Papa pump/ram pump

[popeye151]

When we moved to the farm there was an old ram pump that supplied water. Constantly having issues so we decided to go over to mains until we decided what to do.
Would much rather be on our own supply so looking at the modern version called Papa pumps. But its £700(!) just to get them down to take a look at the spring and tell me if it's possible and how much it would cost to install .
Does anyone have any experience or advice?
Or know anyone in Devon who installs them?

Thanks

 

[Kidds]

What happened to your old one? Seem to be more people around now that would know how to fix them, not that there's much to break.

 

[Lakesdigger]

You would imho be better off spending the money to see if the existing ram setup can be fixed then looking into the others

 

[popeye151]

Our drive pipe totally rusty and got holes. Also couldn't really quite figure out how to adjust it correctly as there were so many worn out parts. Also leeches kept blocking the clack valve. Too unreliable!

 

[popeye151]

You would imho be better off spending the money to see if the existing ram setup can be fixed then looking into the others

We did think about that. Either way we need a digger down there and its very very wet and boggy.

 

[Lakesdigger]

Our drive pipe totally rusty and got holes. Also couldn't really quite figure out how to adjust it correctly as there were so many worn out parts. Also leeches kept blocking the clack valve. Too unreliable!

Drive pipe is a key part of a ram pump, if its got holes in you need to sort that for a start off. There aren’t many parts to a ram and they are probably all still available. If the drive pipe leaks you won't be able to reliably adjust it anyway as it won't have a consistent supply of water into it so you won't get a consistent flow from it.

 

[Dog&stick]

As other have said, the drive pipe & good supply is " key", papa pump do a sediment filter to go on drive pipe, we got Blakes ram & papa pump.
Go old school, the clacks wear a bit, & snifter holes in time.

 

[Wisconsonian]

Run the wire and pump it. Or set up the pump for suction if it's flat enough. Ram pumps are so innefficient, and pumping takes so little energy, save the water and spend the money for electricity.

 

[popeye151]

As other have said, the drive pipe & good supply is " key", papa pump do a sediment filter to go on drive pipe, we got Blakes ram & papa pump.
Go old school, the clacks wear a bit, & snifter holes in time.

Your prefer ram? How comes?

 

[popeye151]

Run the wire and pump it. Or set up the pump for suction if it's flat enough. Ram pumps are so innefficient, and pumping takes so little energy, save the water and spend the money for electricity.

This shouldn't be an issue as we have plenty of space for a big tank up here. I was actually going to dig a couple big ponds that the overflow would go into

 

[popeye151]

Drive pipe is a key part of a ram pump, if its got holes in you need to sort that for a start off. There aren’t many parts to a ram and they are probably all still available. If the drive pipe leaks you won't be able to reliably adjust it anyway as it won't have a consistent supply of water into it so you won't get a consistent flow from it.

Yeah for sure. The old farmer before us added a tall (maybe 10ft) vertices pipe about halfway along our drive pipe and said it helps with the flow? Never really understood why. He's. Proper old school bodger type though so it might not be common practice. He'd recycle old clack calve washed and wear them down with an angle grinder till solf enough ! Got to give these old times respect

 

[Muddyroads]

When we moved to the farm there was an old ram pump that supplied water. Constantly having issues so we decided to go over to mains until we decided what to do.
Would much rather be on our own supply so looking at the modern version called Papa pumps. But its £700(!) just to get them down to take a look at the spring and tell me if it's possible and how much it would cost to install .
Does anyone have any experience or advice?
Or know anyone in Devon who installs them?

Thanks

Bicton College Home Farm have one, or at least used to. Could be worth trying to get hold of someone there for contacts.

 

[wr.]

Have you contacted Green & Carter in Somerset? They used to do a lot with ram pumps.

Green & Carter - Contact us

GREEN AND CARTER - RAM pump hydraulic (power free) pumps for irrigation, agriculture. The eco freindly solution to water transfer - by ram pump system.

greenandcarter.com

 

[popeye151]

Have you contacted Green & Carter in Somerset? They used to do a lot with ram pumps.

Green & Carter - Contact us

GREEN AND CARTER - RAM pump hydraulic (power free) pumps for irrigation, agriculture. The eco freindly solution to water transfer - by ram pump system.

greenandcarter.com

Yes u have. They're OK. Got all the parts. Was surprised at how expensive they were though

 

[popeye151]

I guess what I'm after is a running cost comparison by someone that uses papa/ram compared to mains

 

[Wisconsonian]

Yeah for sure. The old farmer before us added a tall (maybe 10ft) vertices pipe about halfway along our drive pipe and said it helps with the flow? Never really understood why...

It probably didn't help. Just because it still worked, didn't mean it helped.

If you don't have electricity, then a ram is a wonderful thing. As soon as solar became available, everybody saw how much easier electricity is than a ram.

 

[WPTglobal]

Hey there! Give us a call or drop an email, we'll be happy to discuss your options and if you already had an old ram pump it's likely we won't even need to come out to check the site 01288354454
[email protected] (Papa pumps)

 

[WPTglobal]

Also running costs for a Papa pump is virtually nothing. just a new set of rubber valves every few years and that's it, we even chuck in one spare set from the get go

 

[zero]

Yeah for sure. The old farmer before us added a tall (maybe 10ft) vertices pipe about halfway along our drive pipe and said it helps with the flow? Never really understood why. He's. Proper old school bodger type though so it might not be common practice. He'd recycle old clack calve washed and wear them down with an angle grinder till solf enough ! Got to give these old times respect

Think thats something to do with drive pipes are better in a straight line rather than following the bumps and hollows of the ground. One of our fields used to have various chambers in with expansion tanks because of this..

 

[zero]

This book explains the basics of water rams.