you can only abandon the ram pump if you find your pond is actually below your (stream) water source.. a siphon won't pump water to a higher elevation - so all the work you did in this video is very valuable to improve the problems you encountered!

I like the trick of getting an elevation with the drone. That’s a good idea! I would’ve never thought of that lol

Lol. My rule of thumb has become hurry up and do it wrong so you can get on to doing it right. Thank you for the knowledge brother. Strong work.

Great to see someone who knows what he doesn't know and admits it. That's a definite strength in man. We can all learn from eachother. Thanks for the video.

Ram pumps are a great way to fill tanks to water gardens with! Ram pumps are another piece of "forgotten" tech that was around before electricity and they can work day in, day out 24/7/365.

Adam it is pretty clear you're pumped about this project. I'll just let myself out.

Very nice 👍👍 watching from Jamaica 🇯🇲🇯🇲🇯🇲

Not a waste of time at all. As you said, you learned about the ram pump and so did many of us. Keep up the good work.

Thank you for the shout out! Your pump looks nice. Only change would be to move the unions in between the ball valves to keep the poly pipe full while you work. A siphon will be great to fill your pond! Remember a basic shopvac can pull the siphon over the hill.

using the drone is a crazy cool idea !!!

Have you considered putting a Schraeder valve on the top of the cylinder? A quick blast of air and reopen the inlet valve. No need to disassemble. Might be worth a try.

I still like that ram pump stuff! Now on to more learning with a siphon! Let the games begin.

Nice follow up. A ram pump is a cool gadget, but far cooler to find an even simpler, better solution. “For the simplicity on this side of complexity, I wouldn't give you a fig. But for the simplicity on the other side of complexity, for that I would give you anything I have.” ― Oliver Wendell Holmes

Word of caution when threading a male metal pipe into a PVC threading joint. The thermo expansion is different and can cause a failure over a relatively long period of time in the PVC female fitting.

Drone elevation check, Awesome! I was thinking use a long tube for water level check. You method uses less tube lol

Just found you....Awesome name by the way! Subbed :) I appreciate the Ram Pump Videos. I know you're going away from it, but if you decide to come back to them (or for anyone else reading this), here's a couple of thoughts... First: Under normal operation, the pressure tank doesn't suddenly get water logged and stop working. It is a slow, incremental process that, over time, causes the pump to stop working. What happens is basically with every cycle, the pump is becoming less and less efficient, pumping less and less volume, until eventually it just can't overcome the head and just stops. Draining it on a regular basis, instead of waiting for it to quit pumping, will keep the pump moving the most fluid it can. This can be done weekly or whatever schedule works for one's personal setup...With a setup like yours, where it can go for several months before stopping, then monthly service should work. I would suggest measuring it weekly to find out the best maintenance cycle. You can use any bucket you wish, if you have a scale. Water weighs approx 8.33 lbs (3780 grams) per gal. Second: Installing a bladder in the pressure tank will prevent this. These can be built (YT videos or google it) into the pressure tank you design, or you can go to your local well driller and purchase a small one from him...odds are, if he's been in business for any length of time, he has a used one someone upgraded from, or an old one from a past project that was too small. You can adjust the air pressure on it to what your system needs. These stay upright a lot easier and are pretty weather resistant...so long as they're drained every year, you can't really hurt them. Third: Not sure where you live, but if you get snow, your ground freezes. If your ground freezes and thaws, the gravel in a driveway will move around, and the more moisture there is in the ground, the more it will move during those cycles. It also moves around as it is driven on. These movements will cause the rocks/sand to apply friction to the water line. I would HIGHLY suggest running your water line through a piece of ABS, or at least PVC, where it goes under the drive way. Fourth and Final: Siphoning will flow more, and more consistently, so certainly do that if you can. But since it flows more, it can drain the creek much quicker too, and it didn't look like you had a ton of water in that one. If possible, I would suggest digging out a pool at least 3-4' deep in that creek so you can have a little bit of a buffer as the water's flow rate through the creek ebbs and gains. Thank you again, and God Bless!

The only way to learn is to break things or do things the wrong way. It's exciting to learn. Never feel bad about learning. You are a braver man than I am posting about it on KZfaq.

