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Tell us about yourself:“I'm a semi-retired small business owner with experience as a firefighter when younger. I enjoy designing and building things, wood and metalworking, motorcycle riding, hunting and fishing.”
Some projects seem to come together fairly quickly. Need to store a massive amount of water? Ok, first you need some type of reservoir. Want to use that water somewhere? A high capacity water pump and lots of hose will do the trick. How do you make it all mobile? That’s when a flatbed trailer comes into play. John found nearly everything he needed to haul water for watering trees and plants, to a construction zone, or for use as an emergency fire quencher should the need arise.
Great project, John! Thanks for sharing it with us!
What is it? It’s a trailer, equipped with a Honda powered fire pump system. It is used to irrigate shelterbelt tree lines and garden areas on a large acreage. Also used a fire protection on the same acreage, as we are in an area susceptible to grass fires. Also used to move water from one location to another on the acreage for building projects (concrete, etc.)
What is the main power source for your project? (e.g. electric motor, gas engine etc.) The main power source is the Honda gas powered high-pressure fire pump.
How do you control your project? (e.g. hydraulic control valve(s), electric switches etc.) Manual water control valves and nozzles.
What design/build challenges were overcome? Being an advanced hobby fabricator and designer, as well as former firefighter, the design of the system was quite straight forward, aside from sourcing the parts required. I had a great time building it.
The most challenging aspect was to design the distribution manifold to give me the most versatility in applying water. The ability to run a fire nozzle directly off the manifold while still having enough water volume to operate a smaller hose at the same time was a desired design feature. This works perfectly with volume/pressure to spare.
If you had to build it again, what would you do differently? Possibly use a larger trailer to accommodate a bigger tank. With the exception of the PVC tank, PVC piping for the distribution manifold and two other fittings, everything including the trailer came from Princess Auto. With all parts on hand build time was about 6 hours. Gathering the exact parts I wanted did take a few weeks.
I have not had to modify it as it worked as designed and desired from the beginning. The only addition has been to screw two wooden 2x4 cleats to the deck to help secure the tank from moving under the straps on rough ground. The only change if I were to build it again would be a bigger water tank and that would require a tandem axle trailer for the extra weight. The 400 gallon capacity has been good, but in some instances bigger is better. Though at this size I can move it with any of my vehicles. It has been a great asset.
Which Princess Auto location do you visit most?Lethbridge, Alberta