@@UltraGamma25 nah, people took CARE of their shit because they wanted it to last. nowadays people don't change oil for 20k kms cause the dealer told them too then they're surprised by engine trouble at 150k..
I don't know why but there is something admirable yet sad about a machine that has been running for this long... the building is gone, the people who made it are gone, yet it's still chugging along fulfilling it's one and only task... I don't know, maybe I'm weird.
Like Wall-E, 800 years later, still collecting trash and stacking it up on a planet long forgotten... I wonder how long this thing will still be pumping along after humans cease to be?
You’re not weird. Fascinated by these things! My grand dad worked for the Waggoner Brothers Ranch in the 50’s & 60’s. The Triple D. Driving out to his home back then near what was the hamlet of Grayback, TX, in Wilbarger County, we’d drive over lots of low lying rod lines running pumps like these. The most fascinating thing was the big band wheel that had dozens of lines coming off of it to run those things! To a 5 yr old kid, it was huge and loud in that big corrugated metal building! I was mesmerized by the big band going round& round! So cool ! No one lived within a few miles of that place, and at night, we were lulled to sleep by the old gas powered, single cylinder engines that ran the pumps. They made a rapid, irregular pop sound. Ran those wells faithfully 24/7. I Gus they probably ran off the ‘drip gas’ that came out of the well casing running to the tanks. Wonderful sound I can still hear in my mind.
@@IronBridge1781 Can I ask you a question? Does this machine run on its own? Where is the fuel from it coming from? The comments make it seem like it's just an abandoned machine that just never stopped pumping
@@paulsawczyc5019 Haha. If this was an old john deer engine, the company would have sent out some goons with sledgehammers to crack it open like a prohibition still.
The fuel to run these was natural gas, or propane that is available at the well head. Ever seen an oil well fire? That's the gas burning, not the oil. m.ruclips.net/video/CglWYuKj0xE/видео.html
Natural gas and propane are considered gaseous in most circumstances. Only when pressurised to hundreds of psi and cooled does it become a liquid and therefore produces vapor. In it's natural uncompressed state it is not a vapor. So no he does not mean vapor.
@@jamminwrenches860 propane is used as a refrigerant in AC systems in the US, and germany uses a combination of propane and natural gas in refrigerators. As you said, it must be compressed to properly function.
@@Farm_fab (Working in the german AC Industrie) Most of the AC units today run on CO2 (R744). The Propane, Helium, Amonia and other R gases are solowly getting banned because of the danger to the enviroment in case of a leak. Using propan as refrigerant is efficient, but extremly dangerous. There where multiple bad incenets with propane AC units, resulting in giant explosions, big bills and the loss of lives. Today, at least in germany, there are almost no propane AC units left. Most common is CO2 and amonia for industrial use. Cars, refrigerators and other "small" ac units run on R134a or R1234yf. Helum is used in the medical field and for cooling of Super and quantum computers.
Had a friend in college, his grandfather gave him 10 oil wells to stay in school. The oil wells produced enough to give him nearly a thousand dollars a day seven days a week. And this was the 1980's. Needless to say, he bought the beer for all of us. Before you go off on this , read my comment below . I am so sorry all, I just stupid didn't know.
I'd hope so, I've been with some who have tons of money, But you are buying lunch or beer...my old boss was like that, had a farm, had started and owned the company for years, at the end sold the company and his share was 25-30 mil. The other boss was nicer and would constantly buy lunch and booze, him I didn't mind paying for. If we went out to lunch and the boss showed up after us he would pay, He was a good guy for that.
Was that $1,000/day all profit or were there maintenance expenses taken out of that? There's a bit of a paradox there as with that kind of cash you can skip out on school. Mathematically, it isn't needed, even with the occasional economic downturn, so long as you aren't too extravagant with your expenses. Yet, school was a part of the deal to have the cash flow from the wells...
@@alidycepaisley3829 If his family was not the operator but just the subsurface land owner then the $1000/day was all his because the operating expense would have been taken out already. He would still have taxes but he would get to take a depletion allowance tax credit from the US taxes it is currently 15% but in the 70's it would have been 23%. Yep oil & gas wells can be money machines and land owners really make out with no risks.
@@FishFind3000 imagine still caring about left and right Liberal progressive comics make much dirtier jokes and movies than conservative traditionalists btw
It reminds me of a old guy who was the only one left around to run and fix a old Mill grinding base, he was on call until his death at 92, and sadly no one else bothered to learn anything about the Mill so it shut down months after his passing.
mrthebillman ... the moving parts above ground need to be lubed on a regular basis... and some of that is to flush out the dust / dirt so that doesn't cause more wear.
Financial security for the numerous generations that have owned those wells. Little to no environmental impact. Producing a product the market demands. Fantastic!
@@hxhdfjifzirstc894 let’s not forget how the Chinese don’t really care about American intellectual property rights... My wife has a Facebook page that is dedicated to Chinese vendors that lift images of clothes from local designers and sell cloths that aren’t even close.