Honest dude about his skill level and learning. Admirable.

hey I'm 60 years old never even heard of one I appreciate both videos but , but I do understand plumbing real well and when you made the first one I said ought to put unions in there to be able to disconnect it a lot easier and I also would have put a drain for that head pressure cuz I built a lot of pumps of different kinds back in my younger days

I am surprised that there is not an app for elevation. I know GPS also shows elevation, so I would be shocked if there was no app. You have the absolute most organised tool drawer that I have ever seen. Foam cut outs for wrenches and all tools? PVC pieces to hang your hand power tools? I am impressed! New sub here.

@11:00 nice drone piloting, you're braver than I would be flying through those branches.

Learning new things all the time!! Like your manicure!! Jajajaja

Ah c'mon I just fell in love with ram pumps!! 🤣

I just wanted to say, you're one of very few KZfaq posters that don't insult or belittle the commenters. Infact you welcome suggestions. And I wanted to thank you. There is several channels I don't bother watching anymore with the way they insult the commenters they act cocky and like know it all's. And yet those same people that they're insulting is bringing them in the money through views and subscriptions. We all have our talents and abilities and expertise and if we would put them all together there is many problems that could be solved.

When I lived in east Africa in the 50s our 15,000 gallon rainwater storage was supplemented by a ram pump in the next valley, so the technology is not new. I never understood how they worked but your explanations have been very informative. I'm glad the ram has been superseded rather than abandoned due to any defects.

Not a waste at all. You learned new stuff and me also. I learned a lot stuff watching your KZfaq channel from last 3 years. I do a lot of my house stuff by my own. Got a lot electric tools.

All of the experience and education you learn can be used to help someone else besides yourself, so I got to learn how to make a ram pump even if you didn't need it.😊

Getting your siphon started with that long of a pipe can be a challenge. Best way I have found is to pump water from the outlet to fill the entire line. Have the inlet submurged. When air bubbles stop coming out the inlet, the line is full of water, disconnect the pump at the outlet and gravity will take over. Congratulations on the 100K subscibers. I really enjoy your channel because you are always trying something new and different, not just the same thing over and over. Also, you aren't afraid to show the things that don't work out as hoped and how you go about learning to do it a differnt way. Good job!!

100k, congrats! I came for the firewood years ago and have come to enjoy watching you do and learn new things.

great idea on the siphon just watch that you don't pull more water than the creek can supply

Now since you will have flowing water into the pond, just put a couple of inline water generators, and you can put lights around the pond, that will cost you nothing to keep them on. 😎👍

I am one that am glad you went through this exercise because I have never seen a ram pump in operation before. I didn't notice until I read someone's comment.... congrats on the 100k.

Cool build and great humility man. Have to give this a try. Thank you for investing your time and sharing your findings.

Very interesting!! Brilliant!! Congratulations on your subscribers!! You deserve twice that many, & they're coming!! God bless you and your family! 👍💖🙏

40-50 years or more in some cases and all different areas. It is smart to take advantage of that knowledge.

Congratulations on 100 thousand subscribers, Always up for learning new things!

Impressed with your endeavor and simplifying the mechanism. I’ll never too old to learn. May never use it, but I could always share it when it’s needed.

Ok bro do one thing use a hose from the hiest point of the creek to the pond then use foot valve on the creek side and ball walve on the pond side find the most elivated point of the hose pipe and fit a t coupling and ball valve then fill the entire hose with water, close the valve go to the pond side open the valve... Tadaaa u have gentle flow of water 😁😁😁

The wonders of youtube and being able to share information.

Use an airtight tote or barrel to create a self priming siphon. Two feed hoses at the top of the airtight barrel or tote one from the Ram Pump the other is just from the water source on the other side will be a valve and hose to your destination pond and on top of the container is a removable cap to let air out. fill the container with cap off to let air out. once full put cap on and the open the valve to let water flow to the pond which will start a natural siphon. keeping the line to the ram pump so you may reprime the system if you ever lose pressure. The hose leading to the pond must absolutely be the same size or smaller in diameter as the fill line if not you will slowly lose pressure and have to start again.

A siphon will likely need a reservoir at the creek end to ensure you don’t lose water input and suck air. Don’t be too quick to abandon the ram pump.

Yeah I'm glad you did these ram pump videos. These are some of the best ones. So, thanks!

