This pump sits near Highway 54, along the outskirts of
Hammondsport, N.Y. The last time I saw it while passing through the
area, it was complete and restorable. How long it’s been sitting in
its outdoor retirement home, I don’t know. It is an estimated
1930s-vintage water pump built by who knows, but one of the tags on
this rig says, “Army Corps of Engineers.”
It has a 6-cylinder Hercules engine that I believe is gasoline,
but it may be a diesel – it’s been long enough I can’t recall for
sure. It is directly coupled to the pump which has a 6-inch intake
and outlet for the water. The steel wheels are 4 feet in diameter
and the faces are about 8 inches wide. It appears that the eye hook
on the top side of the unit was possibly there for a helicopter to
place it in remote areas, but since I was told by the owner this
pump weighs in at 6 tons dry, I would question the helicopter
theory.
Martin Zirger
Tiffin, Ohio
basco@bright.net