@@mackk123 WTF? Trust me jackass, there was nothing wrong about fighting Hitler, Imperial Japan or Mussolini... turn off your screen, take off the tinfoil hat and read some history, written by historians and not some anonymous douche who changes the story every other week.
@@joeycmore Have you heard of the *Holodomor* enacted by bolsheviks such as GENRIKH YAGODA of the NKVD which killed millions of Ukranians in the 1930's?
Now “Made in America” means “maybe 50% of the materials used to manufacture this came from the US, and as a bonus we’ll slap the US flag on the packaging and charge DOUBLE!!!”
Amazing, I ran across this same setup while hunting in PA woods. Had what was left of a Model A truck chassis with everything stripped off of it. I came across one of the things at 1:23 and later came across a "web" of the rods, I followed them back to where the truck frame and engine were. Had no idea this is what it looked like, BTW you can still see vaper coming out of the well tops.
@@bansheemania1692 I'm from Erie, I want to say it was around Scranton, it was about a 4 hour drive and another 3 into the mountains on a logging trail, this was the late 80s and I was a teen, so my memory is a bit washed. it was rough country and you needed a 4x4 to get in, we would set the camper up and stay at least a week. The area was riddled with house sized rocks and caves, how in the world they ever got a 20s -40s truck in those woods was beyond me. It was near 30+ degree slope of shale at the first one I found. HAD to be a hell of a job getting that equipment placed, it prob covered 2000 yards or more.
Ist there a movie about that related to the light bulb and market agreement between manufacturers to only make lightbulbs that have a small lifetime so they had to be replaced.
After you buy from a brand and their product is garbage, you can move on to another brand and never give them a dime again! Sadly most brands in stores are all owned by the same 2 or 3 companies so it doesn’t really make a difference 😩
Probably wouldn't be very interesting. It is a hit and miss engine with roller lifters. It doesn't have a water pump or true radiator, only a big water tank. If they use hard water, it will scale up, but a gallon of white vinegar every year or so takes care of that. Oil "system" is probably a drip oiler, so only need to top off the reservoir. And big, plane bearings on the axle..
@@captainjohnh9405 I don't expect it to be particularly complex I'm just curious to see what it took to keep it in operation for almost a century and if any significant modifications had been made.
When I was a kid in the early 1950's some of the oil fields in our area had this kind of drag-line pumping system. The each line would make a low squeaking noise as they moved back and forth on their supports. At night time it sounded like a thousand ghosts softly crying in the darkness. REAL spooky.
Big fan of these too! My grand dad worked for the Waggoner Brothers in the 50’s-60’s southwest of Electra, TX. Goin to the house they lived in was out in the middle of the oil fields and we’d have to drive over those cables in places. Thought that was so cool ! Loved listening at night to the single cylinder gas engines that powered the pump jacks back then! It was good to read your post!
55 yrs ago 13 yrs old I pumped oil leases In Kentucky. Old hit and miss , rod lines to Jones Jack's. One lease had 29 wells From circle/power. Wells 480 ft.t.d. Just under Chattanooga Black shale. Made 100 barrels every 90 days. Had Allstate moped with bicycle peddles. Had several leases I pumped for investors and promoters.
The K.I.S.S. principle is the first thing they teach you in engineering school. Or was, 25 years ago. Keep It Simple, Stupid. Unfortunately, these days, that's long gone.
Thanks for the opportunity to see this simple and clever pump system! I have enjoyed the things this crude has provided throughout my life. Please continue to create interesting videos.
They still do but they are specialty things that come at a premium price that most people don't want to pay. I have some new stuff that is even better than my vintage stuff, but I spent a lot on it. Most people don't seem to be aware that some companies still make top quality stuff. Not all companies do though. You can't spend a lot making something when most people don't want to pay for it. People even think the lower end products are too expensive. A lot of people are cheap and a lot of companies had to adapt. Sad but true.
@@fixedfocusmediaofficial Maybe with some things but Expebsive cars die quickly, white goods, certain Black goods too (TVs etc). Shoes don't seem very hardy either. I agree though that you can buy some things at a higher quality but most people get the budget Chinese version and wonder why it dues after a couple years.
@@realMaverickBuckley they’re build to a lifespan acceptable to the consumer. If people wanted fridges that lasted 20 years they’d build them. They don’t because their customers don’t want a 20 year old fridge.
I love your videos! Thanks for documenting some of the last of these. I saw a lease in the mid 1990s near Avant, Oklahoma that had several rod line pumps. Haven't seen any since.
@@svurskasvurska8019 Well, everything elese modern everywhere is producing power, from north canada to norway, form iceland to norther russia. Its just modern texas things because the *M A R K E T*
@@svurskasvurska8019 Texas didn’t wanna winterize their stuff and didn’t wanna join the national grid, that’s on them. Meanwhile windmills in the frozen north keep chugging along.
I’ve never seen a multiple pump like that. If and when these wells run dry the whole setup should be moved to a museum. Perhaps the Oilfield Engine Society should be told of this setup. Edit: it seems this was once a common way to pump oil before the introduction of the modern pump jack. Still, I hope that this setup is preserved as a working exhibit somewhere.
