# Those "nodding" oil pumps scattered about the oil fields **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 9, 2024, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-nodding-oil-pumps-scattered-about-the-oil-fields/995838 "2024-01-09T18:03:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2024, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-nodding-oil-pumps-scattered-about-the-oil-fields/995838/1 "2024-01-09T18:03:27Z")
There aren’t too many here in Ohio but I notice an occasional one when driving the back roads. Not many of them are running, though. They are officially known as pump jacks it seems.Most use an electric motor if they are near to power lines. They can also be powered by internal combustion engines. I bought an old Onan engine to use on a project years ago. It had an attached clutch just like an automotive clutch with a lever to engage the output shaft. Instead of a typical 1 or 2 quart oil capacity this engine had a 9 quart capacity! The folks on the Onan forum were impressed as they are quite hard to find. They are used on the pump jacks and will run by themselves for months at a time with an occasional inspection. Anyway I was just reminiscing about some pump jacks I used to see in western PA in the early 1970s. Probably one of the last batch of the original way they worked. There was a small central building with the motor inside which turned a large horizontal eccentric flywheel. Around the edge of the flywheel were numerous couplings. Each coupling was attached to a long rod about an inch in diameter. Each rod ran to a separate pump jack and the entire mechanism ran at once with the jacks politely nodding in turn. The rods had support frames every so often. The one I remember had rods up to maybe 100 yards longs. It was never running when I saw they. They were on the south side of the PA Turnpike not too far from Ohio. Close to that little church that had a freaking cross walk across the turnpike lanes with small ladders to get over the center barrier. Here is one running, what a majestic contraption!! [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfTfmGIVl4c](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfTfmGIVl4c) Here is the church: [https://archive.triblive.com/news/turnpike-work-may-alter-course-for-unusual-roadside-church-in-new-baltimore/](https://archive.triblive.com/news/turnpike-work-may-alter-course-for-unusual-roadside-church-in-new-baltimore/) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2024, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-nodding-oil-pumps-scattered-about-the-oil-fields/995838/2 "2024-01-09T18:20:39Z")
Cool machine. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2024, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-nodding-oil-pumps-scattered-about-the-oil-fields/995838/3 "2024-01-09T18:59:29Z")
I grew up close to a number of oil fields and have never seen anything like that. I’m guessing that those wells were not terribly deep. Most of the pump jacks around here that are still in operation are now powered by electric motors. But when I was a kid growing up in the country, virtually all of the numerous jacks in the vicinity were powered by one-cylinder engines, powered by natural gas from nearby wells. Some of those engines were over 500 cubic inches. Most, however, were in the 200 or 300 cubic inch range. On a calm night, we could hear several of those engines pop-pop-popping from several miles away. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2024, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-nodding-oil-pumps-scattered-about-the-oil-fields/995838/4 "2024-01-09T20:10:42Z")
Sounds like they might have been hit-and-miss engines. POP…wheeeeeze…wheeeeze… wheeze…POP! ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2024, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-nodding-oil-pumps-scattered-about-the-oil-fields/995838/5 "2024-01-09T20:20:56Z")
Your second link takes me to somewhere strange and confusing. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2024, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-nodding-oil-pumps-scattered-about-the-oil-fields/995838/6 "2024-01-09T20:42:35Z")
There used to be a decorated collection of these pumpjacks\* (called “The Iron Zoo” in the central California oil fields. I picked up a series of postcards of them from the excellent R.C. Baker Museum in Coalinga. [![](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53454319160_f2e03463c8_z.jpg) ](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53454319160_f2e03463c8_z.jpg) \*also known as nodding donkeys, pumping units, horsehead pumps, beam pumps, sucker rod pumps, grasshopper pumps, thirsty birds ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2024, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-nodding-oil-pumps-scattered-about-the-oil-fields/995838/7 "2024-01-10T02:03:08Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > I bought an old Onan engine… I think those are for a different sort of pumping. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2024, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-nodding-oil-pumps-scattered-about-the-oil-fields/995838/8 "2024-01-10T02:59:45Z")
Have some down the road from me. The pump runners are out more than you think. Those and billet haulers are the usual traffic on my road. Some nights I can hear them. Wouldn’t wanna live closer. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2024, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-nodding-oil-pumps-scattered-about-the-oil-fields/995838/9 "2024-01-10T15:24:14Z")
Southern Arkansas has that style oil pump. El Dorado (and surrounding area) was an oil boom town in the 1920’s. My maternal grandad worked in the oil fields for over forty years. His last job was as a Pumper. They did repairs keeping the nodding pumps working. My grandad had a home in the oil fields and would go out at night to fix them. The silence from a stopped well would wake him at night. His house was owned and provided by the oil company.They got raw natural gas off the wells for heating and cooking. The oil company offered some of the wells for sale in the 1950’s. Their production had dropped significantly. Unfortunately my grandad decided against buying the mineral rights to one. Now that area is being mined for Lithium. It’s revitalizing a lot of those old towns and creating new jobs. Smackover is where my grandad lived and worked. > **[Arkansas Smackover Lithium Project, Arkansas, USA](https://www.nsenergybusiness.com/projects/arkansas-smackover-lithium-project/)** > > The Arkansas Smackover lithium project, also known as the Lanxess lithium project, is the flagship project of Standard Lithium. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2024, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-nodding-oil-pumps-scattered-about-the-oil-fields/995838/10 "2024-01-10T15:41:46Z")
