Pumpjack

[@mmmbad]

My parents and I went on a trip out West when I was 9 years old. These things fascinated me then and still do. They used to call them "oil birds". There's something hypnotic about them. I could watch these all day.

[@libraryquiet]

I saw my first one when I was around eight years old and I became hooked. I still am! I don't know..., every time I see them it's like..., it's like the giants of Easter Island come to life.

[@tashalynn29]

me too. cool towatch

[@richardbean1707]

Trust me, they're only more hypnotic when you work with them and live around them year round lol

[@kompot2926]

yea dude i dont know im just addictted to it

[@ll3masterhoi368]

I can also look at iT for a while

[@Sarah.Riedel]

I don't know why but I find the motion of these really soothing and aesthetically pleasing it's weird how many people seem to hate it

[@vitonamous]

Yeah its like making me calm (for no reason)

[@lennieblue]

Really? I don't hate them at all. I searched just to watch them go. I find them calming and fascinating. As a kid I'd watch them out the car windows on long trips.

[@danielsong1323]

II have a phobia of this

[@askhowiknow5527]

Usually when we make machines they aren’t naturally peaceful

[@teemu6779]

I dont know why, but this gives kind of dystophic emotions. Maybe because of Terminator 2

[@alishacollins4208]

I've always loved these. Especially with the little noise. I wish I could just have a prop version in my yard! Haha it's just so relaxing to watch and cute.

[@9donald_10douglas]

Yeah

[@CarlKem]

Ah, man! I love the sound of that pumpjack working! Been over twenty years since I last worked on a PJ. Damn I miss them!

[@okwhatever2995]

Strange how relaxing that sound is lol

[@hhairball9]

There were a few around my grandparents' house. It was soothing going to sleep to the sounds of the pumps!

[@4everroux]

I love the sound of these! Kept it on repeat for my hour drive. Thanks!

[@SuV33358]

I absolutely love watching these in motion! So relaxing....ASMR

[@nonothebot]

I've allways been fascinated by these machines. Funny video, verry good job. Thanks !

[@libraryquiet]

I'm an artist. And from my point of view..., these oil rigs are fantastic! Austere and relentless. What an awesome painting this could be. You got the heat waves, ten or more of these metal giants in the foreground..., all that's missing is a B-52 bomber in the distance just leaving the ground on takeoff. Awesome!

[@HamishReidVideo]

Thanks! Sadly I was unable to arrange the B-52, but I was once buzzed by a small Cessna while videoing some of this :-).

[@libraryquiet]

@@HamishReidVideo I'll paint the B-52 in the background. Killer!

[@antennaist]

Could you include a P-51 mustang in the background ?

[@hhhhhhhhh1071]

@@antennaistthis was 4 years ago, I doubt the original poster will see this again let alone do that

[@ItsJustGilly]

There's something extremely unsettling about the sound of these things. Could be perfectly used as a movie's intro

[@randycrump5464]

I've worked on and around them for forty years in the oilfield and it never got old.

[@bradr2142]

Bet you love this video and I bet you miss the work.

[@NickAnimating]

massive respect

[@highkamp]

I first saw them going to Texas as a kid and became fascinated with them and still am 50 years later!

[@9donald_10douglas]

I know right

[@greyline6885]

My great grandma used to have a ranch out in the pandhandle. Nothing but wilderness for miles around, but these pumpjacks were scattered around the place. One was directly across the road from the house she lived in. I have wonderful memories of that place, walking around and hearing these.

[@knobsdialsandbuttons]

Fascinating machines. I could watch them all day !

[@sylvisterling8782]

One of my uncles worked in the Wilmington, California oil fields as a trucker. We used to drive past the tank farms and oil pumps. Wonderful childhood memory.

[@RainJetSprinklers]

Awesome video, does a good job of showing what the petroleum industry looks like in California.

[@sonianevermind1232]

I can't help but imagine what it'd be like to ride one of those things

[@dopplerfox]

Me too! I bet it's quite a substantial amount of fun, but it's dangerous too.

[@aarongreen5331]

I grew up in, and still live in, west Texas. Riding these is fun and oddly calming as long as you don’t get caught.

[@itsty90]

I imagine the same thing

[@shawnfields8390]

I’m western Oklahoma we have ridden them out here, at least you can see quite a way when on top to see if the pumper is coming and get off location before he gets there

[@dale116dot7]

When I was a kid back in grade four (around 40 years ago) a classmate did that. It was the last thing he did.