My Dad, Jack Freeman, would of loved your videos. He lived in the Graham area and spent a lot time in the oil field doing drafting work in the 80's & 90's after he retired.
What few people today realize is how smart, creative and inventive people who lived long ago were. The technological knowledge base that has been built over time makes the earlier people smarter and more resourceful because they had to create more with less!
Always been interested in the old west, industrial revolution and early 20th century booms. Wish we were able to save so much from going out of country, but technology definitely didn't help. Cheers to America, and the hardworking men who made it happen.
Something similar was used here in Sweden, in the late 18th century and into the 19th century. But here water wheels and wooden rods were used that were joined together, in long distances through the forest to run smithies and sawmills.
My dad used to have nine powers in Southern Illinois. The wells were about 1000 feet deep. I was in charge of four of the power houses when I was about 21. One was a 30hp superior that ran a vacuum pump that pulled gas from about four leases that ran the three other powers. I had two leases with 25 horse superiors and one lease with a 20hp superior. As the lease gas gave out we busted up the old superior engines to sell the cast-iron. I would give anything to have one of those old engines again. The only problem we had with them was the magneto had to be repaired occasionally and in the winter time the gas line would freeze off. Then I would have to walk the line and thaw it wherever necessary. That was back when the oil business was crude.
Had one like this in Kern County on a City Services Lease purchased by Occidental Petroleum in the 80s. It flowed from pumping units, down wooden troughs tank farm.
Used to work in the Kern oilfields, North of Oildale. This is true. The lease I worked at they would flow the oil down the troughs into a creek bed and it flowed downhill to a collection area, I’m guessing they did it in the early 1900’s at this location. Used to walk in the creek bed and could uncover the very old soil soaked soil.
@@RestitutorEuropa why would a giant corporation, promote liberal views, liberals dont like giant corporations, dont det that confused with modern democrats, its the conservatives who have always been for big buisness.
@@flyguyphil7247 it’s just a thing they do get public favor and more importantly, so they cover their ass while they bribe politicians to make the market even more restricted
@@raymondsimpson7433 sigh.. I wish I lived in Tyler Co.. at least you have hills! I hunt in Saratoga. I will have to look for that. Thanks for the heads up!
This video made me go outside and hug my 1983 Mercedes 300 turbo diesel. 305k miles, looking a bit banged up, but still purrs and loves the open road at 85 mph. No smoke, either... 🌷
My grandparents moved into their house in the mid 50’s that had a Fedders window unit air conditioner. My grandmother passed away in 2004. We went to clean the house and plugged in the AC and it fired right up and cooled immediately. That amazed me and everything was built that way back in the day.
It’s beautiful. Pumping oil so efficiently and elegantly; I could watch it for a long time. Also notice the surrounding ecosystem, nothing is dying of cancer, nothing is wrong with this natural resource that we as a nation need fir our survival and security,
Thanks! I thought of one of these I saw in Oklahoma as a kid and thought I would never see one again! Wow!, 👍👍👍 They work great on shallow oil wells.Engine is a Fairbanks- Morse 503 or 739. I took care of these in west Texas for 32 years but they were deep wells and used a big pumping unit. Engines run off the well’s own natural gas. Someone has to check them everyday- me, the “pumper”.
Is it possible to get access to this property? I'm assuming you probably know the landowner. I am in Central OK and would like to photograph and video any rodline systems that I can find before they disappear. I haven't had a chance to go through all of your videos but it sounds like this is the only surviving one you know of, correct? Just let me know; I'd be interested in reaching out to the landowner or the well operator and seeing these. Thank you!
Im sure we can modernize it to make it last 4 months instead of 100 years
Great call.
the iPump Pro Max
probebly just not enough oil for it to be worth it
Put a bunch of emissions control on it it'll break down in 10 minutes
yer send it to china they will shorten its lifespan.
Watching that central radial hub just pluggin' away near a century on is glorious.
Things were built to last back then
American Pride
So many questions. Thanks for posting this great reminder video.
@@UltraGamma25 nah, people took CARE of their shit because they wanted it to last. nowadays people don't change oil for 20k kms cause the dealer told them too then they're surprised by engine trouble at 150k..
@@0xsergy That's what I just said. You just want to pick a fight for no reason.
@@UltraGamma25 you said things were built to last, that's why i replied.
you know something is well lubricated when theres a 10ft puddle of grease under it
you take some and you give back some.
Its oil from the oil well. Some of it leaks nomater what.
@@greenlawnfarm5827 the engine is not directly on a well
@@imchris5000 But you can see all the oil where the wells are.
@@greenlawnfarm5827 but can you see the bullwheel and rod holders all have lakes of grease no where near the wells? they were well oiled machines
I don't know why this is in my recommendations but I love anything mechanical that still works
Good to see another vw fan on the platform
Same here!
I think you just answered your own question
Yeah I guess we both hate GM products!
