THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



341 



acre. So great is the disadvantage of a high lift that, 

 unless the value of water for irrigation is very high, 

 the building of large direct-lift wheels is not to be 

 recommended. 



There are two large wheels in the Columbia Eiver 

 at Ellensburg, Wash., which discharge into one flume, 

 both being the property of one man. Though of the 

 crudest construction, they irrigate forty acres of land. 

 Their chief claim to interest is their great size, one 

 forty-two and the other thirty feet in diameter, and 

 extremely low cost, one having cost the builder in cash 

 $10 and the other $7.50. There is almost no iron work 

 about them, the only money paid out being for nails 

 and the lighter lumber. The heavy parts are built of 

 drift logs and odd timbers. This low cost, as esti- 

 mated by the builder, shows the difficulty in estimating 



used which cross the arms and support the paddles. 

 Each paddle is made of two 24-inch boards set at a 

 wide angle with each other. As is shown in the draw- 

 ing, the angle is such that the paddle leares the water 

 in a vertical position, with no tendency to throw water. 



The form of the buckets is also commendable. 

 They are carefully designed to clear the bottom of the 

 flume and the edge of the discharge trough, and to 

 take in no more water than can be carried to the top 

 without spilling. The entire construction requires 500 

 feet o flumber. The shaft is very heavy (215 pounds), 

 but not nearly so heavy as the two castings which, ac- 

 cording to the drawing, must weigh 800 pounds each, 

 making the entire wheel with the buckets weigh about 

 4,000 pounds. 



The wheel is substantial, but is unnecessarily heavy 



Stole 2"-!' 



WOOD SHAFT 



" * TTT- I "drip h*le 



Bt/CffCT M ohe 2B 



#"-'' 



tion A~B. Showing arms passing tAreuffi axes 



Arms taper 5* at but. -*" at tip 'Selected pine 



. Block jet gf 45*angff to 

 guide ot/fffeififig water 



DETAILS OF 

 SHAFT. ARMS AND 

 BUCKETS 



Showing manner of fastening 

 arms to Otis " ' 



Fig. 17. Details of Wheel Shown in Fig. 14. 



the probable cost of reproducing any certain style of 

 wheel. The necessary expenditure depends very largely 

 on the ingenuity of the builder. The water is carried 

 in two siphons under pressure to avoid a high flume. 

 The upper flume was built on account of the great 

 difficulty encountered in keeping the lower flume tight 

 under a pressure of thirty feet. The pressure on the 

 upper flume is about twelve feet. 



DESIGN BY A MINING ENGINEER. 



The wheel shown in Plate II, Fig. 2, and in Fig. 

 11 is in use in Fresno, Cal., for the irrigation of about 

 twelve acres of shade trees and oranges. It is pat- 

 terned after a design by a mining engineer, and as in 

 some respects an admirable and efficient type of cur- 

 rent wheel. It is sixteen feet in diameter, raising water 

 twelve feet. The stiff heavy rims found in most wheels 

 are entirely absent, and instead a series of braces is 



and expensive. Admitting the necessity of a rigid cen- 

 ter fastening, a disk of ^4-inch boiler iron would serve 

 nearly every purpose of the heavy casting. This wheel 

 could be reproduced the same size but made with 1-inch 

 and %-inch material, with an iron pipe for a shaft, 

 for less than half the cost. Under favorable conditions 

 the Fresno wheel raises 0.5 cubic foot per second to 

 a height of twelve feet. A lighter wheel would do 

 more work. 



$2.50 will secure for you one year's subscription to THE 

 IRRIGATION AGE and a finely bound volume of the Primer 

 of Irrigation which will be sent postpaid in a few months, 

 when volume Is completed. The Primer of Irrigation will be 

 finely Illustrated and will contain about 300 pages. Send post 

 office or express money order for $2*50 and secure copy of first 

 edition. 



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