand then, and has worked continuously all that time with no downtime except for routine maintenance.Looking forward to seeing your smaller unit working. Thanks for posting this video. Greetings from the UK.

[@hardwaylearnt]

Cody, Just curious if you ever considered filling a stock tank off of the waste valve from the pump. I'm guessing that water just flows back into the stream bed. If you had your pump sitting over, (or in) an open top stock tank you could capture the waste in the stock tank and use it as a fire fighting reserve. If I remember right you had an above ground pool for that last fire season. The overflow from the tank could be directed back to the stream. Just an idea. Great videos lately. Been enjoying them. Jason.

[@danw1955]

@@dheadhunter413 In theory, it sounds good, but you can't block the pulsing action of the waste valve because it will stop the big pump, so unless the waste valve is over a container that actually *supplied* the smaller pump, it wouldn't really work. Then you have to have enough drop between the supply 'container' and the small pump to actually make it efficient enough to lift the water back up again. Then... *what do you do with the waste water from the small pump??* 😁

[@pwhsbuild]

@@danw1955 Make a smaller reservoir and pump of course!

[@TheCommono]

@@danw1955 Haha, "In theory it sounds good"... rather: exactly not! 😁 Perpetual motion machine - in theory, it sounds good, but in practice, it doesn't work... Maybe we haven't done enough research yet!! 😁😁😁

[@TheCommono]

@@pwhsbuild You just solved the riddle of perpetual motion! 😁😁😁

[@ruslan1313]

@@pwhsbuild We are getting closer to the nano-ram-pump levels in a few more steps.

[@wilsonsupertramp4968]

Great Video, i appreciate what you say about moving water... im on a cattle station at the moment, and water is a major concern, we are in a drought and it hasnt rained for 2 years....so moving water around is very important here, we do it with pumps and tons and tons of pipe (the station is 1.3 million acres in size) this ram pump system is a fantastic idea...all we are missing is the elevation factor (its pretty flat out here) although the bore water is under a natural pressure....so it may work..... anyway great video and keep up the good work!!

[@ateamofone]

I have a few ideas for your ram pump. At the inlet, cut the short end of a large funnel to fit the inlet of the ram pump, then put screen on it so the area coverage is much greater and you wouldnt have to clean it near as much. Also for other debris that gets in your could install a tank (5 gal would work) near the inlet with a large watertight opening at the top side about 4" or more so you can simply open the lid and clean it out before anything gets to the smaller pipes and pump at the home. Just put another screen in the outlet side of the tank. The cleanout opening for the tank can be pvc so you can bury the tank just below the surface and still reach it.

[@smartbuildengineering]

Nice idea. Perhaps having the funnel gauze at an angle to the flow so it will shed debris to the side would help too.

[@gandjwreckingburpengary3905]

There are so many technologies lost through the ages where technology out stripped the system, but then when you look at specific tasks something that costs little with very few moving parts is just the most amazing solutions to the problem, its so good to see Thank you for sharing Garry

[@mikerobbins5049]

I’ve heard of ram pumps for years and knew that they required no electricity but never saw one or had it explained how they work. Thanks

[@YTANDY100]

@Mike Robbins he did explain it well , he didnt mention that it is a fluid hammer , which is how it gets more pressure :-)

[@stihltech206]

Helpful tip for rewinding your trimmer line... there are two holes with a slot cut in them on the button side of the rotor. Those are for holding the line after you wind it to keep the spool tight/prevent jamming. Just pop the end of the line into that notch until you have the rotor secured in the housing. There are also tabs on the rotor that correspond with tabs on the inside of the housing to secure the rotor against the housing, just push in the rotor and rotate until the little slotted holes that secure the line for winding line up with the metal shrouded holes in the housing, you will find that the tabs allow you to move the line into the "loaded" position with ease and prevent jamming while trying to feed out line. You can leave the rotor in this position until you have placed the rotor cap back on the line head. Just give the ends of the line a pull after everything is back together and it will set the rotor in the "ready to feed" position. Cheers!

[@kristofersoultz9105]

Saw you zip on that bit of screen and decided to offer an alternative solution. Take a pvc pipe, 8 inches long and cut slots into it on both sides. File them smooth and roughly 1/8 inch wide. Wrap it with screen and then cap it off. now you have a larger water intake that wont clog as easily.

[@AnandaWe]

Thanks for the explanation. I live in Sri Lanka. I assembled a pump, 1/2" and it works. Mostly out of PVC other than the 2 valves. I will be tightening ang glueing all the components tomorrow. Thanks once again.