Dont look at anything fiat thats 5 years old then.
this is the kind of thing that men will literally gather their friends for and drink beer while staring/talking about it
Yep
Sitting on milk crates.
Pops another cold one: yep
Well look at it, its fuckin art
@@max0390rip agreed. I'm grabbing another beer
I don't know why but there is something admirable yet sad about a machine that has been running for this long... the building is gone, the people who made it are gone, yet it's still chugging along fulfilling it's one and only task... I don't know, maybe I'm weird.
Like Wall-E, 800 years later, still collecting trash and stacking it up on a planet long forgotten...
I wonder how long this thing will still be pumping along after humans cease to be?
Nothing weird in your comment, just accepting the inevitable reality of human mortality.
Make sure you will be around forever too. Trust in Jesus
You’re not weird.
Fascinated by these things! My grand dad worked for the Waggoner Brothers Ranch in the 50’s & 60’s. The Triple D.
Driving out to his home back then near what was the hamlet of Grayback, TX, in Wilbarger County, we’d drive over lots of low lying rod lines running pumps like these. The most fascinating thing was the big band wheel that had dozens of lines coming off of it to run those things! To a 5 yr old kid, it was huge and loud in that big corrugated metal building! I was mesmerized by the big band going round& round! So cool !
No one lived within a few miles of that place, and at night, we were lulled to sleep by the old gas powered, single cylinder engines that ran the pumps. They made a rapid, irregular pop sound. Ran those wells faithfully 24/7. I Gus they probably ran off the ‘drip gas’ that came out of the well casing running to the tanks. Wonderful sound I can still hear in my mind.
The building has disintegrated and the machine still works.
These were enclosed?
@@skystryker2300 Well it isn’t normal for a working engine to just be outside for all the weather to get to it.
Lmao. Derp
@@IronBridge1781 Can I ask you a question? Does this machine run on its own? Where is the fuel from it coming from? The comments make it seem like it's just an abandoned machine that just never stopped pumping
@ranchofundo this is a natural gas pump if I’m not mistaken. It’s running off of the natural gas that the well itself produces.
Perfect example of if it ain’t broke don’t fix it!
And for God's sake - don't computerize it!
@@paulsawczyc5019 Haha. If this was an old john deer engine, the company would have sent out some goons with sledgehammers to crack it open like a prohibition still.
@@paulsawczyc5019 wtf, how would you computerize this? That makes no sense
@@paulsawczyc5019 it needs facebook integration and a remote killswitch (also known as DRM).
That was exactly what I was going to post. If anyone touches that it's fooked.
These were fueled from the well, so there wasn't a need to bring in fuel for the engine.
The fuel to run these was natural gas, or propane that is available at the well head. Ever seen an oil well fire? That's the gas burning, not the oil.
m.ruclips.net/video/CglWYuKj0xE/видео.html
@@Farm_fab you mean vapors?
Natural gas and propane are considered gaseous in most circumstances. Only when pressurised to hundreds of psi and cooled does it become a liquid and therefore produces vapor. In it's natural uncompressed state it is not a vapor. So no he does not mean vapor.
@@jamminwrenches860 propane is used as a refrigerant in AC systems in the US, and germany uses a combination of propane and natural gas in refrigerators. As you said, it must be compressed to properly function.
@@Farm_fab (Working in the german AC Industrie) Most of the AC units today run on CO2 (R744). The Propane, Helium, Amonia and other R gases are solowly getting banned because of the danger to the enviroment in case of a leak. Using propan as refrigerant is efficient, but extremly dangerous. There where multiple bad incenets with propane AC units, resulting in giant explosions, big bills and the loss of lives.
Today, at least in germany, there are almost no propane AC units left. Most common is CO2 and amonia for industrial use. Cars, refrigerators and other "small" ac units run on R134a or R1234yf.
Helum is used in the medical field and for cooling of Super and quantum computers.
I actually live near this particular one which is near Oil City, Oklahoma. I’m still surprised that it still works.
I was actually curious if it was still in operation.
Oil pumps ?
So...is it oil or gas?
Hi from the original Oil City Pal
@@willybones3890 gas is just refined from oil. You don't pump gas straight out of the ground
Had a friend in college, his grandfather gave him 10 oil wells to stay in school. The oil wells produced enough to give him nearly a thousand dollars a day seven days a week. And this was the 1980's. Needless to say, he bought the beer for all of us. Before you go off on this , read my comment below . I am so sorry all, I just stupid didn't know.
Okay, so $365,000 per year. Not bad for not lifting a finger.
I'd hope so, I've been with some who have tons of money, But you are buying lunch or beer...my old boss was like that, had a farm, had started and owned the company for years, at the end sold the company and his share was 25-30 mil. The other boss was nicer and would constantly buy lunch and booze, him I didn't mind paying for. If we went out to lunch and the boss showed up after us he would pay, He was a good guy for that.
@@chuckvan1568 yeah some of these oil wells you'd be better off buying a 30 year old used car.
