The journey to restore this pump has taken a long time - we had to organise casting of the cylinder end plates, the manufacture of the four valves and general routine repairs/maintenance.

Consisting of three main sections, it has been sandblasted and repainted.

This pump probably isn't unique, but there would be very few similar!

An 8" x 8" Forrers masterpiece and it is your choice on which side you mount the intake and the discharge.

Look at the size - look at the setup of the cylinders! There are no air chambers, nor are there any valve rubbers, no valve seats, and no springs! So ... how can it work? It had four solid, high-density rubber balls to replace all of the above. Try as we may, we could not find any way to produce the four balls needed. Instead, we have had four bronze balls made of the same size.

See the gallery images for detailed photos of the bull gear and pinion & images of the full pump displayed. We have just taken delivery of the shiny, magic bronze valves on which this pump is dependent complete with the machining "off-cuts".

To provide a better understanding of the dimensions of this pump, the following are some of its vital stats:

• Height to Top of Gearbox Lifting Point - 80 cm
• Pulley Diameter - 76 cm
• Gearbox Housing Length - 108 cm
• Mid-Section Length - 46 cm
• Gland Nut Outside Diameter - 12.5 cm
• Shaft - 4 cm x 1 m length
• Centre Plate & Piston Plates depth - 3 cm

Note: The main gear had three teeth that had been chipped. These have now been repaired and are specifically shown in the first four photos below. The other two gearbox photos are to make sure that you can appreciate the wonderful condition that this pump is in.

We can't say too much about this pump because we don't know its history - and it can't tell us.

Our Forrers information says that they have:

• A head of 150 feet
• At 25 & 45 strokes per minute (125 & 225 rpm at the pump) they will deliver 4,200 - 7,560 gallons per hour.
• Needs between a 5 and 10 hp  to drive them to the maximum head

Now that it has been sandblasted, we have found a date on the back of the pump and a serial number - it is E23 and the date, which we can only assume is the manufacture date, is 28 April 1942 (about the middle of World War II). Just imagine the factory and the equipment which made this pump at that time. But, importantly, we had it fully restored well in time for its 80th birthday celebrations in April 2022.

Shown in these photos are two vital parts - one of them is the original balls that operated the pump. They were approximately 4" to 5" in diameter and made from extremely dense and heavy rubber - it would seem that they fill the role normally done by the valves and springs, etc. We had the rubber tested and were told that it is the same density as that used in the heavy earthmoving truck tyres etc. The other vital part is the end plate for each of the four cylinders - they are cast to bolt onto each cylinder with a rounded extrusion to allow the balls the rise and fall. Unfortunately, we inherited only two balls and one end plate. We have had three more end plates cast and have now added four balls machined from solid brass bar as shown in the photos.

Now that it is fully restored, you have the opportunity to own/use/display this masterpiece - and, no doubt, you will hear the "Wish I had that" regrets expressed by all who see her!!