Truck-Mounted Fire Fighting Unit

Truck-Mounted Fire Fighting Unit MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT Miscellaneous 28-4-18 Clark Carpenter, Hamilton, Mont., made a truck-mounted fire-fighting unit to protect his house from local brush fires. A 600-gal. tank bolted to the floor serves as a water tank. Beside it is a Nissan 4-cyl., 50 hp engine and a 10,000-watt generator mounted on a steel frame. The belt-driven generator powers a 1 1/2 hp electric motor that operates a pressure pump that delivers water to a handheld spray wand. Four 1-in. dia. threaded rods - one at each corner of the generator mounting plate - are used to raise and lower the generator in order to adjust belt tension. "We get a lot of forest fires in this area. This setup lets me put out small fires during the fire season," says Carpenter. "I can use the handheld wand to send water out about 75 feet. I plan to add a pressure boosting pump in series with the original pressure pump so I can send water out even farther. " He had a local machinist make a plate that replaces the original pressure plate on the engine's flywheel, with a shaft sticking out of the plate to mount pulleys to drive the belt-driven generator. "It works better than using a gas engine powered water pump because I don't have to carry anything down to the water," says Carpenter. "The generator was originally designed to mount on wheels, and I use it often to operate drills and electric impact wrenches. To mount it on the truck I remove the wheels and then use a chain hoist to lift it onto the bed. "To fill the tank, I just drop the submersible pump over a bridge and into the water, then hook up a hose to the tank and start the generator. The submersible pump weighs only about 10 lbs. compared to a water pump that might weigh up to 100 lbs. I paid $300 for the generator. I already had the car engine." The generator is designed to run at 3,600 rpm's. Carpenter slowed the engine down to 3,000 rpm's by installing a big pulley on the engine and a smaller one on the generator. "The slower speed is easier on the engine and also uses less gas. I use a car's cruise control to keep the engine running at a constant rpm," notes Carpenter. He uses inverted car tires to stow the water hoses. An inverted ATV tire is used to store the extra nozzles and quick couplers. He made the machine that's used to invert the tires. "It'll invert two tires per minute," notes Carpenter. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Clark Carpenter, 605 Alvista Loop, Hamilton, Mont. 59840 (ph 406 363-3827).

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