Was that $1,000/day all profit or were there maintenance expenses taken out of that?
There's a bit of a paradox there as with that kind of cash you can skip out on school. Mathematically, it isn't needed, even with the occasional economic downturn, so long as you aren't too extravagant with your expenses. Yet, school was a part of the deal to have the cash flow from the wells...
@@alidycepaisley3829 If his family was not the operator but just the subsurface land owner then the $1000/day was all his because the operating expense would have been taken out already. He would still have taxes but he would get to take a depletion allowance tax credit from the US taxes it is currently 15% but in the 70's it would have been 23%. Yep oil & gas wells can be money machines and land owners really make out with no risks.
Love watching old machines like this work. It's like poetry in steel.
That's like 3 generations of human life that pump has outlived
And I love the sound too. I could very comfortably fall asleep under a tree hearing that putt putt sound.
@Berzerker God After deep consideration I have decided to stick with the "Oil bath pump system" for now.
My grandfather mentioned riding on the pushrods as a kid.
Your grandma rode a few rods too.
@@Sphere723
Imao, people gonna get butthurt about your hilarious joke
@@SMGJohn the liberals are everywhere! peoples feelings just can’t take it!
@@Sphere723 bruhhhhhhhhh
@@FishFind3000 imagine still caring about left and right
Liberal progressive comics make much dirtier jokes and movies than conservative traditionalists btw
It reminds me of a old guy who was the only one left around to run and fix a old Mill grinding base, he was on call until his death at 92, and sadly no one else bothered to learn anything about the Mill so it shut down months after his passing.
Based on all the overgrowth, I'd say that qualifies as green technology.
I imagine it's always well oiled.
🤣
mrthebillman
... the moving parts above ground need to be lubed on a regular basis... and some of that is to flush out the dust / dirt so that doesn't cause more wear.
Until the well runs dry, anyway. Meanwhile, have you seen what's happening to the climate lately?
😆 YOU MADE DAY 🏆
@@rickdworsky6457 YEAH HENNY PENNY, IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK LIKE SPRING TIME ! NOW GO SEE WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR THE SAHARA DESERT !
Financial security for the numerous generations that have owned those wells. Little to no environmental impact. Producing a product the market demands. Fantastic!
I love when YT surprises me with gems like this.
This is industrial and sublime simultaneously.
Amazing. I almost got a full year out of a Chinese made toaster once.
It doesn’t count when you only eat toast twice a year.
Racists aren't Patriots
You really have to try, to make a toaster that breaks in 1 year.
@@rickdworsky6457
If I was racist, I wouldn't eat Chinese food... simply pointing out that Chinese goods suck has nothing to do with racism.
@@hxhdfjifzirstc894 let’s not forget how the Chinese don’t really care about American intellectual property rights...
My wife has a Facebook page that is dedicated to Chinese vendors that lift images of clothes from local designers and sell cloths that aren’t even close.
Reminds me of work. Everything is 50 years old and parts are either made inhouse or found in Germany.
We fought the wrong people in WWii
Friday, March 24, *1933* _international bankers_ *declared war* on Germany.
You work at Lake City Ammunition too? :p
@@mackk123 WTF? Trust me jackass, there was nothing wrong about fighting Hitler, Imperial Japan or Mussolini... turn off your screen, take off the tinfoil hat and read some history, written by historians and not some anonymous douche who changes the story every other week.
@@joeycmore Have you heard of the *Holodomor* enacted by bolsheviks such as GENRIKH YAGODA of the NKVD which killed millions of Ukranians in the 1930's?
@@joeycmore also, search up the *1949 Memoirs of Bruno Baum*
A relic of the good old days when "made in America" really meant something.
Very true
Now “Made in America” means “maybe 50% of the materials used to manufacture this came from the US, and as a bonus we’ll slap the US flag on the packaging and charge DOUBLE!!!”
(Seriously, look up the legal requirements to label your product “made in America”, it’s ridiculous)
Amazing, I ran across this same setup while hunting in PA woods.
Had what was left of a Model A truck chassis with everything stripped off of it.
I came across one of the things at 1:23 and later came across a "web" of the rods, I followed them back to where the truck frame and engine were.
Had no idea this is what it looked like, BTW you can still see vaper coming out of the well tops.
We're about in pa...I'm Lackawanna county
@@bansheemania1692 I'm from Erie, I want to say it was around Scranton, it was about a 4 hour drive and another 3 into the mountains on a logging trail, this was the late 80s and I was a teen, so my memory is a bit washed. it was rough country and you needed a 4x4 to get in, we would set the camper up and stay at least a week.
The area was riddled with house sized rocks and caves, how in the world they ever got a 20s -40s truck in those woods was beyond me. It was near 30+ degree slope of shale at the first one I found. HAD to be a hell of a job getting that equipment placed, it prob covered 2000 yards or more.
Probably kids vaping down there.
“Oil that is..black gold...Texas Tea..”
Jed Clampitt would agree!!
Clampit Jed !
Next thing ya know, 'ol Jed's a millionaire!