[@Bostonaholic]

"I don't know what it is with women and machinery." Had me laughing for quite a while.

[@kapnunghaokip2199]

she is hard working on the top of hill

[@billvandorn5332]

Similar to what women might say about men not being able to cook or so, LOL

[@billvandorn5332]

If you're taking too much water why not put a valve on the back half to slow it down a bit?

[@Dashbshots]

I have a weedwacker end that only accepts shorter lengths of string. You basically cut your string into short lengths and use one short string at a time. When It wears down you just slip another string into the holes. I had a heck of a time with bump the ground feeding systems when I was younger. So my father bought me this setup and I've been using it for around 20 plus years now. Sometimes less is more.

[@TheJaredolsen]

Put some anti seize pipe dope on the threads of that union then the next time you went to break it open it will be lots easier

[@jasonpatterson8091]

It took me a bit to figure out where the lift pressure was coming from, but this is a really clever use of the water's momentum/kinetic energy. Thanks for sharing.

[@igotstaknow]

The way he loads the string causes the string to twist and bind up. Load the string by turning the string holder instead of wrapping the string around the holder.

[@TheRyan4756]

One would think that a smaller pump line would clog quicker. Glad to see you revisit the Wranglerstar ram pump! It never gets old and will use your videos when I make mine soon. Thanks.

[@bigpapi3636]

Thank you Mrs W for utilizing PPE when operating the brush cutter. It's disappointing to see many videos where people operate weed whackers wearing shorts, flip flops and no hearing or eye protection.

[@wranglerstar]

it can hurt if you don't wear the right stuff - I should have added to keep your mouth closed ! don't want to lose a tooth. mrsw

[@stevej1336]

You inspired me to build a ram pump in my spring, finally have it worked out and have been pumping water to an ibc tote tower with a one inch pump since the last frost. I have had good luck with the check valves with the rubber gaskets in them. Happy to see more of this content!

[@NoGo90]

From a lawn care company owner, soak your weed whip line in water for 24 hours, it dries out eventually and will break easier if not hydrated

[@SkiB84]

pro tip of the year right here!

[@justice1911]

Someone on the internet that actually helped me out?!!? This is a first

[@TheAir2142]

Just a quick suggestion for a possible upgrade. I have seen a few videos on ram pumps other people have built and posted here on KZbin and found a few people add a collection bucket/barrel to separate the collection pipe from the ram pipe in order to reduce/eliminate the amount of air and debris getting into the ram pipe and reducing flow rates. Usually the water inlet is at the top, ram pipe at the middle, an overflow pipe between the two, and a drain to let out sediment and drain the system for winter in the bottom. A lot of people also add a piece of rubber or plastic to deflect the inlet stream away from the ram pipe to prevent sediment and bubbles from getting sucked in. The addition of a system like this is not required but it may help you to not have to clean out the pump as often.

[@hart796]

Great job of explaining and maintaining a RAM pump system!!!!

[@DARANGULAFILM]

There was one on a property my grandparents had for a while when I was a kid. After the growers upstream cleared the swamps and the creek became seasonally dry, the "fuel" to run it was no longer available except by wasting water from the little dam to power it. It was crazy fascinating to watch the thing build up-build-up-build-up then, SLAMM and the pipes would jump pat-pat-pat on the ground for about a second afterwards. Then the cycle would commence again. Eventually a piece of the old galvanised pipe would get a little thin on the cut threads with rust and crack off somewhere.

[@ErikAnderson1]

my amazing father Gregory Blaine Anderson made and used one of these to collect water 1700 feet away and up 300 feet of 45-60% slope in Montana, no gas no electricity 800- 1500 gallons per day depending on head.

[@tarstarkusz]

How much of the water is being lost though? It looks 1/2 of the water is being pumped out of the pump into the environment. I've never seen one that is not right there at the water. Doesn't all that waste water cause problems?

[@Darninja99]

That waste water is the reason why this pump doesn't break physics. You start with a lot of water at a certain elevation, and waste some (or most, depending on your needs) to get the remaining water to a higher elevation than it was at the beginning

[@tarstarkusz]

+Dusker... That isn't true. The laws of physics aren't being broken in the same way that a dam isn't breaking the laws of physics. The ultimate energy source powering the pump is the sun. The sun evaporates water and then it rains and the water lands at a higher level than sea level and the water has kinetic energy from running downhill. That kinetic energy is converted to compressed air which forces water uphill. The design of the pump causes a large percentage of the water to get dumped, which is why it's usually right at the source. When I said problems, I was mostly referring to drainage, land and erosion problems, not problems with the pump.

