It’s been quite a while since I’ve updated this project. That’s primarily because the hoist has been working hard since the last post pulling and setting pumps and getting people water! There have been a few additions since the last post to improve usability.
First is the refurbishment and installation of the hydraulic wire reel. This is just a simple spool driven by an adjustable hydraulic motor that manages the wire coming out of the well. The adjustment lets you control the amount of “pull” the reel exerts. So when pulling a pump it will roll up the slack in the wire, but not actually pull hard enough to lift the pump. This frees us up to pay attention to pipe and pump itself and the reel keeps the wire neatly spooled as the pump comes up.
It took us a little while to understand the rather complicated hydraulic circuit that’s runs it, but once we figured that all out and replaced the hoses it works quite well.
Next up is a simple rack to hold spools of new wire to go down the wells. In most cases, if you’re replacing a pump, it is best to put new wire down the well along with it. Having to pull the pump again because some old wire that was reused failed ends up costing a lot more than just putting the new wire down when the pump is out. These reels hold a couple spools of new wire and feed it through a roller fairlead right along with the pump. The front of the rack extends to position the wire to feed easily down the well.
Lastly, but definitely not least, is this tilting pipe rack.
The tilt lets us easily reach the lengths of pipe from the ground as they go into the well, or the reverse as they come out. This keeps things a lot cleaner as pipe never lays on the ground. The rack pivots up and locks into a horizontal position for transport with a large, custom machined pin and is split into 2 sections for old and new pipe. Much like the wire, the pipe is often replaced if it’s old or subpar when replacing a pump. There is also a flip up “tailgate” that keeps the pipe in place that isn’t shown in this pic.
You can also see some of the other things that have been added, like the welder, for attaching wellhead extensions; the tool boxes, for holding all the tools and parts needed; and bucket rack for carrying a few buckets for trash and cleanup. The Cyclone rig is working on a daily basis, but still keeps evolving to do the job more efficiently, effectively, and neatly.
I hope you’ve enjoyed following this project along with us. I know we did get a few emails from folks with similar rigs and I hope we were able to help with your own restorations or repairs. Stay tuned for more projects (hint: 1950s percussion well drilling rig maybe?) and other updates.