Wow! Everybody in the family and every contractor we have around keeps telling me I'm going to have to replace that well replace that well I keep telling them it's leaking at the top at the hydrant it's not down in the ground. And they just look at me cuz I'm a 70 year old woman that grew up on a farm! I can hardly wait to make this repair now and shut them up! Thank you your video is great!
Thank you! We just bought a smaller farm on 6 acre. There are frost frees all over the place but they’ve been neglected over the years. 3 of them were leaking but praise God none froze solid and broke over our long northern Idaho winter. Now that the snow is gone I was going to replace the faucets/hydrants but decided to check on RU-vid for a fix. I believe you saved me over $300 plus all the time digging them up. Thank you.
I'm glad to hear this was helpful to you. The manufacturers of these types of faucets thought ahead and made it so you could do most of the servicing from the top without having to dig them up. We have another episode we'll be publishing another episode on servicing the Woodford hydrant. Watch for it! Thanks for writing. Best, DFJ
DF Jay, The average person thinks all a farmer does is plow a field, plant seed, water, sit back for months and finally harvest. You are knowledgeable in sooo many trades out of necessity.
Wow just watched your video and I was able to fix my mother in law’s leaking hydrant. Went smoothly and ever your wrench sizes were correct. Thanks for the help.
For 4 years I have been fighting a leaking yard faucet just to stumble over your video. Plumbers told me you have to dig it up and replace it. Dreading and spent 2 whole winters going in the basement to shut off the water to prevent frost.
Let me know how it turns out. I've repaired two yard hydrants around here and have been able to do all the work at ground level without wielding a shovel. It's likely you'll have the same experience. Best, DFJ
Thank you for such a simple explanation on how to adjust the valve so it completely closes. I appreciate it. Now to go turn off the water... Wish me 🍀!
@@DirtFarmerJay you're the best! It took me literally like 5 minutes to fix a problem that had been plaguing me for almost a year! ☺️😃👍 The water now shuts off with zero leaks. THANK YOU!💦🎉🍻 Hopefully next months electric bill won't be nearly 300 dollars! 😣🤕 ( I had to fix the tub faucet too. It was leaking hot water... )
@@DirtFarmerJay The handle bolt was rusted to the handle. Tried penetrating oil, propane torch and a drift punch to push the bolt out. When that didn't work i used a hacksaw to cut the bolt next to the operating arms and then punched the bolt out from the handle. Adjusted the top nut up a couple threads and tightened the bottom nut. I greased all surfaces with marine grease. Work great now. Thank you again.
Great to hear from you guys! I use our Merrill faucet daily. It's installed right beside our chicken coop and makes taking care of the chickens, throughout the year, much easier. I enjoyed visiting your Facebook and RU-vid pages. Thanks for watching and writing! Best, DFJ
It was really great to see a perfect explanation on how to fix such a tried and tested hydrant! We will definitely be using those Facebook and RU-vid pages to refer people to this video if they need an in depth breakdown of this repair.
I have a Woodford Iowa variable flow water hydrant on a stand pipe. When I turn the water on, there is high pressure and then within about three seconds the pressure goes to a very low amount. I’ve tried to make adjustments and even cleaned out the head, but I’m wondering if there may be an area damaged along the standpipe allowing water to exit after turning it on. Or possibly the drain at the plunger is not being blocked by the plunger with the water on. If I remove the entire plunger and head assembly and have the water on from the house, the water barely spills over the standpipe. In fact, I can put my hand on top of the standpipe hole and stop the water flow completely. Any suggestions? I’m wondering if possibly my plunger is worn out and that needs to be replaced.
Ive got a red one thats leaking only when presurized to an attached water hose, but not leaking from the spigot mouth. mines pressure leak appears to comes from the top of that adjuster nut area, as if it bubbles up past a rubber ring seal or something. But yeah, leak is from that assembly area rather than the mouth spout. Never had one apart before. Hopefully I can tinker around up top and fix it simple enough.
mikepotts52, I'm sorry for the prolonged reply! For some reason, this didn't show up in the feed, but your comment was right there when I visited this video to review it again. I don't know if you've tackled this already or not, but the red unit you describe is likely the Woodford Y34. Your faucet probably needs the packing nut replaced. Woodford has a video on that located at: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-nVEAaDdJX7s.html Here's a troubleshooting list for this hydrant: www.woodfordmfg.com/woodford/Yard_Hydrant_Pages/Model-y34.html Also, here is a link to a pdf that shows the parts and kits that you can get for this faucet. www.woodfordmfg.com/woodford/Yard_Hydrant_Pages/Model-y34.html Let me know how this turns out! Best, DFJ
It sounds like your faucet did not have sufficient gravel or high-drainage material placed around the lower end of the unit. If the water can't drain away every time the faucet is cycled, the water has no place to go. This shows up on faucets that are turned on and off a lot. Let me know how this goes for you. Best, DFJ
@@DirtFarmerJay It gave no problem for 30 years, and no it is not frequently used. There was a recent lightning strike nearby and I am suspecting a connection of some kind. Of course it could also be a valve plunger gone bad. My fear of course is a hole in the pipe that feeds the faucet.
@@DirtFarmerJay Actually, a little digging and having a friend stand by and watch the drain hole while I went inside the house and turned power to the pump back on showed the problem. I had first thought the plunger had cracked or worn, but nope. The Y34 was working perfectly. No leaks. Instead water came out of the side of the hole I had dug. Further digging disclosed the pipe to the house had broken (fixed now) within 2 feet of the faucet location which caused the confusion as to what was leaking.
