Vintage Windmill and Wind Generator Forum

We make some 18 ft rods for a few customers. We make some 7 ft rods for some also. Because they will ups. Freight on the longer rods has gotten pretty high. There are only a few carriers that will even haul it.

There is a lot of 1/2 and 5/8 steel Rod sold down in South Texas. That will probably end up making in the next year or so. Some of our customers have complained about freight from up north.

Ron , thank you for sharing the technical aspects for setting a well . Out on a repair call on a ranch 3 hours from the hardwear store and you need one more coupler to complete the job .

Freight companies have gone the way of airlines on how they price. Last month, I got a close 2000# pallet of solar panels. Freight out of the manufacturer Mission Solar in San Antonio was $200 higher than the same out of a CA warehouse. It was about the same distance so that was not a factor. As far as shipping out, I dont even bother quoting anymore. Everybody waits until I have a trip that way.

The Navajo Rez uses what is called airtight. Ends are like glass ends but more heavier duty and the ends are welded to 3/4" pipe. Properly welded, they are air tight and buoyant. No guides are used. They have sets down to 1000'. It seems to work well. Not sure where it is sourced, they provide all materials on the contracts there.

The airtight rods are probably coming from Aermotor. We actually make the couplings that they weld on the pipe for them. And we have made some for Williams Windmill also. You talking about solar stuff. We have developed a prototype for a solar pumpjack.

Fifteen years ago, we did separate windmill and solar installation checklists. That has kept forgotten parts at bay.

We have some interest in the pumpjack. We have had a hard time finding a foundry to cast everything at a price that would make it profitable.

So 30 years ago when I moved off grid, positive displacement pumps wouldn't pump a 250' well. There was a solar pumpjack available at that time, maybe from Dankoff? It looked mostly like a regular pumpjack with a DC drive motor. I was saved by inverters just coming on board that were big enough to power a capacitor start regular AC sub.

The pumpjack we have. Is based off an old Myers pump. Maybe one day we will do something with it. And try to figure out more places to sell our rod. And that goes back to freight. It’s made it harder to sell.

You might talk to Hitzer of Heller Aller hand pumps. They recently had to source a new foundry for their hand pumps.

I would have thought that Preferred would centrally buy and then shuffle between stores I know they shuffle other items between stores.

Freight is getting to be a major cost factor. For me, delivering and installing just made sense. Building our own solar panel racking just made sense. To me, delivering a product that no one wants to ship or is cost prohibitive makes sense to put on your own truck?