Great video and attitude. Already keep learning new stuff!

so the problem is that the siphon draw will be so great it will immediately empty the creek side and stop. siphons empty stuff. you might need dig out a small bowl in the creek as storage, but even then it's going to be tricky to divert small creek flow consistently. you may want to turn it on during wetter season when flow is much greater than siphon flow.... my gut says that pond will fill naturally on its own, and that all this work to divert that little creek will be campfire chat one day. good luck 👍

Cool stuff... but that drone flying... through those trees and down to the creek water level... THAT'S IMPRESSIVE. Very nice.

With the siphon line I would prime the line from the pond side not the creek side. Put an air release at the apex and a valve at either end. Open air release, close creek valve pump water from pond until siphon is full so water is coming out air release and all air is out. Close air release and open valve in creek. If you find the flow is too high and drains creek pool use lower valve at pond to slow the flow, it won’t cause cavitation introducing air into the line.

You may be young, but you are wise and humble beyond your years. I enjoy your channel because your honesty and willingness to show what did and didn’t work. That you value the opinion of others who bring more experience to the table, is a rare quality in todays age of self-centered, entitled people.

This is a great project. I like to see the different problem solving approaches.

While a siphon might be more productive than the ram pump, BUT: - The stream looks like it'll almost dry up completely at some point during dry seasons. - When you lose the syphon and the line empties completely, you'll have to start the syphon all over again. - The ram pump as you've currently set it up, only requires an occasional check of the air chamber. Yes, you may get more water volume with a syphon but you'll be at the mercy of the stream's flow. If you suck the source pool dry with the syphon, you'll be having to re-prime the syphon when the water returns. I'd stick with the ram pump.

Every maple farmer watching can feel your pain on this. We've all been here. Also, I recommend stainless maple tubing mainline fittings. They have a smaller wall thickness. They will take up less of your I.D and increase your flow. Once the ram pump gets you primed - switch over to a siphon feed line. I have enough stuff in my shop/store to get what you need. An experienced maple farmer would be your best friend on this project, Adam. They have toys and tools for tubing you could only dream of... I have a similar setup. But I cheat! I'd be happy to help you. Mike Morgan or Joe at Ohio Woodburner could connect us. Congrats on 100k!

Thank you for uploading this, the drone usage makes my wanting to get one, a heck of a lot more useful than just...fun. This entire project has been fascinating.

As the old saying goes”you learn something new everyday. Good video

Hey thanks. I'm Proud of you showing us how to make this work. Great job

It's easy to drain the water out of the air chamber. You simply install a Schrader valve in its top. Every so often just use a bike tire pump to push air in and water out.

Just put a loop in the pipe after the check valve. Will create air gap to allow for compression. Get rid of the pressure tank all together. If the creek ever runs dry for a bit your siphon will stop, with the ram pump it will always move water when available. Granted the siphon will move more but it is not a set it and forget it. You can set the ram pump and come back 20 years later and it will still be running.

Let me give you some advice that I found by accident. Years ago, I was hand digging a well for garden use. I got down to around 7 feet, it came a strong rain storm, and it filled my well with rain water. I needed to drain my hole in order to start digging again, I hooked up a pump, lost power, and the siphon kept on happening…with a hole that was 7’ deep and an over all fall that was 4’ (with a 3’ differential that most people would think a siphon would be impossible. If the amount of water that you want to siphon (when the downhill is less than the uphill, as long as you can create more downhill weight in water, you can siphon water uphill. You could probably take a transit, zigzag your pipe down to the pond, and as long as all of that zig-zagged pipe is going down hill, you can create suction. The more water weight that you can create going downhill, the more suction that you will create at the spring source. The more suction that you create at the spring source, the more water that you will have coming out at your pond. I hypothesize that if you were able to use a transit, have all of your pipe going down hill, and increase the length of your downhill pipe by twice, you could increase the amount of water that you are siphoning by twice the amount. Maybe ten or more gallons per minute. I, though have been able to siphon water uphill.

