THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



301 



stuff. The whole wheel is easily raised and lowered 

 by one man by means of double pulleys and a windlass 

 with long spokes, seen to the left of the center of the 

 picture. 



The main driving pulley is nailed to the spokes of 

 the wheel, and is seven feet in diameter. A 1%-inch 

 rope runs over this pulley, carrying the power to a 28- 

 inch pulley on a countershaft. The driver on the coun- 

 tershaft is ten feet in diameter and is connected by a 

 %-inch rope to a pulley at the pump, which can be ad- 

 justed from eleven inches to a larger size, as speed re- 

 quires. The pump shaft revolves thirty-two times to 

 each revolution of the water wheel. The pump raises 

 water forty-eight feet, and at full speed discharges 

 one-third of a cubic foot per second. When the river is 

 low much less is pumped. 



The cost of the wheel was $40 to $50 for materials, 

 or, counting the owner's time in construction, say $70 

 to $75. Of this cost $20 was for a steel shaft. The 

 cost of the pump was not given, but was probably $75 

 to $85. The entire plant may have cost $200. It suc- 

 cessfully irrigates eighteen acres in fruit and alfalfa, 

 the land being valued at $20 per acre. The annual ex- 

 pense for rope, oil, and repairs is nearly $20. 



In the lower Payette Ditch, in Idaho, are eight 

 wheels, used to run pumps. One of these plants is here 

 described as an example of a well-built and expensive 

 outfit, which is, however, eminently successful. The 

 plan and construction of the wheel are shown in Figs. 

 18 and 19. The wheel is connected by chain and 

 sprocket to a 3-piston, 5-inch pump, which forces the 

 water through 1,800 feet of 4%-inch pipe to the upper 

 side of the owner's ranch, thirty feet above the canal. 

 The pump has three parallel pistons connected to ec- 

 centrics on the same shaft, so arranged that each piston 

 in turn comes into action. The cost of the plant was 

 as follows : 



5-inch trible a:ction pump $165 



3-inch steel shaft, 18 feet long 35 



3 castiron flanges, 3 feet diameter 30 



2 boxings for main shaft 



Castiron sprocket, gear wheels, and chains 115 



Lumber 60 



1,800 feet of 4%-inch galvanized iron pipe 274 



Labor . 50 



galvanizcd-iron buckets, as shown in the illustration. 

 The lower sprocket wheels are thirty-two inches in 

 diameter, set on a 3-inch shaft. The upper sprockets 

 are twenty-one inches in diameter on a 1%-inch shaft. 

 The sprockets are set eighteen inches apart and the dis- 

 tance between shafts is twenty feet. The cost of the 

 outfit was given as about $250. Of this amount the 

 chain cost $75 and the buckets $20. Estimating the 

 four sprocket wheels at $10 each, the two shafts at 

 $12.50, and the four boxings at $4.50 each, the cost of 

 the lifting apparatus without the wheel was about $145. 

 The owner found No. 77 chain too light and recom- 

 mended heavy gear throughout for the constant service 

 required. 



A simple application of chain-and-bucket gear to 

 current wheels is suggested in figure 21. The power is 

 transmitted by a rope to one of the shafts in this case 



6 



Total $737 =g^^^ 



Of this cost only about $120 is for the wheel. No 

 attention other than daily oiling is required. As the 

 plant was put in in 1903, no repairs have as yet been 

 necessary. The anmial cost for maintenance should 

 fall below $10. 



The amount of water raised is about 3 cubic foot 

 per second, which is used to irrigate twenty-seven acres 

 in fruit. Water is applied 145 days, making the total 

 depth of irrigation in the season almost exactly three 

 feet. The orchard of 2,500 young trees prunes, ap- < 

 pies, and pears should, when older, yield an annual *- 

 crop worth $5,000. 



CHAIN-AND-BUCKET GEARS. 



A water elevator of the chain-and-bucket type is 

 shown in Plate IV. It is run by a 5-foot overshot wheel 



of ordinary construction, but since it is equally adapt- N ^/_^Ir^ -?^=^-=-^^ 



able to current wheels, it is of interest in their dis- gggsgsJIsir^pSiil-isjrigiJs 

 The elevator consists of two endless chains = 



cussion. 



running over sprocket wheels, each chain carrying twelve 



Fig. 1. Diagrams of Current Wheels with Paddles Set at Various Angles. 



