Issue link: http://psai.uberflip.com/i/1398793
PSAI Association Insight, August 4, 2021 I 7 An interesting story about the hazards of not properly monitoring the sludge level in a vacuum truck powered by the truck's engine manifold was found on the "Practical Machinist" website. A post from an operator in 2009 referenced an actual scenario that occurred when using this equipment in the 1960s. "The main tank was equipped with a clear tube to act as a sight gauge leading to the truck's engine. If the operator pays attention and knows what he is doing, the system works well. If there is a little overflow, the vacuum trap provides some protection. If the operator is not paying attention; the engine of the truck will completely shut down when the liquid reaches the pistons." The conclusion to this story is priceless. According to the poster: "At that point shooting the operator and burying the truck is recommended." Several other difficulties with these pumps were conveyed by a very dear friend of Roy, Bruce, and the entire PSAI, Hank Vanderveen, whom we lost last year. Hank shared several valuable insights points about the pre-PTO pumps in an article in the July 2015 issue of "Pumper Magazine." Hank recalled that "diaphragm pumps would pull vacuum from the engines of trucks. While driving down the road, the manifold would suck the air out of the tank, and by the time a driver arrived at the job site there would be 15 to 18 inches of vacuum at most. They didn't want to lose it either because it they did; it would take another 15 minutes to build up enough vacuum to handle a septic tank." Vanderveen continued, "One of the problems with this method is that cold air would constantly be hitting the valves of the truck and about once a year they'd have to do a complete valve job on the engines. So, when rotary vanes were introduced and the PTO pump only took a minute or two to build up enough vacuum to start pumping, that was quite an evolution." Pump Trucks: The Workhorses of Our Industry (continued from page 6) Born in 1937, Hank Vanderveen joined the industry in 1971 with Lely Tank & Waste Solutions and worked with Rovac Pump & Supply and Jay's Waste before joining Amthor in 2007. Bruce Curry called his friend Hank, "one of the finest people ever." Roy Coffey reiterates that feeling in the fact that he had known Hank "basically my whole career." In 2016, COLE Publishing awarded Hank Vanderveen the "Ralph Macchio Lifetime Achievement Award." In the November 2020 issue of "Pumper Magazine," COLE founder, Bob Kendall, said that "Hank always had a friendly smile, something nice to say and a willingness to help in any way." Personally, I echo Bob's thoughts. I always found Hank to be willing to share his knowledge, and his smile, whenever I interacted with him. (continued on page 8) he is now Product Manager and Consultant with American Tank Company (ATC). Bruce provides some excellent information regarding the impact that PTOs had on increased efficiency and decreased service time in pumping units. Random Thoughts and Remembrances: Pre-PTO Pumps Roy Coffey and Bruce Curry both shared that the early vacuum pumps in our industry were powered by a small pump on the intake manifold of the truck engine or by a belt from the truck crank shaft. Roy remembers two early pre-PTO pumps that were popular during that time. One was the Pearson Brothers, or PB Pump. Leland and Vern Pearson started the Pearson Brothers Company in 1961 and produced early vacuum pumps. Their impact in the first days of the industry resulted in Leland Pearson being honored in September 2004 as one of Pumper Magazine's "25 Industry Pioneers." The other popular pump was the Kaiser Moro Pump, which was offered by a European company that began designing and producing pumps and components in 1913. Roy stated that Lely Manufacturing had an interest in this company and that it had been also been called the "Lely Pump." Bruce Curry put the comparison between pre-PTO and PTO pumps into proper perspective. He relates that, "With the older pumps, a septic tank might take two hours to pump out. With a PTO pump, it was then closer to 20 minutes. I remember many times hearing stories where customers [being pumped for the first time by a PTO pump] would complain, 'there is no way my septic tank was pumped empty.' Once this was proven to the astonished customer, they then complained that they were being charged too much—the same charge for two hours of work that was now being done in a fraction of the time."