[@Darninja99]

First of all i was very tired and didn't read your comment very well and so i didn't quite get what you were trying to say. My fault, I'll take the blame for that. Regarding your analysis, well you can say that the big bang is the ultimate source of energy then lol... your argument about the sun is partially invalid: it is true that the sun is powering the whole thing (as it does with almost every other source of energy on earth) but the potential energy gained by the water from the sun is maximum when said water is in clouds, and when it rains some of that energy is converted into kinetic all the way down to the ground, and when it sits in a pond it has much less potential energy than when it was in the clouds. So it's safe to say that we can begin calculations taking as starting point the source water body (as it is done in hydrodynamics). What i meant is that, in a closed system like the earth, you can't transport water (or any body) at a higher elevation without putting energy into it - this would contradict physics because it would gain more potential energy than the kinetic energy it already had (ever wonder why dams don't use the energy they create through their turbines to move the water even more uphill? Quick answer: you can't). So if you just tried to move the water from the spring to higher land using its kinetic energy gained falling you will at most (assuming 100% efficiency in all the system) get it to where it started. However, an amount of water (let's say 1 liter) 10 meters above the pump has the same energy (relative to the amount it would have at the pump's level obviously) as say 0.1 liters 100 meters above the pump. By sacrificing water you gain height. The maths is pretty basic, the equation will be (m1*g*h1) = (m2*g*h2); since g is a constant we can take it out of the equation and we get (m1*h1) = (m2*h2) and you can easily see how changing one value varies the others to make sure the equation is respected.

[@tarstarkusz]

+Dusker... The Earth is not a closed system. The sun is constantly giving the Earth energy. If Earth were a closed system, it would be near 0K with only remnants of the heat from the core. I understand that overunity is not possible. It would take far more water to generate the electricity to pump water back uphill than the pump could pump. I understand that the Ram Pump isn't anywhere near 100% efficient and that the system wouldn't work without that loss of water. The pumps captures the energy in that moving water and then dumps some of the water and then is left with enough energy to pump the remaining water some particular height based on both the amount of energy in the moving water and the design of the system. Also, some of the water may be coming from natural artesian wells and have a different source (though not ULTIMATELY) of energy.. My point is and was that all that water the pump is losing causes other problems such as mosquitoes, erosion of the soil, growth of plants that like standing water etc. In all of the other instances I've seen of these Ram Pumps, they are at the water source and the loss is no big deal because it just goes back into the stream and is not free to do its evil deeds. Also, no hard feelings. Sorry if I came off snarky or something. If so, it was unintentional.

[@Edmo130]

Here is my weed-wacker string replacement technique to help reduce it getting all balled-up inside the spool... 1) wind the new string onto the spool. 2) pull out you 940 and cut to length. (I love my Benchmade 940 too!!!) 3) take the string back off the spool and use it to measure the second length of string... Cut second length with the 940. 4) now, rewind the string back onto the spool. This second winding removes any twists from the string and allows it to feed reliably without any issues! Love your videos... Edmo

[@charliewhitney3494]

If you put 2-3 wraps of teflon tape over the threads of the union in your drive pipe it will not set up from rust as bad. Someone will always say who put tape on that union the brass seat seals the union it you don't need teflon tape but its not there to seal just to make it easier to disassemble latter on.

[@philspaces7213]

pull off 24 feet (for Stihl professional heads), pinch at 12, stick both ends in the spool at the same time and wind both sides at the same time. when you come to the end, clip the loop, and set the ends in the head! once you get the hang of it, its a lot more efficient! as for the string going back in, thats usually casue the cutting length needs to be maintained. just tap it bore often, (cutting off a bit excess is less frustrating than re spooling)

[@VexedFilms]

If this was a cartoon, when he put the pipe to his ear, the water would come shooting out of his other ear ha.

[@untetheredunity]

This is the most wholesome comment I have read on the internet in a long long time

[@WayneTheSeine]

What a blessing to have a source available to utilise the ram pump. They have always amazed me. What effect would pointing the intake downstream? If it would still work it would sure eliminate a lot of the clogging issues. Great video! BTW I have gotten away from the bump-n-go after much frustration and have gone with the Weed Warrior Push N Load Blade Trimmer Head which accepts 3 pre-cut lengths of line that fold into small swivel heads.....giving you 6 cutting lines. The line can swivel if it hits a hard object, fence etc. and is less likely to damage the line. I can weed eat and edge two houses....drives and flower beds on one set of strings. I never looked back at the bump-n-go. It will also accept 3 plastic blades for heavier grass and light brush.