[@MengDexiuBlue]

Love from China here❤, I'm from Daqing in China, Daqing is the largest oilfiled in China and not only my home gave me a lot of good memories but also I think the Daqing oil field is very unique in its way, all the pumpjacks and the local industries perfectly blends into the nature, it feels really natural and comfortable. If it is possible I really suggest anyone who loves these beautiful machines to go on s trip for Daqing in China!❤

[@Nicerailroad]

Yo gimme yo oil china this is the U.S.A

[@Negative.headspace]

This sounds straight out of a horror movie I grew up around these things, you'd see fields with them, they reminded me of dead metal horses in the field

[@17Americanoboi]

I've never seen one in person but I still find them fascinating to watch. So far I've built four working models of these and they turned out great!

[@Bluelightning23]

What a beautiful sight and sound of American prosperity.

[@thedrivechannel83]

Why do I like this video? Its strangely hypnotic.

[@Decidetto]

I always found the sight of these really unsettling, somehow ominous. Am I the only one?

[@brumi1061]

same

[@officergregorystevens5765]

yeah i think in part because they're associated in the media with the 'evils of capitalism' etc... also they have a kind of animal like appearance just enough to be creepy.. like a bird or dinosaur of some kind.

[@thebuttonmushroom]

I completely agree. The sound is also something I expect from a horror film. I know I'm going to have Derrick filled nightmares now.

[@tayleign]

Decidetto same here

[@madelynt1615]

@@officergregorystevens5765 I didnt think they were creepy till I read your comment

[@82littlerock]

Thank you for sharing this video. There is a good variety here - the compound action at 3:30 mins is interesting.

[@9donald_10douglas]

I love pumpjacks the reeeAHHHH noise they make is what I would listen to all day long I always pass by a lot of pumpjacks

[@tayleign]

They are so unsettling to me

[@leslieelliott9097]

Love the back country and love the pump jacks. We called them donkeys. Raised my family in Ojai. Took 33 over the mountains to Bakersfield many, many times. I don't think people realize how much oil there is in California. Those dinosaurs did a good job of leaving their magic legacy there.

[@HamishReidVideo]

Didn't they just! People often seem surprised California has any oil at all… (just make them drive down Highway 33 to Taft :-)). Growing up in Australia, we called them "nodding donkeys".

[@focusfolks]

@@HamishReidVideo Do we have some in Aus?

[@HamishReidVideo]

We must do! Or I think we do, anyway. But I'm having trouble thinking where they'd be, though. It's been a while… Oh well.

[@focusfolks]

@@HamishReidVideo Yeah, nowhere in particular jumps out as an oil producing location, but I hardly know the entire countryside

[@PharaohDeathMask]

This was a great video. I would describe it as having soothing motion with sinister sound.

[@HamishReidVideo]

Great description :-)

[@rabiileomar7395]

Nice to watch .electric car can never replace the freedom these humming mechines give to the world

[@illuminate4622]

What? With an electric car you can get your fuel from your roof!

[@hhhhhhhhh1071]

​​@@illuminate4622 ...and the cobalt from Congolese slave labor They're all bad, oil is just a lot more fun to watch getting created in fields like these which don't poison water supplies and kill natives - yes I'm talking about Shell, they actually do that

[@druiddobby]

This is one of my favourite videos on the internet :)

[@samuraisam7441]

No

[@druiddobby]

@@samuraisam7441 sam you nerd when are we playing barotrauma

[@edendrennan2010]

I agree. This is one of my favourite videos on KZbin

[@jerrywatt6813]

Here in southern california we called them grasshoppers when we were kids they are still everywhere !!

[@HamishReidVideo]

Grasshoppers! We used to call them nodding donkeys 😀

[@JonatanGronoset]

This is how my heart sounds, the doctor can back it up.

[@hhhhhhhhh1071]

That is 1 pump every 5 seconds which is 12 bpm U ok?

[@mostirrational]

Watching this while listening to Old Town Road; it's perfect.

[@HamishReidVideo]

I am so tempted to mash this up with Old Town Road and see how it works :-). Not sure Lil Nas X would like the results tho...

[@mostirrational]

@@HamishReidVideo Hope it works! :)

[@cryptid9361]

Ever since I saw that one gorillas vevo I’ve constantly been fascinated with oil pumps like these

[@thepikachuoftexas3871]

Aww the sweet sound of West Texas 😊❤

[@HamishReidVideo]

'cept it's West California :-)

[@thepikachuoftexas3871]

@@HamishReidVideoThat’s cool. Brings back memories of growing up in West Texas

[@randycrump5464]

The unit you hear thumping which is not normal is either tagging the bottom and rods needs to be raised or fluid pound from partial pump fillage.