@@brantgarratt9873 ya gotta move to beverly (hills that is ;p)
Je’d Clampitt
This just shows you companies can build stuff to last almost forever. They don't because there's no $$$$ in it.
They could make things that last a life time but your right money is the problem
You can trade performance for reliability - but most want performance, not just the manufacturers, customers, too.
Ist there a movie about that related to the light bulb and market agreement between manufacturers to only make lightbulbs that have a small lifetime so they had to be replaced.
After you buy from a brand and their product is garbage, you can move on to another brand and never give them a dime again!
Sadly most brands in stores are all owned by the same 2 or 3 companies so it doesn’t really make a difference 😩
I think this has been my favorite thing I’ve seen I RUclips all day.
I am 44 years old, my grandpa (RIP) was a teen when this thing was working. Insane.
I'd be really interested to see a maintenance log for this thing.
Probably wouldn't be very interesting. It is a hit and miss engine with roller lifters. It doesn't have a water pump or true radiator, only a big water tank. If they use hard water, it will scale up, but a gallon of white vinegar every year or so takes care of that. Oil "system" is probably a drip oiler, so only need to top off the reservoir. And big, plane bearings on the axle..
@@captainjohnh9405 I don't expect it to be particularly complex I'm just curious to see what it took to keep it in operation for almost a century and if any significant modifications had been made.
The cables are running over the only logs it's ever known.
When I was a kid in the early 1950's some of the oil fields in our area had this kind of drag-line pumping system. The each line would make a low squeaking noise as they moved back and forth on their supports. At night time it sounded like a thousand ghosts softly crying in the darkness. REAL spooky.
Big fan of these too! My grand dad worked for the Waggoner Brothers in the 50’s-60’s southwest of Electra, TX. Goin to the house they lived in was out in the middle of the oil fields and we’d have to drive over those cables in places. Thought that was so cool ! Loved listening at night to the single cylinder gas engines that powered the pump jacks back then! It was good to read your post!
55 yrs ago 13 yrs old I pumped oil leases
In Kentucky. Old hit and miss , rod lines to Jones Jack's. One lease had 29 wells
From circle/power. Wells 480 ft.t.d.
Just under Chattanooga Black shale.
Made 100 barrels every 90 days. Had
Allstate moped with bicycle peddles.
Had several leases I pumped for investors and promoters.
Sometimes machines that lack complexity are the most reliable.
Yup
It's simple mathematics, as far as I'm concerned.
The less complex they are, the less things there are that can go wrong.
No computer chips or boards to go bad. But back then they designed things to last decades.
The K.I.S.S. principle is the first thing they teach you in engineering school. Or was, 25 years ago.
Keep It Simple, Stupid.
Unfortunately, these days, that's long gone.
Thanks for the opportunity to see this simple and clever pump system! I have enjoyed the things this crude has provided throughout my life.
Please continue to create interesting videos.
Back in the days when they used to build shit to last.
They still do but they are specialty things that come at a premium price that most people don't want to pay. I have some new stuff that is even better than my vintage stuff, but I spent a lot on it. Most people don't seem to be aware that some companies still make top quality stuff. Not all companies do though. You can't spend a lot making something when most people don't want to pay for it. People even think the lower end products are too expensive. A lot of people are cheap and a lot of companies had to adapt. Sad but true.
@@fixedfocusmediaofficial Maybe with some things but Expebsive cars die quickly, white goods, certain Black goods too (TVs etc).
Shoes don't seem very hardy either.
I agree though that you can buy some things at a higher quality but most people get the budget Chinese version and wonder why it dues after a couple years.
@@Fullmetalseagul the lucky ones that either had the maintenance or parts that just came together perfectly
@@realMaverickBuckley they’re build to a lifespan acceptable to the consumer. If people wanted fridges that lasted 20 years they’d build them. They don’t because their customers don’t want a 20 year old fridge.
Because it was built in 🇺🇸
We don’t make them like they used to do.
Sometimes for the better.
But I think this time. This is build better then anything that came after it.
Built to cause human extinction. Great job.
@@rickdworsky6457 yes, that’s true. But it’s engineered to last. Which we can’t say for most things build today.
You know the people/person who invented that thing is damn proud
They’re dead. 😂
Damn dead....
I love your videos! Thanks for documenting some of the last of these. I saw a lease in the mid 1990s near Avant, Oklahoma that had several rod line pumps. Haven't seen any since.
it's probably still running off the oil it's pumping and someone forgot to turn it off.
It would be so hilarious and still damn great.
Not quite the oil. It’s the gasses that come off the well.
@@kayvalencia2223 either would not surprise me.
Back in the days when they made stuff that can be repaired
Great to see it still running!
Thanks for posting!
Feels like im in a post apocalyptic video game and just restored power to an "ancient" machine
And kind of like playing Myst or Riven!
@@tombey12 man, that is going back
Fallout or Metro be like
Peak oil is already here, so coming to a city near you.
na son you just discovered a machine thats always been running
Fun fact. This single 1930's engine is how Texas generates the majority of it's power.
😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣
Let me fix this for you. After the failure of near everything modern after the great freeze, this was still operating and producing power. 😉
Seems accurate
@@svurskasvurska8019 Well, everything elese modern everywhere is producing power, from north canada to norway, form iceland to norther russia. Its just modern texas things because the
*M A R K E T*
@@svurskasvurska8019 Texas didn’t wanna winterize their stuff and didn’t wanna join the national grid, that’s on them. Meanwhile windmills in the frozen north keep chugging along.
I’ve never seen a multiple pump like that. If and when these wells run dry the whole setup should be moved to a museum. Perhaps the Oilfield Engine Society should be told of this setup. Edit: it seems this was once a common way to pump oil before the introduction of the modern pump jack. Still, I hope that this setup is preserved as a working exhibit somewhere.
Keep the random footage coming thank you.
That is the smartest thing I ever saw anybody do about anything ever.
My Dad, Jack Freeman, would of loved your videos. He lived in the Graham area and spent a lot time in the oil field doing drafting work in the 80's & 90's after he retired.
MY MOM'S STILL PUMPING IN 2021 AT 90 6/7/30 THEY DON'T MAKE THEM LIKE THIS ANYMORE !
Inside voices please
Saying your mom is "still pumping" is an unfortunate choice of words
@@skeetsmcgrew3282 you heard the man, his mom is still pumping
Yeah, i know. Tell her i said hi. And she still owes me 50 from last time ;)
Oh my
They had some of these in the east texas field. the ones i knew about were in the kilgore area. still there? couldn't say.
What road was it on I'm headed that way in a couple of weeks I'll check and see while I'm there
That is absolutely nuts. I wonder how many times each pump head has cycled. How much oil this unit has pumped out of the ground.
(Donald Trump voice)
Biiiillions and Biillions of gallons, weve got the best machines, theyre really fantastic
5 dollars.
I’d say at least 3
@@ascendingmaster3510 I was thinking more like 5 but what do I know
Heh, low ballers. At least 15 !
This is the type of stuff I want in my recommend 👍
1930's and still working? Well l know were that wasn't built.
Like really, can’t find much that last longer then 1 year.
Id say it was engineered to work not to fail, regardless of where it was bulit
@@krzysiekv12 it indeed matters where things were built. Some countries are better than others at manufacturing.
@@mackk123 like where usa and germany 🤣
@Mick Mack Holy fuck. It's true. Uneducated 'merikuhns. What you "wrote" there is illegible.
That spiderweb of cables is amazing.
Worked the oilfield all over the world. This gives me a woody! Thanks for sharing such a unique piece of history.
What few people today realize is how smart, creative and inventive people who lived long ago were. The technological knowledge base that has been built over time makes the earlier people smarter and more resourceful because they had to create more with less!
Exactly. We're a lot dumber than those people were.
Always been interested in the old west, industrial revolution and early 20th century booms. Wish we were able to save so much from going out of country, but technology definitely didn't help. Cheers to America, and the hardworking men who made it happen.
I got the Beverly Hillbillies going in my head while watching this.
Black gold! Texas T
Y'all come back now, ya' hear?
You must be a millennial
Everyone who thinks of oil wells thinks of some dumbass hillbilly’s.
Incredible, wow. Hats off to the guys/girls that took the time to recondition this old grunt back to life.
Thank you for sharing.
I suspect it's been serviced it's whole life, just not the " jiffy lube" way we think of nowadays.
Oil City Ontario Canada has some of these too. Very cool and cool old school.
Oil city Louisiana has 1 left
Something similar was used here in Sweden, in the late 18th century and into the 19th century.
But here water wheels and wooden rods were used that were joined together,
in long distances through the forest to run smithies and sawmills.
there is a magazine called lowtechmagazine. See website. There is a mutipage article on these power transmission devises.
95% of the comments on this video and every other video with 10-100 year old technology "Boy oh boy! They sure built things to last!"
What a crazy setup 🤯
My dad used to have nine powers in Southern Illinois. The wells were about 1000 feet deep. I was in charge of four of the power houses when I was about 21. One was a 30hp superior that ran a vacuum pump that pulled gas from about four leases that ran the three other powers. I had two leases with 25 horse superiors and one lease with a 20hp superior. As the lease gas gave out we busted up the old superior engines to sell the cast-iron. I would give anything to have one of those old engines again. The only problem we had with them was the magneto had to be repaired occasionally and in the winter time the gas line would freeze off. Then I would have to walk the line and thaw it wherever necessary. That was back when the oil business was crude.
I lived on a lease with one of these in 1965 9 miles west of Iraan Texas!
Had one like this in Kern County on a City Services Lease purchased by Occidental Petroleum in the 80s. It flowed from pumping units, down wooden troughs tank farm.
Used to work in the Kern oilfields, North of Oildale. This is true. The lease I worked at they would flow the oil down the troughs into a creek bed and it flowed downhill to a collection area, I’m guessing they did it in the early 1900’s at this location. Used to walk in the creek bed and could uncover the very old soil soaked soil.