[@innocuous_name7212]

Should there be a screen on the stan pipe or am I missing something? Seems like it wouldn't have gotten clogged if there had been a screen.

[@DallasHuybregts]

I think of all your Ram Pump videos this one does the best job of explaining how it works to move water. Thanks!

[@donnyboon2896]

You didn't finish the ram pump May 14th (today) so I watched this video again. 😁

[@lucky82980]

Donny Boon same here.

[@MrHomeGrown]

A helpful hint to extending the life of the trimmer line. Its a monofilament line like fishing line. If you think about it, fishing line becomes brittle if its stored out of water. Although if it is being used often it will last you the fishing season. With that said, I know a little bit about that stuff and if its has not been soaked in water at all times from when you buy it, it will dry out and become very brittle. So what I do is fill a bucket with water and throw the line in the water. Give it a few days if its new and you will be able to see the difference in how long it takes to snap a piece of line off or melt together. I hope this helps.

[@donnan7777]

Ram Pump I would like to learn more on the construction... Really neat. Never seen one and I'm 65...

[@manuela.guilamo4939]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/d2q6Ya2uZ6lql7c

[@bigkevcanb]

Very lucky to have four springs. Thanks for the ram pump explanation unfortunately I rely on rain water. Still living in the city

[@patmclean7856]

you should also put a screen over your stand pipe because that is an access point for trash in your system

[@javaman2883]

Right. When the pump is not working, that wastgate valve is open, so anything can just fall in.

[@randr10]

This is why I love the little cheap Homelite trimmers you can get at Home Depot. They run fine and the trimmer head has an auto feed, where you simply just thread a new length of trimmer line through the center with the head fully intact. Takes all of about a minute to restring it when you run out.

[@dstevenpaisley]

she let's the string get to short before she bumps it on ground

[@daleel38]

Hello. If u change that gate valve to a full bore ball valve, water will get less resistance going trough. That will increase the ram effect. That gate valve is slowing down the water coming to the system. Great videos!

[@TheAussieRepairGuy]

"there's a pinecone in there every year" apparently, never considered any kind of filter or mesh basket over the intake.

[@buggsy5]

Or an intake box, which has a fairly large screen so needles etc are less likely to get through the screen.

[@flatophall]

I'm just amazed the pump survives the harsh winters there. As always a fantastic show. God bless you and yours.

[@sonofeloah]

Watching and hearing the weed whacker makes me appreciate my scyth all the more!

[@Virxo182]

Where I work we have the exact trimmer and boy is that baby powerful. I was whipping in a sprint and didn't miss a weed.

[@jamesdickens7666]

It would be nice to catch the "waste water" and perhaps let it collect in a man made pond. Stock it with fish. The grassy are you walked through when finished, could that be dug out and made into a pond?

[@kennethbeal]

Read Sepp Holzer's book "Permaculture"; I'm only a very little way into it but one of the first things he talks about is making a pond.

[@wranglerstar]

The wast water runs directly into our pond,

[@walterzimmerman5028]

does the waste valve have to be left open to work or could it be plumbed to a catch basin or pond?

[@The0420badass]

Wranglerstar you should look into a venturie set up for easier prime could use air pressure and or water from reserve to pull a vaccumn on feed pipe for faster prime if you would like to see what i am talking about pm me thanks and nice video

[@awesomestuff9715]

Or maybe divert it back to where it was originally (if possible)

[@Squat5000]

I made my own wrench for unions like that. Piece of spring steel I believe. Hole saw to make the main hole and a file to make the full lands. Works well for getting the crazy force needed to work a union. Used my forge to flatten out the end wide enough. Would probably be a fun project for you (assuming it was actually of value).

[@IdahoDualSport]

I like weed eating too because you get to enjoy instant results. I would caution you to not ever buy Mrs W. a pressure washer, they are incredibly fun to operate and you get amazing results... she'll be spraying everything!

