Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Moveable pump for remote fire fighting?

Friends:

I have a lot of what I need to set up a little used trailer to pump and haul water: A trailer, a tote, and a couple 2 cycle motors motors, both Briggs & Stratton: One is about 11 hp and the other is about 3 HP.

What I'd like to do is mount the tote on the trailer and use one of the two motors to suck up water (like from a stream or a stock tank) and fill the tote. Then drive off to where I need to use the water: like for fire fighting: I'd like it to power a hose to send the water under pretty good pressure up 30 feet or so (i.e. the height of my remote deer cabin).

Not sure what pump(s) to use. Can one pump do both tasks? What do I look for in a pump? I guess I'll need to get a hose setup as well.

Any help appreciated!

Only input i can add.

Centripetal pumps push better than they suck.
Fought that battle in mud pits.

Farmers do something like that here when doing field work and it's really dry. Fire department is only minutes away when seconds count. They'll fill the tank before leaving and haul it out to where they are harvesting (or whatever) in case they strike up a fire. So I'm thinking is it really important to be able to refill in the field?

Hose diameter and length are crucial to knowing your nozzle pressure. The bigger and longer the hose the more pump pressure you’ll need. If I was truly worried about fighting a fire or if I lived in a remote forested “danger zone” I would seriously consider buying a used tanker or pumper truck. Used fire engines don’t cost as much as some people think and they’ve usually been meticulously maintained. I know guys that bought used ones and leased them to the forest service when there was a fire, which is inevitable around here. They made a killing...

We have some friends who live outside a small mountain town in central WA. They're vulnerable to fires so when a nearby town was buying a new firetruck, they managed to latch on to the old one for a very low price. It has 1000 gal tank, or maybe bigger, I'm not sure, and runs pretty good. He drives it enough to blow the cobwebs out on occasion and keeps the tank filled during the fire season.

Chances are pretty good that somebody fairly near to you that is involved with forestry operations will have examples of fire fighting "skid units" or "fast attack skid units". They are typically a self contained water tank, pump, and hose reel designed to slip into the cargo bed of a utv or pickup truck. Have also heard them called skidder tanks many years ago. If you can locate someone that has an example take a look at the pump and hose setup to see what you might adapt to your trailer. You might find them with US Forest Service, whatever the Georgia State forest service is called, with private paper companies that have their own woodlands, lumbering operations, and the like.

Also, you really only need one pump as long as it can draw water from a source to fill your tank, and has sufficient pressure and flow for spraying. Again, check what type of pumps the pros use. I'd expect it needs to be able to handle some "trash" if you pull water from a pond or stream. Forestry supply companies like Ben Meadows sell them. You don't have to buy from a place like that, but their info could help you figure out what type of pump would work.

A Pacer "trash pump" will do what you want.
You may need a foot valve on the intake hose.
https://www.bing.com/search?q=pacer%20trash%20pump&qs=ds&form=QBRE

Northern Tool & Equipment is a good source for everything needed, I've used them for years.

Link

Short of having a vehicle with a PTO mounted pump, a skid mounted unit would be best. Build a manifold with multiple ball valves for pick up from multiple sources.

Before spending a bunch of money, figure out what volume you'll need and size of hose to match. A small diesel if you can find one would be best.

This might help in getting a basic idea, fighting fires water gets used up fast:

Link

Just for small spot fires 150-200 GPM with 500 to 1,000 gal tanks.



Phil

https://www.boydsequipment.com/c/56961/farm-ranch/sprayers-parts-and-pumps/skid-sprayers

I bought one of these this spring after spending nearly a year trying to put together a similar plan to yours with a coup,e of totes. Finally decided these guys had it figured out. Not that much more than I would have spent to purchase the same quality parts. Only thing I don’t like is not easy to drain pump in wi ter.

Yeah, one pump could do both tasks.

Not a bad way to do it really....I see a lot of similar set ups around here.


A tote is a handy way to haul some water around....and has a good connection size.



Typically a fire pump that will also draft water is going to be a centrifugal.

You will need a hard line with a foot valve if you want to draft though.

A hand primer will make the process smoother.



A 2 inch "pacer" pump as described above could serve okay as well. Just know that they are pretty weak with anything less than a inch hose.

I have not used a roller type pump for this purpose so cant speak to that.



It will be tough to get a set up that will do all your jobs well....and cheaply.

And....don't forget water is heavy, a little over 8 lbs per gallon, so if you want to haul a tank of water on a trailer you can run into weight limits.

A tank without baffles can play hell on a small vehicle at any speed over 10 mpg. Remember, just 100 gallons of water is 850 lbs.

As mentioned above, it seems most pumps push better than they pull. A pump that you can place on the ground is better than one fixed on a trailer. Another thing to look into, is where do local farmers buy water? In some rural areas there are places where you can affordably buy water. Where I'm from in a farming area, you can buy water at the local rural fire station. You drive your tank up under the spout, put in a few quarters and the water turns on dispensing in my case 300 gallons for a buck. That beats the heck out of pumping it from some stream or pond.