*I'll have to look for follow up vid, but one thing that comes to mind is supply flow, is there enough water to handle an increased draw. Breaking a siphon of that distance would be a huge PITA!*

Quick connects inlet and outlet,drive some rerod,4 pieces, put a 6 or 8 "hose clamp around the rerod w/the pressure tank coming up through the hose clamp,easy peasy,no need for wood or anything,just un do the hose clamp,and quick connects

Great outlook on your experience

With the siphon, you'll have to be careful that the flow rate of the creek at your inlet point is greater than the amount you'll be draining from it. Otherwise it will break the siphon and you'll have to start it up again.

A few points here. Why is a drone so special for measuring heights? ANY GPS device will be able to read a height to the same accuracy, even your phone (with the right app). An outdoor hand-held GPS has a more sensitive antenna and will work better then even your drone especially under tree cover. A professional D-GPS unit will measure to fractions of an inch in accuracy instantly once set up, but a more basic GPS can be set to take an averaged reading that is actually very accurate, it just takes a little longer. A syphon may work, but will it work too well? You don't want to exceed your creek's inflow rate, or you'll end up losing prime on the syphon and will have to wait for the creek to catch up and restart the syphon. In an ideal world, your pressure container CAN NOT become "water logged". If water is getting in, that means air MUST be getting out. Find the source of that "leak" and the water will only enter the tank under pressure and only as so far as the pressure differential allows. You could of course always cheat, fill the pressure container with a few lightly filled balloons (just above the highest local ambient air pressure). The water can still compress the balloons, but it's much harder to get water inside if those balloons.

could add a intertube to the stop the presure valve from getting water logged . great video thank you .

A simple pole with a wire would keep the pump straight up. And you could put a barrel on a hole at the side of the creek, open a canal so the creek could fill the barrel, and use the water weight in the barrel to feed the pump. But yes, siphoning the water maybe is the best solution. Nice videos, found your channel by chance. Greeting from Brazil.

bro, there's dome really great Israeli quick connectors that have cams and tabs for tool free pulling your pump out... but that will work as well. Redwood is at home in water. but that white oak will last a long time. good job, I love seeing creative homesteading! 👍

The material the drive pipe is made of impacts the pressure of the water hammer. Any stretchiness in the drive pipe will reduce the pressure of the hammer. Highest input pressure is achieved with steel pipe since it does not stretch during the hammer.

Using a 4 way pipe connection directly under the pressure chamber would allow you to add 2 stabilizer feet . If made approximately 2 feet long. It would never tip over. You could make the stabilizer feet off the 4 way as long as you wanted.

You might be able to boil your wood pcs in a bucket with a little canning wax, to make it more water proof. They do that with wood carved kitchen ware items. Just some thoughts !

CONGRATULATIONS ON THE 100K SUBS!!!!!!

By the way ,what I know for sure it's true the quantity of water will be significantly larger and if you will choose to use the "drum" or barel of 200 l solution ,the outlet pipe must be larger than the inlet pipe which has to have at the end a foot valve and at the end of outlet use a reduction equal or slightly smaller than the inlet pipe.Also on the outlet pipe I saw the Vietnamese, are using a pressure chamber -as the one you used at the ram pomp- I don't know the measurements for and if you because you have a big distance to cover,you have to use one or more of it! Success and keep us posted! I forgot use a tap at the and of the outlet pipe before the reduction,and fill with water the hole system before....but I think you know how the syphoning method works! Open the end faucet slowly,I saw a video with a barel crushed by the suction force like a can of soda! I edited four times ...I remember things gradually!...and excuse my English I hope I made myself understood!

Set a flow valve at the pond and don't over draw your source at the creek. Otherwise your line will run dry. Great stuff. Thanks.

And you're also a viral KZfaq maker 100,000 views for something that didn't work I love it keep it up❤

Adam, Congratulations on the 100k milestone! I’ve been here since you told Mike Morgan that he cost you a lot of money, Lol! Enjoying every video that you post! The ram pump was not a waste of time at all as others have mentioned. Like the drone idea. Good luck with the upcoming siphon project and the pond filling! Keep up the great videos! On to 200k! Cheers Harry

Congratulations on 100,000. Had never heard of ram pumps. Apparently you can teach an old dog new tricks.

In the pressure tube, the air slowly dissolves in the water, so it needs to be refreshed. A compressed air fitting is the quickest way, although it can be disassembled and drained of the water.