[@wranglerstar]

They can damage so quickly! mrsW :)

[@johnhubbard6262]

As a plumber I can state you explained that better than the average plumber, because now a days most plumbers only effectively communicate when they are up-selling you on something. Two things I would change: First install a Ball Valve for that Gate Valve as the gate in a gate valve will always fail at the worst possible time in either the fully open or closed position, dependent entirely on what would be worst case for you. Second, even though it is a little more work to access the pipe, I would run the end of the pipe into a 3 sided plastic box of some kind and fill the box covering the pipe with some 3/4 gravel. (Open side is facing out towards your water source and gravel just fans out and down from box to it, helping to channel stuff away from the box, and keep debris away from actual contact with your screen. Additionally some good pipe dope on the the union threads and that will come apart like butter every year.

[@chevytruckman34]

6:08 The quote, since the beginning of time.

[@bp72d]

Man, I love those hydraulic rams. I often wish I had a property just steep enough and with a streamlet, just to play around with those... (and I should start wearing a t-shirt "danger! engineer inside") So, here's a hint that might help you keeping the inlet clean: Maybe you can build a kind of gravity filter, with 2 chambers, the 1st with the inlet under water, being fed by the spring. Then you add a vertical bar, which the water needs to flow over to reach the 2nd chamber where the pipe is connected. The underwater inlet keeps anything out of your pipe that is light enough to float on the surface. The chambers themselves shall enable any sand or other stuff to sink to the bottom, so they have to be built just large enough to ensure a slow flow. Should be rather easy to clean out, too if you add a lid on the top. And it could be built from some harder wood to make it halfway "waterproof" so it doesn''t rot away and gives you another nice wood project. :) Cheers & greets from germany!

[@jason-ge5nr]

I remember that string trimmer with a saw blade on it. That thing was an animal.

[@johngolding4229]

jason I’ve used both the blade on top of the string at same time, to eat up the darn blackberries, we have in proliferation. Works well to get the grass and heavy vines at same time. 👍🏼

[@richardsandwell2285]

I could sit and listen to a ram pump all day, such neat pieces of engineering. Well done with that..

[@blitzkriegbear6192]

14:07 Just install a wye strainer before clogged valve, remove basket and clean

[@RIDERSONLINEORG]

You should consider the pull through string hub for fast loading. All the professionals use them. Any lawn equipment shop will have them and know what you're talking about if you ask for one. I used to keep four or five Stihl spools loaded and ready to go for our property but the first time I tried the quick loading pull through hub I never went back.

[@USNERDOC]

Always fun to weed wack! Awesome new ram pump . . . amazing how effective they are.

[@MadlySevered]

A tip on the trimmer, have you ever heard of the Oregon jet fit head? instead of winding that string you kinda just slide in two zip tie looking strings to the head. No blade, no string that goes in to the head. Easy to change stings. Worth to check it out :)

[@robertgonzalez8419]

No doubt that the guy who came up with this got this idea from God only God can give such a wisdom to man praise God

[@ChemicalChrisOttawa]

I do love ram pumps, ever since I became aware of them. Very handy. I also like the idea of using the water pressure going downhill to power a generator.....free electricity., Basically a personal hydroelecric dam. Might be worth considering? There are many videos on youtube of people making them with old off the shelf/thrown out components. As I'm sure you know, if you turn an electric motor, you get electricity out of it. So many of the designs use old washing machines and such, use the water pressure to turn the motor/generator, and free power. Some systems use an Archimedes screw , Im not sure which is better, as I haven't had the opportunity to utilize such a contraption, so I haven't delved to the deepest depths of knowledge on the subject. Might be worth considering though...... Of note, the ram pump is far more efficient to pump water, no sense in using the water head to generate power to run a pump, essentially..

[@ianrickey208]

Your Spyderco would have cut the string the first time...SPYDERCO!!!!!

[@wranglerstar]

Yes then the tip would have broken off,

[@ianrickey208]

Booooooooo LOL. Love your channel Cody! And I love my Spydercos and have never broken a tip! God bless you all!

[@GarysBBQSupplies]

I still love my Scallion

[@buggsy5]

@scoobtoober29 Repeat after me "A knife is not a screwdriver or pry bar." To me, that knife was dangerously dull. But I would have used a pair of side cutters to cut the line anyway.

[@dougdobbs]

I did a little math. If it pumps 1.4 gallons around the clock, in 6 months that's about 130,000 gallons of water. That's a good bit of water! :) Someone said below that there are few things as aesthetically pleasing as a working ram pump. Nicely done, Cody.

[@Songer80]

just using the energy from a water hammer to pump water.

[@willplume1555]

Physics and engineering are wonderful...

