By Bill Kleiman

Here are recent photos from a slip-on pumper unit we have at Nachusa Grasslands. We like this one.

This is a 75 gallon unit with the pump, motor and reel on top of the tank. The tank is made of half inch polypropylene. There are baffle partitions in the tank to limit sloshing of the water. This tank has a sump. Always ask for a sump on a flat bottom tank!

This unit was made by Unruh Fire. The current price is about $8,000.

We added the hazard light on the roof. It helps you see the machine better. The light turns on with the key. It is a Federal Signal brand Firebolt LED. It is bright enough and not too tall. The next bigger lightis also nice and about 2 inches taller. Cheaper lights may not flash bright enough.

The tool racks hold a rake and a flapper. The tube is 1.5 inch PVC, but 1.25 inch would likely also work fine. On each end of the PVC there are two layers of tire inner-tube rubber hose clamped. We cut a slit in each rubber layer. We slit one innertube one direction, and the second layer the other direction to make a cross. The tubes are bolted to the roof with PVC plastic pipe straps. In this UTV we had to remove the ceiling liner to be able to bolt the clamps.

In use, you slide the rake or flapper into the tubes. The friction of the rubber innertube holds them in place. They work but have the tool head to front, especially for trailering. Once I drove under a oak limb which pulled on the tool and broke the plastic clamp. But having tools on the roof is nice. Short people can still access and store the tools.

The mirrors are good, especially the driver side mirror.

When full this 75 gallon pumper unit is at near 1,000 pounds, so the upper limit of weight for this UTV . But it sits pretty level. If you were to look at the rear suspension you would see the unit sits low with this weight. We run the unit in Low gear except when on the road.

The motor is a 5hp Honda, the pump a Hypro D30 which produces a flow of water of about 3-4 gallons per minute but at high pressures of 150 to 350 psi. This Hypro D30 has been discontinued but there are other brands with similar specs. The hose is heat resistant half inch yellow of about 100 feet in length. The chrome hose roller is great. I see the little fire foam container in the bed. That is Class A foam in a used laundry detergent bottle. We add a capful or two per tank.

The nozzle is a Hypro rifle style. We also use a JD9 hand gun style. There is a quick attach there to switch nozzles. I like the JD9 for its lighter one handed ease of use.

We recently started putting the UTV morning checklist on the back of the tank. This helps others help us get ready.

Side view shows the water fill tower on right. Then the homemade wood double drip torch holder. The black round water strainer is behind the torch holder. The water in the tank passes through a screen strainer up the red hose to the pump. We check the water strainer every day as some days there is some green scum on the screen. We think this might be due to the fire foam we batch mix in the tank. My guess is we leave the soapy water in the tank for weeks and it grows scum. If your pressure drops off suddenly, check that you have water, and then check the water strainer.

A tank sump is very important. The pump draws water from the recessed sump on the bottom of the tank near the center. If you don’t have a sump your pickup tube will suck air even though there is ten or fifteen gallons of water sloshing around the bottom of the tank.

We wrote “sump” on the tank so we don’t skewer the sump with the pallet forks we use to load the unit. Notice the two rectangle plastic frame member that hold the tank above the UTV bed. Those two frame members allow the sump space to be there. We had those two frame members left a few inches long on the rear end so we could drill a hole in them and bolt them to the bed of the UTV. This works better than a ratchet strap.

If your tank sits flush on the UTV you likely don’t have a sump. The tank drain has a Banjo quick release cap. We tie the cap with a string to the tank so we don’t lose the cap.

For overnight freeze protection you drain the tank, then close drain. There is still water in the tank since the drain is on the side of the tank. Then spray out the remaining ten gallons of water. Then add maybe a gallon of pink RV antifreeze and spray into the tank until you see the pink start coming through. You can do this at low RPM and pressure.

There are other fire pumper units posts on our blog. There is a search button on the home page. Type in logical key words and find more good info. For this topic try “pumper unit”

While there, press the “follow the GRN”.

Addendum: Want to spend half as much and get most of the function of the unit I show? These are made for herbicide application. For the nozzle you want the extra large tip so you can spray near the maximum gallons per minute of 3-4.

This one even cheaper with no hose reel and less hose. But a good sprayer.