The videos magically recommended for me by Google included one with a hit-and-miss engine. Those were neat little devices that could run at pretty low RPMs eliminating the need for a lot of reduction gearing. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2024, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-nodding-oil-pumps-scattered-about-the-oil-fields/995838/11 "2024-01-10T16:48:53Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > .They got raw natural gas off the wells for heating and cooking. How does that work, they cap the well and attach a pressure regulator? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2024, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-nodding-oil-pumps-scattered-about-the-oil-fields/995838/12 "2024-01-10T17:10:03Z")
I’m not sure. I was a young kid at the time. I remember my grandads gas appliances would get fouled by the raw natural gas. At that time it was simple gas space heaters and gas stoves with a manually lit pilot. Easy to service. I doubt modern gas appliances would tolerate that supply without being ruined. Natural gas is a by product from oil wells. You’ll see pipes with flames burning off the natural gas when you drive through the oil fields. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2024, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-nodding-oil-pumps-scattered-about-the-oil-fields/995838/13 "2024-01-10T17:41:14Z")
Ah, casinghead gas. Yep, those flames put off a lovely natural glow and a foul stench. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2024, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-nodding-oil-pumps-scattered-about-the-oil-fields/995838/14 "2024-01-10T17:50:30Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Natural gas is a by product from oil wells. You’ll see pipes with flames burning off the natural gas when you drive through the oil fields. A Texas school tapped into one of those lines during the Great Depression – with disastrous results. > **[“Oh, My God! It’s Our Children!”](https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/oh-my-god-its-our-children/)** > > On March 18, 1937, the residents of New London, southeast of Tyler, endured the worst small-town tragedy in U.S. history: an explosion at the combined junior-senior high school that killed some three hundred students and teachers. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2024, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-nodding-oil-pumps-scattered-about-the-oil-fields/995838/15 "2024-01-10T17:55:10Z")
Wow, that’s bad. There were some families in the oil fields that died when the gas supply momentarily cut off and then back on. The gas space heaters lost their flame and poured gas into the house. Safety regs were much different then. It required a big tragedy like the Tyler area school to get the public’s attention. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2024, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-nodding-oil-pumps-scattered-about-the-oil-fields/995838/16 "2024-01-10T18:54:32Z")
This thread reminded me of the Power House and rodlines that powered the wells. Scary equipment. No fences. It was directly across the road from my grandfather’s house. He worked on that equipment almost every day. My mom and her sisters played there. Thankfully they didn’t get hurt. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/dlKDnlDmjao/maxresdefault.jpg "Oil Field Bandwheel Central Power Part 3") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlKDnlDmjao) ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2024, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-nodding-oil-pumps-scattered-about-the-oil-fields/995838/17 "2024-01-10T19:01:34Z")
You can see how the rodlines connected to the wells. Seems primitive now. But this equipment was used for several decades. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/CLlrH0OS4N4/maxresdefault.jpg "Oil Field Bandwheel Central Power Part 4") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLlrH0OS4N4) ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2024, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-nodding-oil-pumps-scattered-about-the-oil-fields/995838/18 "2024-01-10T19:15:03Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I remember my grandads gas appliances would get fouled by the raw natural gas. We had ‘raw’ natural gas from an oil/gas well 200 yards from our house. Never had an issue with our furnace, hot water heater, or oven/stove. > [@aceplace57](#): > > Natural gas is a by product from oil wells. You’ll see pipes with flames burning off the natural gas when you drive through the oil fields. Not all oil wells produce natural gas. And most gas wells do not produce oil. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2024, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-nodding-oil-pumps-scattered-about-the-oil-fields/995838/19 "2024-01-10T19:33:31Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > Here is one running, what a majestic contraption!! > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfTfmGIVl4c](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfTfmGIVl4c) Interesting machine, but where is the oil supposed to go? I don’t see any pipe to carry it away; looks like it just pools on the ground around the well. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2024, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-nodding-oil-pumps-scattered-about-the-oil-fields/995838/20 "2024-01-10T19:34:32Z")
I guess it varies from different oil fields. I’m only familiar with the one my grandfather worked. He could have made more money by traveling to other oil camps in Oklahoma and Texas. But he never wanted to disrupt his family. I was too young to fully appreciate his work. My cousins were teenagers and he took them with him when he made rounds. They learned more about what he did. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-nodding-oil-pumps-scattered-about-the-oil-fields/995838.md?page=2)