[@magy357]

great. just one small complaint. it's shame there is no sound of all those pumpjacks, especially group from 4:00 minute. It's a bit disappointment, that I hear only first pumpjack through whole video of different pumpjacks with constructions and speed.

[@RT29Wuelfel]

Excellent video ! Interesting views and high quality!

[@pinz2022]

Ever since I was a kid and someone told me what they were I've always wondered about the details. These are for mature oil fields where it's no longer bubbling up under pressure but has to be pumped. Since it takes energy and moola to operate these things I always wondered where the break-even point was reached--both in terms of pumping depth and operating expenses. I noticed the crumbling concrete footings and rusting fixtures on some of those beasts and figure some of them must be ancient.

[@hhhhhhhhh1071]

Yes, I live on a relatively unexploited natural gas field and I'm trying so hard to find one but they're nowhere because it's impractical to pump it if it just comes out by itself

[@fluffymacaw933]

I used to think of these machines as gentle giants that drink oil, but over the years they started becoming scarce

[@mostirrational]

Mesmerizing steampunk ambience...

[@ShawnaGraham50]

Strangely addictive

[@duncandistortion]

Relaxing to watch & listen to.

[@vidsbyluke]

my favorite animal

[@hhhhhhhhh1071]

Relatable

[@wolvesofthefortressofthede973]

There are a few of them around Southern Illinois where my parents grew up.

[@phillipgraham1422]

Quite literally this is the heart beat of humanity.

[@jimmychanbers2424]

It's a spooky sound at night. Lol

[@lennieblue]

It's funny because us kids (back in the 60's and 70's) thought they looked like giant ants working. To me, they still look like that! I've got a good imagination. 😁

[@malikaaudrey]

i love the sound...

[@thebuttonmushroom]

Is it just me who finds these slightly creepy?

[@PaulBenares]

I think, that's the uncanny valley.

[@arkbien9303]

the repetitive droning is horribly creepy.

[@jellystrains2039]

I hate them and the noise is so creepy

[@Mpompadour]

Yes, I have always found them creepy, but I can't exactly put my finger on why.

[@spectraleyes6587]

Because our lust for oil is slowly killing us

[@erickellogg8532]

I remember seeing these all over ohio pennsylvania west virginia. Then I moved out west I saw them all over california. I live in indiana and they are here too

[@tedbishop]

By the size of the counter weights, it is a VERY shallow oil well.

[@vinnythegoat5594]

Fun fact: pump Jacks. Never turn off some of them were working back in the 1920s

[@pinz2022]

I guess there are times and places where these things are turned on and off or even abandoned and later restored according to oil price fluctuations? Wiki says the pumps are powered every which way imaginable. From being plugged into the electrical grid to diesel, propane or even using the "casing gas" coming out of the well.

[@RODALCO2007]

Great video.

[@MrJuvefrank]

People sound like we are all going to need one of these in our back yard, but things in the Middle-East are not so bad that the price at the pump should jump.

[@hefley4]

I miss that sound, also! Even more ... the sound when the big pumps were powered with internal combustion engines: roryrrrrERRRRRRR chug chug chug chug chug chg roryrrrr ERRRRRRRRR chug chug chug chug .... haven't heard that in a longggg time...

[@9donald_10douglas]

That's the sound I like I could watch one all day

[@Jorge_Herrera182]

el mejor video que e visto exelente trabajo

[@cs975l6]

See how many RPM you can get of that jack before part's start to fly😁😁🤣🤣🤣🤣😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨💥💥💥💥😁😁😁😁😁😁

[@MMridesN]

What’s what the hell is that noise

[@dtrawick123]

I noticed there were a lot of Lufkin Industry pumps in your video. I knew we made a lot of pumping units but I didn't think they were that prominent. I had figured there were more companies making them than the few I did see :\

[@bbbasedali]

this thing scares me but its nice

[@J1978watt]

@ 3:36 is the only one that didn’t seem to be running backwards to me. What do I know though, I only work on the gas engines that drive these.

[@HamishReidVideo]

They're all in the video exactly as-was in real life - sadly, back then I wouldn't have had the video chops to make them run backwards or anything like that...

[@MsJamesFord]

I love pillow shots like this. As a video response I want to make a compilation in due time of mechanical objects similar to this one. My favourites are the whirring of telephone lines, the sound of rainfall on corrugated steel, the sound of crackling bonfire (technically this may be classified as machinery I suppose), the sound of a bus engine humming, and old fashioned movie projectors. Suggestions are welcome.

