@@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?
@@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.
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.
@@FishFind3000 imagine still caring about left and right Liberal progressive comics make much dirtier jokes and movies than conservative traditionalists btw
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.ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-CglWYuKj0xE.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.
Financial security for the numerous generations that have owned those wells. Little to no environmental impact. Producing a product the market demands. Fantastic!
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.
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.
@@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?
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.
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!
@@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.
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!!!”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 😩
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.
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 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.
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.
@@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.
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.
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 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.
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,
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.
@@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!
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.
There's something peaceful about watching a nearly century old piece of machinery still doing it's job, 24/7, rain or shine, off, far away from people, almost 100 years after it was first fired up.
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.
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”.
@@VOTE_REFORM_UK 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
When I used to go visit my great-grandfather in Kentucky ran a few lease locations for people and then replace the pipe when the time came. One of these lease locations had a machine He called round and round It was solid cable hooked to three independent pipe welded oil units that would pump out the oil basin for the day in under 15 minutes till it needed refilled. They were all hooked to hard solid cable that pulled them to pump. This was up till mid 2000's then he officially retired. It was cool to witness the old school way
*THE definition of built to last.* Plus, this video is proof the oil and gas industry is not killing the planet. Nature is flourishing all around this thing without difficulty. Also, if the apocalypse begins, rally here and build walls fast! You'll have electricity and can use that to have electric fencing in time as well as heat during the winter.
Christ they made shit to last forever back then.... why? Because their lives literally depended on it.... we have a LOT to learn from these brilliant men!! Great vid, ty
