Bovaird & Seyfang Pumping Power - Introduction

This original Bovaird & Seyfang building, engine, and pumping power is one of the newest additions to the museum. The equipment is mounted inside the building and the engine has run.

Our exhibit is an example of a late model rod line power used for operating pumps at oil wells. Similar installations flourished during the 1940s and 1950s in the Bradford, Pennsylvania, oil field. Bovaird & Seyfang, a Bradford manufacturer, produced these “turnkey” installations where they constructed the buildings to their unique designs and provided the equipment. In their heyday, the area around Bradford was just covered with these installations.

The engine is a 40 hp Bovaird & Seyfang two-cycle model that was quite successful. It is direct coupled to the pumping power by a clutch. Designed for a long service life, the pumping power is very heavy and substantial. It features oil bath gears with a small plunger pump.

Bovaird & Seyfang originally constructed this building atop a hill, with the engine mounted level but with the pumping power placed at an angle to provide good geometry of the rod lines to wells down the hill. The museum's reconstruction maintains this arrangement. The building sits on the brow of the hill near Exley Station.

Please see the Reid Rod Line Pavilion on our Exhibits page for more information on the use of rod lines for pumping oil.  Also, see the July 2012 edition of The Flywheel for a description of pumping powers.