[@tashalynn29]

Please make a 10 hour version of this video.

[@RileyGoss]

Superb video. I dig it.

[@mindyreese5799]

PUMP JACK LES GOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!😎

[@shermanbass5449]

I'm a Trinidadian growing in a place call forest witch was run by Texaco BP &shell I missed seeing them working on them and on the Rig

[@Anomagnatu]

Are there any old pumpjacks lying around I could rent for a prop on a movie? Who could I ask about that?

[@judgedredd8657]

ask any major oilfield contractor, look in texas mostly

[@lavequiasignora9879]

I made up a name for four of the oil wells at 2:13. I call them "Red heads."

[@michelanthony3554]

I'm wondering where in the States I can find these beautiful things working. Does anyone know? I'm around Utah/Arizona now :)

[@whitneybrown5411]

They're not beautiful; they're weapons of mass destruction. But I noticed plenty of them off State Route 10 in Utah, driving between Price and Huntington.

[@hhhhhhhhh1071]

​@@whitneybrown5411 how are they weapons of mass destruction, they just collect oil

[@mortencarlsen4513]

Beautiful

[@stillgunnasendit4146]

Too anyone that knows do these sound like drums when heard in the distance

[@PeterPlaysgamez]

Habitible Mars expectations: futuristic building and cyborgs Habitible Mars in reality:

[@Obladgolated]

How much crude comes up on each stroke?

[@hhhhhhhhh1071]

Depends on size, usually 5 to 40 L from what I've heard

[@NinetyS3v3n]

"It makes 100 dollars worth of crude oil each pump"

[@bradjames6748]

In Alberta Canada they decorate them like horses and reindeer, they are also HUGE!!

[@HamishReidVideo]

They do that in bits of California too!

[@AdrianoCoen]

Where did you find all these clipssss

[@HamishReidVideo]

I took all these clips myself long ago in the Bakersfield (California) area with a really old semi-pro video recorder. I just drove around on roads like Highway 33 or China Grade Loop or Round Mountain Road or 7th Standard Road, etc., and stopped whenever I saw a pumpjack I liked (I was often trespassing so I had to do it quickly). I put the best clips into this video. I did it all ages ago now, back in the tape era!

[@mostirrational]

I'm gonna take my horse to the oil town road...

[@concretekid7310]

I know Ive worked on 50% of those wells

[@rsturbolad26]

how is the oil captured on the up cycle?

[@bennyrodriguez4344]

What lease is it then ? 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@HalitorianEmpire]

i made a nodding donkey (Pumpjack) in roblox while listening to this

[@dodsbacken]

Hi great video, I really liked the sound, is it recorded on one of the sites or is it from another place?

[@elonmust7470]

first one looked pumpheavy.

[@vitonamous]

Soooo relaxing

[@nothingforgrantedPS23]

The sound of America turning.

[@connorhart1363]

Does anybody remember Ozzy Osbourne black rain and what that song was about the song is about the irac war in 2001 the Americans invaded irac because they wanted to steal there oil but instead of saving it irac blew up the oil pits and the oil burst out of the ground and came raining down like rain

[@enriquescolari9881]

De solo observar , uno llega a la certeza de que lo que hacemos a la naturaleza es insostenible .

[@HamishReidVideo]

Muy cierto...

[@dianesnyder8643]

1:49 one not moving?

[@HamishReidVideo]

It's pining for the fjords...

[@bourbonfan1]

0:25 pause I want that painted in oil

[@HamishReidVideo]

ooh yes!

[@madelynt1615]

I seen one of these in gta 5

[@bobkats]

What do these actually pump?

[@judgedredd8657]

black gold

[@luxembourg6028]

"We will trade 1 McDonalds for 70% of the oil. Is it a deal?" -usa

[@jaydenstang9881]

The pumpjack that they took this audio clip from is in definite need of a balance!

[@HamishReidVideo]

The soundtrack is from the first pumpjack that appears in the video. It was still clanking away eighteen months later, but it stopped running years ago now...

[@hhhhhhhhh1071]

​@@HamishReidVideo understandable, you can hear the metal stretching and the motor struggling

[@Goofyahh6543]

My parents come from azerbaijan and my mother sounds of pumpjack not happy no mome my favorite machine is pumpjack

[@lightningfun6486]

Relaxing

[@campbat5712]

I bet im the only person whos earched for this lol

[@californiacrude]

nice work

[@AutodidactEngineer]

hi I'amfrom the future "I'did it I'replied to a 9 year old comment... peace

[@leborico]

what's the music ??? I love it

[@jaquanteharden]

Sounds like money to me