55 gallon drum sprayer

[hobbyfarm]

TCBoomer,
That's a great idea. I never thought of those guys.
Thanks.
phil

 

[Theowegian]

I used your idea and made a sprayer today from a 55 gallon drum.

It is working great!

Thanks, dwight

 

[alexinPA]

Bird, You seem to know a lot about roller pumps. Can you tell me why I can't find any info on suction head for a roller pump? I want to make sure I'l be able to pump water from the stream about 5-6' below. Thanks.

 

[thcri]

I don't think the roller pumps are much more than the good quality electric pump and you get much better performance. Did you make a boom for this set up also??

murph

 

[Bird]

Alex, I've taken Hypro roller pumps apart, reversed the direction of rotation, found that even a badly corroded roller pump can be pretty easily fixed if you have a sandblast cabinet to clean all the parts good, but like you, I haven't found anything to tell me what kind of suction head they can handle /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif and I've only used one where it was drawing from a tank with little or no suction necessary. So, I really can't help you this time. I would think it could pull a pretty good head if it were primed first, but that's really only a guess.

 

[PineRidge]

How do you drain and flush the plastic barrel when you are finished? Is there a bottom bung or do you invert the barrel?

 

[alexinPA]

thcri, -no, no boom. I've not got a sprayer either. Just looking for an easy way to get water from a stream.
Bird,- thanks. I remember a thread about pumping water from
a pond. The answer was not to use a roller pump... /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
Still like to get a definite answer before going to electric pump.

 

[Bird]

Alex, the reason for not using a roller pump to pump water from a pond may, or may not, have had anything to do with the suction head. Roller pumps are definitely for liquid only; no trash or debris at all. Even on my spray rig, there was a very fine mesh screen filter between the tank and the pump. The pump I used to pump water from a pond, impeller type pump, had what looked like a can with a bunch of holes punched in it. Those holes weren't quite as big as a common pencil, but still could have let small trash through that would not have been good at all for the roller pump. So I wouldn't hesitate to try pumping water from a pond with a roller pump if I had a really good filter on the intake hose.

 

[DelfinoTX]

Hobbyfarm, I got my plastic drum from a guy that was selling some along the highway frontage in Brownsville.
He had probably about a dozen or so. I gave him 15 bucks for a white 55 and blue 30 gal. This was about a year ago.

Good luck.

 

[DelfinoTX]

Murph, I only use a spray wand.. It'll shoot herbicide a good 20 or 30 feet if I need to. I just ride along the fence lines and shoot it from the driver seat. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[DelfinoTX]

Mike, I don't flush the tank I just run it till its empty and put it in the barn and put a tarp over it. All I use it for is herbicide.
Next time I use it I pour in 2 quarts of herbicide an fill it with water. It mixes itself with the swirling water from the garden hose.

 

[DelfinoTX]

Alex, roller pumps are not very good for high flow applications. They can produce very high pressure though. You'd be better off with an electric centrifugal pump. If you need to draw water from a low place, a jet pump or sprinkler pump will work much better. I use a 2" Sears sprinkler pump for maintaining two catfish ponds from a water well and the pump draws the water from 18 feet down without a problem.
The secret is in the impeller and volutes design. Most sprinkler pumps have closed face impellers which have very small openings. These small openings generate very high suction and also very high pressure. Crack one open and you'll see what I mean. Here is a link. They also make a 1-1/2 inch pump that will run on 115/220 volts.

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=LAWN&pid=08302623000

 

[jeffinsgf]

Well, now I am going to have to do some adapting.

Just today I bought a 55 gallon 3pt mount boom sprayer that uses a roller pump, which I also bought. I bought all the parts to add a hand gun to it, too. One of my other problems is watering some new plants that are way out on my place. I was a little nervous about using the same tank that I use for glysophate to do my watering with -- even after a thorough cleaning. But for the cost of a used drum and a couple plumbing parts, I can use the pump and not have to worry about killing my new trees with residual brush killer. THANKS!

 

[alexinPA]

Delfino, thanks for the info. My stream is too far from the house, no electric there... And I do not want to set up a generator, electric pump etc. If I could drew from a few feet below using a roller pump, than the same pump can be used for a sprayer.
Any of you guys owing a roller pump can do a quick test for me? Just put a bucket with water in a low spot and see if the pump sucks it up...
Alex