I am glad the syphon works for you, but a restriction valve to limit the flow might be needed. The system could draw too much water from the creek causing air to enter the system and the need to restart. Also put some ant seize on the threads of the pipe couplings (not the seal area) this will make your assembly/disassembly a lot easier.

If you put an air bladder in your pressure tank it would in theory work constantly without the worry of water getting in and off setting the balance. All hydrostatic water tanks have bladders for this same purpose.

You could put a bypass on your ram pump for after you get the water up the hill.

Congrats on your 100k subscribers Adam !

I had no idea what a ram pump was prior to this, so thanks for educating the both of us. Another great video!

Thumbs up for sharing old school idea. One suggestion I want to share is you can also check elevation of your property and surrounding properties using GIS Mapping. This tool can be found free of charge.

Thanks for the update on the ram pump!! Keep up the awesome job!! Stay Hydrated and Have a Safe Day

Just in case you haven’t thought of it, because a siphon will pump more water faster, you will need to make sure that the small creek pond that you are drawing from can keep up with the demand. Great video.

Good man. You adjust and adapt to new information and more efficient ideas. Dad told me: "Watch and listen to your big brothers and don't repeat their mistakes." So I did. I repeated some of their mistakes hahaahahaha.

Adam You do very nice work. A comment on you Ram Pump Issue Your Head tank is saturating over time because the gas(air) is being absorbed into the water therefore you must drain the vessel periodically. Your installed drain is correct, but will not drain the tank as configured! You need to add a 'Vent Valve' to the top of the tank in order to properly drain the chamber. If not - it will not drain! As Air cannot enter the chamber to purge the water. Just like holding liquid in a straw by holding you finger over the top = it will not drain, You may realize this the first time you attempt to purge the vessel or you may not the fix is simple - add a vent valve to the top of the tank. I would not abandon the Ram Pump because you can use it to prime the siphon which you may have to do periodically. or at least seasonally. Also realize the larger the diameter (within reason) of the siphon line the greater the flow rate exponential as the flow of a 2" line will be significantly greater than 1.0" and this can be easily calculated.

Keep your ram pump and make a bypass connection around it. Then close the bypass and use the ram pump to fill and prime your water line, then open your bypass. Presto, a siphon starter.

Very informative, thanks for sharing !!

You can put an air pump valve from a bicycle tire into the pressure tank make sure to seal it, every so often just hit it with an air pump, what I did for my water solution. also built a frame out of pvc pipe and had 4, 6" spikes built into the bottom of the frame also pvc and hammered those into the ground. Very stable and once a month pump the tank and it maintains great pressure

You can avoid water logging by installing an inner tube inside the pressure chamber when you assemble it. Very little air pressure in the tube is needed. Great video.

Add another small valve to the top of the tank to allow air to enter when draining. Also, if you use PVC unions you won't need tools to disconnect.

I'm seeing cautions about not overdrawing the capacity of the stream pool, which will be a factor. Perhaps a restrictor on the outlet end would help control flow and not break the suction by introducing air at the inlet. I totally loved learning about the ram pump. Never knew they existed (I'm a city kid). Keep up the great work!

Priming that siphon will be a challenge. Ram pump is set it and forget it and will run as long as there is water in the stream. Loss of flow rate makes up for the ease of operation. But it’s not my pond. :). Learned a lot watching your challenges!

you can always put a air valve stem on the top of the pressure tank. then you dont halfto worry about disconnecting to drain it, you can just use some compressed air to purge the water from the tank.

Very clever how you determined the grade vs the creek. Also thanks for all the great lessons from you and neighbor Doug!

Thanks for sharing your experience and look forward to the next one

one other way to get relative elevations is the water pipe. a piece of tubing or hose filled with water will have the water at either end at the same elevation. Of course, this requires you to have a hose long enough to begin with, but useful for smaller projects

That was very interesting, thank you for educating us!

Enjoyed the video, it is most relevant to my situation. I am also into promoting zero fuel cost, zero carbon emission water lifting technologies for the good of the people and the planet

Put a partially inflated innertube in the pressure tank. Captive air in a flexible bag. Or put a sipper valve in to sip air.

Dill a hole in the top of the tank and put a tire valve in the hole with bead sealer. Then you can just use a hand air pump to add pressure back to the tank when needed with out taking it apart.

Can use a hose and a couple pipes with water to get elevation difference since you already have a line run between.