[@gadgetdeez7069]

So.. if you wanted to lift it further, or pump more, there are a couple things you can do to improve it. Remove restrictions. The valve, waste valve, and tee are a bit small. If you opened them up, and used larger pipe fittings, you promote more flow. Flow (kenetic energy more importantly here) is based on 4 things.. resistance of flow, velocity of flow, flow mass, and pressure differential. The flow mass (size of your pipe supplying water to the waste valve) is fixed. lower the resistance, and the greater the pressure differential, the more flow you will have. The more flow you have, the speed will pick up, increasing energy of the flow. This is the same as an electronic dc/dc boost converter. Another thing you can do to increase flow, is to apply a light spring to the waste valve flapper to try holding it open a little longer. Being that it is vertical, adding a little weight to the flapper would serve the same purpose. Idea is that when the waste valve opens, flow in the pipe accelerates from almost a dead stop. As it accelerates, it picks up kenetic energy. This pushes past the waste valve until the flow is strong enough to lift the valve flapper and cause it to shut. All this energy has to go somewhere so it pushes past the lower check valve, and stores it in the air tube. If the flapper weighs more or had a slight bit more resistance to closing, then more kenetic energy can be generated before the waste valve closes, and larger amounts of water can be pumped. Another mod that would be possibly beneficial, would be to get the water away from the waste valve. Something as simple as a 90* elbow would be good. Keep the run short though, as this can lead to cavitation if made too long. This goes in line with reducing restriction. The valve only has to be vertical so that the check valve resets after diverting kenetic energy into the air tank. Any further that water must be lifted is wasting energy. How do you control max water level in the water tower? Dump tube? Another thing that would help.. build a large box for the incoming water with as much screen area as possible. Preferrably below the surface of the water to prevent sucking up floating debris in the screen. In that box, route your inlet pipe to the middle of it. This will limit sediment intake as it will likely fall to the bottom of the box if it is large enough to slow the flow through the box, and it will prevent intake of floating debris. Removing the screen from the inlet will increase flow and therefore kenetic energy. (Ability to pump)

[@BethGrantDeRoos]

Laughing so hard! 'Don't know what it is about women and machinery' says the man who made a video with his sister in the kitchen a couple years ago.....

[@wranglerstar]

You make a good point, LOL

[@BishopVapes]

+Brasso that's a great idea with the break cable instead of using weed eater plastic cable. thanks for the tip I will definitely do this and save a bunch of money on the long run.

[@wranglerstar]

You are the best Beth! MrsW

[@TheUserid82]

For the spring have you thought about developing it to have it fully underground to keep things from ever entering? A cut up plastic barrel to make a dam and some gravel to fill in the void behind it. Once the collection and vent is closed off you will have drinking water and reduce the chance of anything blocking the works.

[@prdoohan]

This is the set up we have for our stock water system. a 44gal drum buried so the top is still above the waterline, then chicken mesh rolled into a 12 inch cylinder and pinched off at one end then attached to the drum just below the water line as the inlet. This stops any big debris getting in. then the drum fills up and the out flow to the pump is halfway down the drum so that the floating debris wont go down the hole, and anything that sinks will be in the bottom of the drum.

[@Lagittaja]

This was my exact thought after watching this, bury the dang thing and reduce the maintenance needed.

[@MrLugnutt]

Unless he just Mr. & Mrs. W. enjoy the few minutes alone while Jack does his chores. ;-)

[@FixedByDoccom]

i did something similar by building what amounts to a cul-de-sac in front of my spring head and then filled it with pea gravel and in the side wall attached the pipeline to my water tank. inside the gravel where the pipe goes through the wall i have a 3ltr bottle cut in half with a screen over it that the pipe enters and it is buried in the gravel so to make a pocket or void in the gravel that fills with water. the gravel filters out all the debris and nothing gets into the pipeline. any water flow that is left over just over flows the gravel cul-de-sac i made and back into the original creek. hope that made sense :) later this week im attaching another pipeline to it for a ram pump to run water up to my cabin. the original line is just a gravity pressure line to a storage tank.

[@BryanTorok]

6:15 minutes of messing with the weed wacker before he gets to the subject matter.

[@rolfpoelman3486]

And why?

[@seanwatts392]

@@rolfpoelman3486 idk why he did that. At work we use a speed feed weed eater head. Takes me 20 seconds to put new string.

[@wulfclaw4921]

6 years bsck - but still you have been a trusted source of wisdom on many things, Thank you friend, All the best to you and yours, Wulfy

[@theg-man7868]

Hi Mr W, please to get Mrs W a proper harness, makes a huge difference and some ear defenders. Love the show.

