Rife Ram Pump

Today we revisited an ongoing project.  I mentioned it multiple times last August... beginning here.

But for those of you unwilling to read last year's entries, here's a quick refresher...

Our Mesa Pasture has no live water on it.  Well, it does... but it comes from 500' deep Otter Creek Canyon.  In the 1940's, Greets installed a Rife Ram pump, which pumps water to the top of the pasture, using no electricity.

It has served well and faithfully for 70 years, but is now beginning to wear out and give us fits!  No water for your livestock is NOT GOOD, and we installed a pump and generator to help the Ram out whenever it was needed.  

Today we went to the Bottom of the World to put the Ram back together, replacing again some gaskets and bolts.

I am amazed at the engineering... and I don't really understand it all... but the idea is impressive.



Rife doesn't keep this size on hand anymore... it'd be a custom order to replace this.  It'd take lots of dollar bills too!

Hmmm...

Sorry folks, only a third of the way into my post and it's not letting me load photos.

No photos.

No story.

This stinks.

I'd stay up and fight with the internet, but I have to get up early to move cows... and then bake a cake for Brandon's 21st birthday.  So I'm going to throw in the towel, and hope you can return tomorrow for the Rest of the Story! 

I'm so sorry... but I don't know how to win this fight!

I'll even throw in a short video clip tomorrow to ease your pain!







Posted by Carol at 8/9/2010 7:33 PM
Categories: Ranchlife
Tags: history Wyoming ranch
 

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  • 8/10/2010 7:27 AM Ginny wrote:
    A big hooray for the try.
    Reply to this
  • 8/10/2010 7:31 PM Grace wrote:
    I'm a newer reader (although I've probably gone back several months to catch up) so I'm not really clear on the whole purpose/routine of the ranch. Do you take the cows out in the morning to a certain place, then bring them back in the afternoon? Where do they spend the nights? How do you have time to do other things like welding and farming? Which cows do you usually sell and which ones do you keep every year? How many cows do you have? How much land do you own and cover daily?

    Please tell me if these questions have already been answered.
    Reply to this
  • 8/10/2010 7:39 PM Grace wrote:
    Gah! Ignore some of my ruder questions. I just read a little farther back and realized how rude some of them are. I'm really, really sorry.
    Reply to this
    1. 8/10/2010 9:31 PM Carol wrote:
      Grace, that's OK!    Those are the questions that most people ask!  It's kind of a generational thing... so don't worry about it!  We have enough land that cows just (supposedly) stay in the pastures we move them to... there's no moving them everyday!  Too many cows, too long of distance, too big of pastures to do that!  We'd never get any other work done!  Hang in here, read some older things... and I've got a question and answer entry coming up... that'll give me a chance to answer more of your questions!
      Reply to this
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