Thanks guys. I was able to replace mine safely after your video. I would just add that the color of the hydrant matters, as the gpm is differentfor each color. Make sure to match the color of the new hydrant with the one you're replacing.
We just moved to a home that has one of these. I did not know anything about them or even what it was called. It sure is nice and convenient. Thank for this video.
Thanks, great video. It was great to be able to see how these spigots work - both the plunger rod and the drain outlet. Gives me a better idea of what I'm working with.
The only hydrant you want to use is a Woodford. To anchor the hydrant, use a 5-gallon bucket cut to accommodate the hydrant and filled with gravel. This will anchor the hydrant and the stone will allow the backflow to dissipate easily. For those with a frost line less than two feet, you can use a soil ripper to install the piping. Less digging and soil disturbance.
Thanks. I'm renting an excavator tomorrow for some landscaping and building addition foundation work. Replacing a hydrant was also on the list, but I thought I would try a rebuild kit before I dug it up. This information solved my leaking packing nut problem and saved digging up the old hydrant. Greatly appreciated as now I have more time on the excavator for the other projects. Stop by and I'll buy you lunch.
Hello Son Driven, Without my friend Kimball and his mini excavator my boys and I have hand dug most of the frost-free hydrants that we have replaced. Even if it’s a 6-foot bury, you can do it - no problem! Hang in there! Trav
Hello pmaint1, Good question & smart thinking. The hydrant itself does not need power to operate so if you tie into a constant water pressure source like an active water pipe yes, it could work w/o electricity. All of the frost free hydrants that I’ve worked on are tied into a system with an underground well connected to a pressure tank in the house/basement. When you lift the handle on the hydrant, water comes out of the spigot until the pressure tank kicks on (electricity) to refill it. But for the first few moments after lifting the hydrant handle there is no electricity being used as water comes out just simply from built up pressure within the pressure tank. Hopefully that answer makes at least a little bit of sense. Thank you! Trav
Hello Jim! Oh man, I have not tried that but what an excellent idea! I wish we would’ve had you on the episode to share that, cool! I think anything placed along side to help stabilize the hydrant pipe is a good idea. It probably wouldn’t hurt to put something reflective nearby as well. My concern is having someone back up into the hydrant and bend or break it. Thank you for your excellent comment and I hope you have a great one! Trav
@@OutdoorswithTrav I just replaced a hydrant in my yard this week and something else we did was we used brass fittings on the schedule 40 Main Line and a brass elbow on the bottom of the hydrant and used Plex to connect the two so if the hydrant gets bumped or moved you have some flexibility with the Plex and not breaking off plastic.
Hi Jim, good call with using brass fittings and the PEX flexible tubing when replacing your hydrant. You are becoming quite the expert on replacement of frost free hydrants! It’s definitely a good feeling to install a new hydrant back in there & to see cool fresh water coming out of the spigot! Thanks for another great comment! Trav
I wish the previous owner of my home would’ve done this. I have one of these hydrants that is leaning pretty heavily to one side. I really want to get it back to perfectly straight but I’m afraid if I move it too much I could mess something up underground.
Go with 3/4”. Volume and pressure go hand in hand. You would be better off running a 1” black poly line and using a reducing brass 90 , if you can’t find a reducing 90 use a 1” 90 with a bushing and short nipple
I just had one of these replaced yesterday. Charged me $725. I replaced one just like it three feet down (or less) in about an hour and a half with a shovel. Hydrant cost $85. Does anyone know what an average cost to replace one of these is?
@@jerryferrell517 i thought that was a lot of money for an hours worth of work. Is that what you would expect to pay where you live, or would you fix it yourself?
Can I put a splitter on my frost free hydrant, one side a heated hose the other has nothing connected. Before shutting off turn off the water to the heated hose and open the other side. When I shut off the water, will the frost free drain properly, not freezing?