[@kleinjahr]

Suggestion, put a union on the upstream side of your supply valve. It makes it easier to remove and clean out. A gate valve, which is what that looks like , is notorious for getting stuff stuck in the valve seat, a ball valve might be a bit better. By the way there are friction and fixture losses, just not that big a concern with this set up.

[@Lee-dn3ou]

A good wife is such a blessing you have a good wife I am bless as well with a wonderful wife

[@robertjennings397]

She's still a dream boat.

[@Chris_In_Texas]

Recommendation on string trimmer...... SpeedFeed 400 head from Echo, will bolt right on there, and is excellent investment in simplifying adding string.

[@MindCrime550]

25min video, title item is in it for 5 seconds.

[@consaka1]

The motivating force there is inertia. Moving mass has incredible energy potential. The ram pump you have there is a prime example of that working. Block off that exit valve and measure the pressure spike when the waste valve shuts. If your drop was high enough it could literally break the pipe. There is amazing amount of energy there. Love to see that harnessed. You put it to good use. I'm a little concerned about one made out of plastic pipe since plastic will stretch some. It will still work but I think size for size the steel would be more efficient.

[@davedeja]

For Mrs. W, it's the weed wacker. For my wife, it's the log splitter. She loves to run it. I guess I'm lucky in that regard because over the last 3 years we have taken down 30+ Oak trees and 10 Pines from our property and she has helped buck, haul, split and stack every one of them. I have more firewood than I know what to do with.

[@FREE_WILL_AAHhhhhhhhhhhhh]

implementing some permaculture solutions will help your land immensely.. the "too much water" isn't a problem... you just must redirect the overflow with small trenches..hardly any depression allows the water to be diverted and carried to the peaks of your property...using about a 1-2% grade it allows the landscape to absorb water and not erode your hillside...recharging the aquifer helps for more springs to develop on higher elevations. ..I think your in Oregon??...I would be willing to help you with permaculture design next time I'm heading through there for free... I have a several thousand acre permaculture project I'm in the early stages of developing near Yakima WA. Regreening the desert and helping to provide a model of transformation to recreate the food and resource abundance the Garden of Eden provided. With localization of resource and human needs for well being...it moves everyone, everywhere into freedom and away from the perception of centralized freedumb.

[@nswsparky]

I was once a week wacker pro. I have found that if you swing against the spin of the string it is less apt to break at the spool. It took me a while to figure that bit of info out.

[@Mudford]

Your old ram pump video is the first video of yours that I watched. A friend showed me. I subscribed and have been watching since.

[@daveii312]

Not for nothin'... the way you are winding line onto that spool induces twist. You want the line coming off the spool smoothly, like a casting rod (if we load the reel by taking line off the end of the storebought replacement spool, then remember to trail the line into the water (off a moving boat, tip high) to let it stream away. Then reel it in so it will rest in the casting rod's spool without twist). Find a way to load your trimmer without inducing twist in the line. I always cut the line to length so the free end can shed twist as you load. One hand holds the spool steady, the other hand keeps the line between thumb and forefinger and also helps steady the spool as you as you load it by rotating the spool in both hands - rotate the spool like you are washing or drying a plate with both hands on the edge. It takes longer, but it eliminates one easy way to jam the line feed. Carry on... ;-)

[@aserta]

You should use an Y filter on the pipe as well. Makes cleaning very easy. You unscrew the cap and all the junk that would otherwise go in the mechanism (to be read pump assembly) is easily removable through the Y filter. I have one on an irrigation system that's fed from a river near my grandpa's land. Big 2 inch ID one.

[@djscrizzle]

Even more ingenious, is to fit a nipple and ball valve in place of the cap. This way, a flush is easier. Open valve, let flow for a little bit. close valve, all's good!

[@dougault3145]

Next time you buy strimmer string get the 4mm , it cuts through all tough vegetation and does not break so often , 3mm is a total pain for snapping, I have the same model strimmer as you and it works brilliantly with 4mm

[@FixedByDoccom]

ive been using those plastic blade heads on my grass trimmer for 1.5 yrs now and HATE THEM lol... i am switching back to line fed when the current blades wear out. for me and in my opinion the line fed is easier to deal with using my trimmer. it last way longer between refills etc... i have a brush cutter with a metal blade for when i need something better then the line anyhow. nice video. i just built seth's from land to house ram pump design and it cost me $40. all pvc and one piece was brass (one of the check valves) but i do get a 10% discount at the hardware store to so it would normally cost someone more. hope to install it later this week. it is 3/4 inch in and 1/2 inch out with 15 feet of potential head drop but only need 20 feet give or take of lift so may need to adjust its location some. looking at your water tower build for next summer. may incorporate that into my system. nice video thanks for sharing. hope my trolls didnt follow me over here...

