We Found Water For The Pond - Hydraulic Ram Pump

If you don’t want to buy all the individual pieces for your own ram pump like we did, you can buy an already assembled pump on Amazon with the link below www.amazon.com/shop/hometownacres

Thanks for mentioning us! We are very happy that your pump is working and were more than happy to help you.

This is easily my favorite project of yours and love the updates on what you're doing and where that pond is at

Thank you for this well explained video of ram pump. Priceless. With no out of pocket ongoing expense. Thank you.

I love those Ram pumps. Amazing ingenuity. Great job, Adam.

Hi Adam! Great project! Ram pumps are amazing and you’ve got me think of an application for one. Thanks for sharing!

I never new that pump existed. Pretty amazing. Great solution for extra water to the pond.

Great job Adam. Impressive system. Simple and it works. Always best to keep it simple.

Can't wait to see your update. Thanks for sharing about your project. We're learning a lot from your experience, as we're about to dig our own.

Great video Adam! This ram pump technology is absolutely amazing. I learned something new today. Thanks and keep up the great videos.

It’s worth a shot to try! With evaporation and soil percolating it’s going to be interesting. Give us monthly updates!

Very nice video, we love to see the increasing awareness of ram pumps!

I'm surprised we don't hear more about this kind of ingenuity. Good job.

Hi Adam, great video. I have a smaller ram pump, 1/2”, I use to irrigate my garden with. I fill a 55 gallon drum that then overflows back to the stream. I use a battery powered automatic ball valve to supply my drip irrigation. Unfortunately my little creek won’t support a larger pump, but it still works. I initially I built a 1” drive/1/2” out pump that works in the spring, but I don’t have enough water flow in the summer to run it. You were correct about the air in your driveline when you started. Also no discharge back pressure will effect it. You can throttle closed on the discharge valve until the line is filled. Then open up the discharge valve. Mine is all plastic accept for the swing check. Also I have my check valves swapped from your positions. I didn’t have to modify the spring check valve to make it work. After four summers, I’ve just have to replace the swing check valve every year. I’ve never checked my flow, but it’s a pencil stream. My issue is that I’m only lifting the water about 10’. So for it to work properly, I have to keep the discharge valve throttled. In my driveline, I put a bucket as a silt trap in addition to the intake screen. I put the water in bucket about 2/3rds of up the side of the bucket. Then tapped off the side of the bucket at the top to feed the pump. If we get heavy rain it usually stops the pump. I just dump the bucket over to empty it. Then just let it refill the bucket, reprime/restart the pump, and it’s off and running. After the initial investment, mine has been pretty cheap to keep going. I just pull it and and pipe for the winter. I drain it and hang it on the shed wall. Also to fasten it in the creek, I drove a tee post in the ground. I then bought large hose clamps and fasted the pump to the tee post. Great video and explanations. I’m glad this works for you. Have a good day!

Pretty awesome, good you figured this out, hope it lasts long! Never heard of something like this before!

Your ingenuity is absolutely amazing. I think it's pretty cool too.

And you are capturing water that would otherwise be lost down stream. Bravo! I like it. Thanks. :washhands:

Super cool system you came up with Adam....never heard of one like that, but definitely going to look into doing the exact same thing on my property. FYI you should be able to get replacement valve components for your IBC tote from the hardware store and that will allow you to avoid another hole in the tank.....just run the line from the bottom valve out to your pond!

Nice video. Setting it up so that the outflow pipe is continuous from the pump to the pond should work fine and increase the flow a bit. I don't think that you will get a siphon condition anyway because the flow isn't enough to fill the outflow pipe. My Dad first encountered a hydraulic ram pump in 1929 when he was a kid at Boy Scout camp. He was fascinated by it so then he researched about them. He taught me about them in the 1950s and then I learned again in the 1970s from Mother Earth News Magazine. Adding a little more weight to the overflow check valve should increase the flow. Good Luck, Rick

Physics - so fun! We always enjoy your high-speed walking edits. Nice project, Adam.