Hello Peak Posse, Let me see if I understand correctly. You’ll have a splitter with shut off valves attached to the male hose thread of the hydrant. One side is connected to a hose that is somehow heated while the other side connects to nothing. The valve is shut on the non-connected side. You lift the handle on the hydrant & water goes down the heated hose - then you shut off the splitter valve on the heated hose side & open the other non-connected side. Water shoots out of that side. Then you shut off the hydrant. Yes, your frost free hydrant should drain properly as long as there is not an air lock & air can enter the hydrant through the open splitter valve on the non-connected side allowing gravity to drain the water from the hydrant out of the bleeder valve buried below. The frost free portion of the hydrant with water draining below ground all works by gravity.
Paul Bennett, Yes, good point - in hindsight I probably should have filmed removal of the old hydrant. It would’ve been good to show putting a pipe wrench on the elbow or tee on the water supply line below ground before removal. I think that most every one of these RUclips videos that we’ve made could probably be improved somewhat in one way or another. Appreciate the insight! Trav
Thanks guys. I was able to replace mine safely after your video.
I would just add that the color of the hydrant matters, as the gpm is differentfor each color. Make sure to match the color of the new hydrant with the one you're replacing.
Thanks gents! Just replaced mine after I felled a tree on my original hydrant. 🤣🤣 Thid was a huge help!
Thanks - you saved me time and effort! Now I just need to buy a backhoe.
Right . And the soil pusher thing.
My boys and I have hand dug most of the frost-free hydrants that we have replaced. Even if it’s a 6-foot bury, you can do it. Hang in there! Trav
@@OutdoorswithTrav "Boys" care to comment? Who actually does the digging? ;-)
Great video! I have a small one outside of my house so this gave me enough information to be able to replace it with confidence. Thanks guys!!!
We just moved to a home that has one of these. I did not know anything about them or even what it was called. It sure is nice and convenient. Thank for this video.
Thanks, great video. It was great to be able to see how these spigots work - both the plunger rod and the drain outlet. Gives me a better idea of what I'm working with.
Prevented me from "plugging" the bleeder valve. Didnt know thats what it was. Thanks
The only hydrant you want to use is a Woodford.
To anchor the hydrant, use a 5-gallon bucket cut to accommodate the hydrant and filled with gravel. This will anchor the hydrant and the stone will allow the backflow to dissipate easily.
For those with a frost line less than two feet, you can use a soil ripper to install the piping. Less digging and soil disturbance.
I thought I had a leak! Watched your vid and found out it is just drawing cause it’s frost free! Thank you guys.
Thanks. I'm renting an excavator tomorrow for some landscaping and building addition foundation work. Replacing a hydrant was also on the list, but I thought I would try a rebuild kit before I dug it up. This information solved my leaking packing nut problem and saved digging up the old hydrant. Greatly appreciated as now I have more time on the excavator for the other projects. Stop by and I'll buy you lunch.
Glad to help!
Great work! Now I have the confidence to replace my hydrandt. having more time than money I will be hand digging.
Hello Son Driven,
Without my friend Kimball and his mini excavator my boys and I have hand dug most of the frost-free hydrants that we have replaced. Even if it’s a 6-foot bury, you can do it - no problem! Hang in there! Trav
Thanks for sharing your knowledge and keep your videos coming please.
Thanks for the video!
Very informative video thanks. Is there anyway to hook one of these up so it works without power?
Hello pmaint1,
Good question & smart thinking. The hydrant itself does not need power to operate so if you tie into a constant water pressure source like an active water pipe yes, it could work w/o electricity.
All of the frost free hydrants that I’ve worked on are tied into a system with an underground well connected to a pressure tank in the house/basement. When you lift the handle on the hydrant, water comes out of the spigot until the pressure tank kicks on (electricity) to refill it.
But for the first few moments after lifting the hydrant handle there is no electricity being used as water comes out just simply from built up pressure within the pressure tank.
Hopefully that answer makes at least a little bit of sense.
Thank you! Trav
Thanks! Should have watched this before I dug my hole!! 😅
Ha ha! Yes!
Thank you so much. We need ours fixed.
Thanks for the great info!
