pumps for a wal banker

hi guys is any body using the thornado 1.5 pump on there wal bankers and how they are going do they give you enough water down the box I have a bigger Honda gx 140 which runs a bit faster then idle put out heap of water but to bloody heavy for the old fellow any help on the thornado would be great cheers terry

2.5 hp thornado does the job on mine no problems

I and a few others use them and they are no problem at all. I obtained mine for a stop gap until I could get a wx15 Honda but I am not so sure now.
I carry a few NGK Plugs with me and some starter cord as a precaution.

Snap Mate. LOL.
I stopped and eyeballed that place on the way home today. Looks great. !!!

thanks for your comments guys tathradj not shore about the getting the Honda,or keeping the other pump are you guys running the thornado pumps flat out to get the water flow and how long do you get out of a tank of fuel sorry about so many questions cheers terry

As recommended by Wal, if you're not already doing so you should reduce down from 1.5" to 1" at the spray bar, this will up the water pressure somewhat. I run a Honda WX15 1.5" pump and it handles the job quite well if that makes an difference, admittedly though it's taken a few trial runs to find the sweet spot.

thanks nugget yes mate I have 1" spray bars that was my 1st part i got for the wal banker its all ready to run just got to sort the pump wait out, I have 2 Honda pump the biggest being 3"pump I work on swimming pools the other one is a 5hp 1.5" and are to heavy to take to the creek plus submersible pumps would like maybe a Honda but they are to dear the thornado sound good at this time do you run your Honda flate out to get the water flow and how deep is the water over you crate cheers terry

I run my pump between half and just over half throttle depending on my angle, and at a rough guess I would probably have about 3/4 to 1 centimeter of water going over the bread crate, give or take a few mm. I don't believe there is an exact formula to it as there's so many variables involved (i.e. riffle config, angle, type of material, pump, hose length etc), it's more of a case of figuring out what works best for your configuration and material that you're feeding into it.

No I do not have to run it flat out when I am on a flat run with it. I run it just under half throttle.A full tank of fuel last's nearly 5 hours but that is variable to the type of material that you will be processing. I have 1 1/2" right to the spray bar which is reduced down to 1". I am thinking of going to a different type of spray bar but that is in the pipeline. LOL
All up I am quite happy with the results.

http://www.genquip.com.au/shop/petrol-transfer-pump-1-5inch/
This is what I run and It does the job fine. But by looking at the pictures im starting to think the pumps are exactly the same just the thornado is $100 cheaper and different paint.
Mine has been completely under water and still runs fine. Just change the oil regularly and she'll be right.

yes mate they do look the same all out the same factory different colour as you say cheers mate

thanks tathradj yah my one is the same to the spray bar that's good to hear thanks for the specks cheers i gave my banker a run on the weekend to look at the water flow seeing more water at the away end if you feed the water from both ends which we do with spa jets most the time the water should be more equal in force don't know if needed to go that far or bigger to smaller holes on the away end can equal the pressure as well is it all worth the bother

Hey mate I have the thornado 2" pump running mine only down fall is it's awkward to carry, I run it just above idle and it's plenty of water, my brother has a 1.5" thornado on his banker and it is perfect. Plenty of power especially if you don't need to pump far and it's small light and easy to Cary. I got fooled in to the old, too much power is better than not enough lol and it has made it a bit harder to get my set up in remote areas

Interesting to read the replies. I run a highbanker at 40cm W x 75L top and bottom box with a 1 inch straight through system, no Layflat though ribbed hoses over 1 inch expanded and moss and at 3/4 throttle to full and it will keep up no troubles. Its rated at 12000lph 2.5hp does the job fine and can be carried from a few hundred metres to a couple of kmsto get to the hard to get places, handy if there's hillsides or creek only access. What I'm getting at is for under $200 you can get something that will run a big box and go remote. If it can run mine it can run any type of setup, in my mind you have room to adjust for a smaller pump, angle can be adjusted and material, and if you're thinking in advance of what type of gold in what type of location you can change your capture setup to suit too. If you were usinga pump every day for something important like water supply to livestock or a house (say like s&d) then buy something that suits that purpose, but if your going to run it like 5 to 20 times a year well i think you have alot more options. Mrs GT has a treadmill here that if you worked out cost divided by use we could have bought one at a third of the price, its an awfully expensive piece of equipment to be just sitting there if you catch my drift. Whatever you decide i hope it serves you well.

Yep, Same problem I have. All spray one end, Lower other. That is what I am thinking. LOL
Dual feed spray bar. when I undo the cam lock of my inlet I have a massive amount of H'2'0 coming through. All flow no pressure, I was thinking of putting a hammer pipe on the end of the spray bar but that is just another complication so, Me thinks that either dual feeding the spray bar from each end (which is a bit more deliberation) or having a single feed on the back with holes on the rear branch then slots along the sides. ( I likes this idea).
I did try the smaller one end, Bigger on feed end. No difference. That tells me that I have ample pressure but have to get around the "Hammer" effect.

Just have to deliberate a bit more. LOL

Terry said:

thanks tathradj yah my one is the same to the spray bar that's good to hear thanks for the specks cheers i gave my banker a run on the weekend to look at the water flow seeing more water at the away end if you feed the water from both ends which we do with spa jets most the time the water should be more equal in force don't know if needed to go that far or bigger to smaller holes on the away end can equal the pressure as well is it all worth the bother

Click to expand...

thanks for the feed back I got thornado of ebay tonight see how we go at least my back is going to feel better thanks , as you say 5 to 20 times a year hopefully it will do the job fine I known the weight will lol its great to be able to ask question and get some good feed back weather to buy or not to buy all I have to do is got my but and go find some thing to wal bank looking forward to some time in the bush again hay tathradj let me know how you go with the spray bar

I've got the 2.5hp Thornado (1.5inch), so far hasn't skipped a beat on several outings. I have found the easiest way to prime and get going straight away is to bucket water down the layflat until my 15m of hose is full, connect it to the banker and start her up. Takes about 10 seconds then off she goes. I use slits not holes in the spray bar and seems to work a treat. Just change the oil every trip for the first few outings to ensure it is properly run in. Smooth runner and not noisy at all, runs for about 2 hours at 1/2 to 3/4 throttle on 1 tank. Very happy with the performance, on a true Walbanker would be the smallest pump id recommend at roughly 200lpm.

I have a foot valve on the end of mine. What I do is set her all up, Before connecting the suction hose with the valve on the end of it,
shake it backwards and forwards a few times to partially fill the suction hose connect it then undo the bung on top and fill the pump with water.
Start it up with choke "off" " ( Label is back the front LOL ) and it will prime and run nearly straight away. You only have to do this once
as both the foot valve and also the pump that has a valve in it keep it primed all day.
I do not like running a pump dry to begin with as the seal needs water to keep it lubricated.
Oh, I have cam locks as well. So easy.

she's a true walbanker alright down to the slits in the spray has 2 set ups 1 for gold and 1 for sapphires can't wait to have a crack at running some dirt sound like a good little pump do you run 98 petrol in the pumps thanks for your way set up with these pumps do you have to run a bit more angle on box

I use 98 unleaded, no problems here.