[@Blakehx]

Cool stuff thanks! I have a hate / hate relationship with 2-stroke engines... and who chooses string over blades?

[@howardfortyfive9676]

Right here! Saw a guy run weed wacker blade on 5yd dump truck tire on the sidewall. Completely wasted the tire. Expensive day hard lesson learned.

[@jerrybobteasdale]

To my practical farmer's eye, it looks like that system would benefit from a sort of settling cistern before the water hits the valves and pump. The cistern would be a vertically oriented , relatively tall and wide cavity. One side has the water inlet a good distance below the removeable top. The outlet would be lower than the inlet, but the outlet would also be well above the bottom of the cistern. Heavy trash would settle to the bottom of the cistern. Have a big drain gate for cleanout.. Floaty trash would collect above the outlet. It would handle more trash before plugging, the plugs would simpler to clean out, and less crud reaches valves. .

[@baconnology9564]

This is really cool, it bleeds off a little water to give the long column of water in the higher pipe some speed witch is a lot of kinetic energy that is then used to compress the air in that pipe, then that compressed air pushes the water up to the water tower.

[@IntenseGrid]

Excellent video. Thanks for pointing us to engineer775's videos as well. Links in your description to his would be excellent. If you have a screen on the top yet still get stuff in your pipe, maybe the pine cones and sticks are falling in the stand pipe? Couldn't you just put a screen on it?

[@skeech]

Thanks coming back to these awesome pumps! Your original ram pump video was the first video of yours I have watched

[@dannybeard2861]

I agree with the comments that the vertical pipe is a smoothing capacitor. A ram pump doesn't require it but it works better (more efficiently) with one. This is a simple energy transfer system. The long column of water is allowed to flow at a certain rate before the 1st check closes. The velocity, the length of the column of water and the inverse of the speed of closure of the check valve sets the maximum pressure impulse that occurs due to 'water hammer'. Until the advent of the 'water hammer' pressure pulse, the pressure downstream of the second check holds it closed. If the pressure pulse is higher than the pressure to actuate the 2nd check and the pressure downstream, then the 2nd check will open allowing water to flow past the second check. Because water is basically incompressible any flow past the 2nd check quickly relieves the upstream pressure and the 2nd check closes. Without the air pipe, the pressure downstream would quickly rise to force the water through the pipe and limit the amount of water that could be transferred from the first to second stage. The air pipe is an accumulator which requires a large volume change to create a pressure rise. This allows more water to be transferred from the first to second stage and lowers the losses in the second stage. This system wastes lots of water so in arid regions this would not be a good idea. The amount of water pouring on the ground is a multiple of the water that gets pumped in a properly tuned system. This is great for regions with lots of water that needs to be moved to be put to good use.

[@davidbrubaker7735]

Your first video on ram pumps was what drew me to your channel. I was wondering just the other day what ever happened to it. Thanks for the vid! I'm looking forward to the micro pump. I may try to build one myself for my garden!

[@wranglerstar]

Thank you David.

[@Moppemannen_mattias]

Me to ☺

[@wdesign1189]

Fascinating!! as an engineer I can really appreciate this kind of innovation. Can't wait to see the smaller one in action. Why not use a section of PVC cut in half with a hole in one end, to capture the water from the waste valve and use it for the likes of a garden or simply spare water?

[@sirbriandmiddleton]

WeedWacker or Strimmer. You need to buy and fit a Desert Hawk head, it uses pre cut lengths of line you carry in your pocket and takes seconds to reload, no fiddly winding and no problems with it all going wrong. Will handle heavy duty line. We have them on our Kawasaki, the wee Ryobi and the Wheeled strimmer. Fits them all (straight shaft). It is made in the USA, but it needed a Scot to tell you about it!

[@DavidWhite]

One word Fascinating. I never knew of such a device

[@ricetune]

the japanese weed whackers all have 10 inch saw blades on them, grannies out there bouncing saw blades off the curbs and rocks! A very distinctive sound of summer.

[@TheSukitani]

I wonder if I can make a ram pump into a garden feature.... I just like the sound it makes, and the flowing water.