You always dig deeper I love 3/4 stone or something like that and that will give the hydrant somewhere to drain into
You should have put stone around the base with filter fabric over it to keep the sand away from the bleeder hole
How do you keep it from rusting, every couple of years we are replacing a pipe or fitting
We always drive t post parallel to the hydrant so it can help support the hydrant. Is that uncommon?
Hello Jim!
Oh man, I have not tried that but what an excellent idea! I wish we would’ve had you on the episode to share that, cool! I think anything placed along side to help stabilize the hydrant pipe is a good idea.
It probably wouldn’t hurt to put something reflective nearby as well. My concern is having someone back up into the hydrant and bend or break it.
Thank you for your excellent comment and I hope you have a great one! Trav
@@OutdoorswithTrav I just replaced a hydrant in my yard this week and something else we did was we used brass fittings on the schedule 40 Main Line and a brass elbow on the bottom of the hydrant and used Plex to connect the two so if the hydrant gets bumped or moved you have some flexibility with the Plex and not breaking off plastic.
Hi Jim, good call with using brass fittings and the PEX flexible tubing when replacing your hydrant. You are becoming quite the expert on replacement of frost free hydrants!
It’s definitely a good feeling to install a new hydrant back in there & to see cool fresh water coming out of the spigot! Thanks for another great comment! Trav
I wish the previous owner of my home would’ve done this. I have one of these hydrants that is leaning pretty heavily to one side. I really want to get it back to perfectly straight but I’m afraid if I move it too much I could mess something up underground.
A shovel is Healthy for you
Question
I'm going out 100 feet with 1/2" pex to a camper using a hydrant,, would you think that'll work?,, or should I go 3/4"....?
Go with 3/4”. Volume and pressure go hand in hand. You would be better off running a 1” black poly line and using a reducing brass 90 , if you can’t find a reducing 90 use a 1” 90 with a bushing and short nipple
You guys didn’t say that you installed a longer hydrant, since the other one was only 2 feet deep. I imagine you did it would want to
How do I replace one that's inside a well casing over the house well?
You may have to call your local well digger/plumber on that one.
I just had one of these replaced yesterday. Charged me $725. I replaced one just like it three feet down (or less) in about an hour and a half with a shovel. Hydrant cost $85.
Does anyone know what an average cost to replace one of these is?
Depending on where you live and everything involved I'd say $725.
@@jerryferrell517 i thought that was a lot of money for an hours worth of work. Is that what you would expect to pay where you live, or would you fix it yourself?
No gravel in the bottom of the hole
Can I put a splitter on my frost free hydrant, one side a heated hose the other has nothing connected. Before shutting off turn off the water to the heated hose and open the other side. When I shut off the water, will the frost free drain properly, not freezing?
Hello Peak Posse,
Let me see if I understand correctly. You’ll have a splitter with shut off valves attached to the male hose thread of the hydrant.
One side is connected to a hose that is somehow heated while the other side connects to nothing. The valve is shut on the non-connected side.
You lift the handle on the hydrant & water goes down the heated hose - then you shut off the splitter valve on the heated hose side & open the other non-connected side.
Water shoots out of that side.
Then you shut off the hydrant. Yes, your frost free hydrant should drain properly as long as there is not an air lock & air can enter the hydrant through the open splitter valve on the non-connected side allowing gravity to drain the water from the hydrant out of the bleeder valve buried below.
The frost free portion of the hydrant with water draining below ground all works by gravity.
@@OutdoorswithTrav
Thank you.
Nothing EASY about needing a backhoe .
That is nothing like mine.
Why didn't you show the removal of old hydrant?
Paul Bennett,
Yes, good point - in hindsight I probably should have filmed removal of the old hydrant.
It would’ve been good to show putting a pipe wrench on the elbow or tee on the water supply line below ground before removal.
I think that most every one of these RUclips videos that we’ve made could probably be improved somewhat in one way or another. Appreciate the insight! Trav
Sand??????????
Why did you add dumb music. Can't watch.
Sorry. This video is only for people who like dumb music. 😆
@@OutdoorswithTrav 🤣🤣
Lol cry baby
I'd guess all the genius music was taken 😞