Vintage Windmill and Wind Generator Forum

Good day folks. Great forum y'all have here and a first time poster.

I am in the process of reworking the pump head and drop pipes on my windmill. The well itself is a shallow well with only 60 feet of drop pipe with the last 15 feet or so of that below the water table. Back in the day we used to raise BeefMaster cattle but now the well is just used to water the "wildlife" and a couple of trees.

Right, wrong or indifferent, I decided to use PVC for the drop pipe and I ended up buying Schedule 120, 1-1/2" pipe. I debated going with steel (which is what the original system had) but I went the PVC route mostly because I didn't want to deal with rust on the pipes (which is why I'm reworking the well in the first place). Hopefully the longevity of the PVC will be good, but as usual, only time will tell. The well is equipped with 7/16" steel sucker rods. The rods themselves are in good condition (just minor surface rust below the water line) so I'm going to keep those. Believe my dad had the rods replaced about 10 yrs ago.

Was searching through the forum to get feedback on rod guides and a potential source them, but it appears 7/16" guides are basically unicorns now! So I did what any other red-blooded former rancher would do... I'm having some made! To that end...I just sent off this design to have them "3D printed". Now before anyone goes off on this manufacturing method, 3D printing has come a long, long way over the years and parts can be extremely durable and high quality, it all depends on the material used and the printer!

Anywho... my real reason for being here is ask for feed back on this design. I designed the guide to capture the coupler nut and then have the sucker rods feed through top and bottom. I also left room for a wrench (pipe wrench, or otherwise) to used when tightening things up. This design "keeps" the guide in place and protects the coupler from wearing against the walls of the drop pipe (and hopefully the rods as well).

Soooo asking the braintrust here for thought and feedback on this design.

Thanks for listening...
Joe Smokey

PS: Here's a couple of videos to help visualize the design.

Joe , clever idea to help guide rods , Windy has been looking for someone to reproduce OEM spacers fot his needs so maybe he will look and share his professional thoughts .

I have basically gave up, but there is another on here who has had them printed, and are in the well working as we speak.I am waiting for updates on the wear factor, and how they perform. Smokey, I will send you a personal message informing you. You can compare notes maybe.

Also, The most common pipe around here is 1- 1/4 galvanized, but we have used 120 pvc also, in a 1- 1/4 size, due to conformity. I would hazard a guess that any guide used in 1- 1/4 can be used in 1- 1/2 with no problem. PM on the way....

Thanks for the info (and the PM) windybob... I should receive the guides by end of week or first thing next week. They were designed for 1-1/2" pipe so they'll fit. Time will tell if the material I choose will hold up!