That would be a site to see, and I mean that in a good way!
thats a very cool setup. really slick how its all connected to one engine
Can’t get enough of it, got to get one in my backyard. Thanks for the post.
And you thought Honda's were good
I coulda used one of these oil wells to feed my MDX...
Don’t make me swap my civic again.
@@lordyoseph53 oh, though the guy was talking about bikes :v
I was like: yeah honda and yamaha da the best :v
Plot twist: It is a honda motor, that's why it's still running!!
My central power goes BWAHHHHHHHHHHH
"They don't make em like they used to"
- Old men who spit in public
* Bob Seger's "Like A Rock" plays in the background *
That theoretical man is right though. I fucking hate modern corporations. All they do is spew liberal propaganda and create shitty products.
@@RestitutorEuropa why would a giant corporation, promote liberal views, liberals dont like giant corporations, dont det that confused with modern democrats, its the conservatives who have always been for big buisness.
@@flyguyphil7247 it’s just a thing they do get public favor and more importantly, so they cover their ass while they bribe politicians to make the market even more restricted
@@notyetdeleted6319 I think your confusing liberals with democrats
Best video of how the pump jack works. All the way from the engine to the well. 👍
That is so cool!!! Looks like it works just as well as when it was first installed
Never knew this existed. Nifty.
Last one of these I saw operating was in Tulita Texas in the late 70s.
it just SOUNDS like the 1930s i love it
Wow. That was very cool. Thank you for the content.
if I was working there I'd grab a chair and put it on top of the main gearbox shaft so it rocks me to sleep on break
Ok Mr Garrison.
@@madsnoop7 I don't think he would get this joke but I do
@@dougrogan379 🤣
Lol when I was younger I got to see a set-up like this in Batson Texas with the wooden oil storage tanks lol
Hey.. I’m in Hardin County!
@@mcschneiveoutdoors3681 lol I'm in Tyler County , you know Saratoga had museum with some old oil field stuff in it
@@raymondsimpson7433 sigh.. I wish I lived in Tyler Co.. at least you have hills!
I hunt in Saratoga. I will have to look for that. Thanks for the heads up!
This video made me go outside and hug my 1983 Mercedes 300 turbo diesel. 305k miles, looking a bit banged up, but still purrs and loves the open road at 85 mph. No smoke, either... 🌷
I thought I'd seen some old wells... Now I've seen an old well.
I wish the rest of the 1930's were still working...
Don’t worry, if we keep getting stimulus checks we’ll relapse into the Great Depression again
@@ShmeegleSon which would be better than Weimar Republic.
"Texas Tea"
Really mesmerizing. So glad you posted this! Thanks!
Thank You
My grandparents moved into their house in the mid 50’s that had a Fedders window unit air conditioner. My grandmother passed away in 2004. We went to clean the house and plugged in the AC and it fired right up and cooled immediately. That amazed me and everything was built that way back in the day.
Reminds me of The Dark Tower with all of the old machinery from ‘before the world moved on’. Awesome and kind of creepy.
Dust Bowl called, they want their pump back.
Farming caused the dust bowl, not oil extraction.
@@mwalako I meant it was from the era. not everything is a me 2 moment.
I think it looks and sounds beautiful.
pretty ingenious setup actually
Back in the 1980's I saw an operation like this in Kentucky. Amazing. What depth and amount of production per day?
It’s beautiful. Pumping oil so efficiently and elegantly; I could watch it for a long time. Also notice the surrounding ecosystem, nothing is dying of cancer, nothing is wrong with this natural resource that we as a nation need fir our survival and security,
Tell that to AOC...
We need less of AOC, RESIDENT BIDEN, PELOSI.
I could watch this all day
What a cool little film clip!
Where is this located in Oil City, OK? I wanna see it with Google Maps
Where is this located?? Does it still operate in 2021??
Thank you for share, amazing to watch, 1 engine can pull up to 7 pumps 👍👍.
That was very interesting. Thank you for sharing!
Damn cool thanks !
*Texas power grid still working just before the snow storm of 02/13/2021*
An amazing piece of engineering
Thanks! I thought of one of these I saw in Oklahoma as a kid and thought I would never see one again! Wow!, 👍👍👍 They work great on shallow oil wells.Engine is a Fairbanks- Morse 503 or 739. I took care of these in west Texas for 32 years but they were deep wells and used a big pumping unit. Engines run off the well’s own natural gas. Someone has to check them everyday- me, the “pumper”.
I’d love to have that in my living room
same, i could watch it go all day
Is it possible to get access to this property? I'm assuming you probably know the landowner. I am in Central OK and would like to photograph and video any rodline systems that I can find before they disappear. I haven't had a chance to go through all of your videos but it sounds like this is the only surviving one you know of, correct? Just let me know; I'd be interested in reaching out to the landowner or the well operator and seeing these. Thank you!
Did you get some photos?
Wow what an amazing mechanism
So awesome !