Homesteaders may be interested in learning about Archimedes Screw water irrigation method as a way of delivering water up from a natural running water source up into their irrigation ditches to water crops.  It can be hand cranked in an off the grid situation or run with a electric generator to turn the crank.

An Archimedes screw water irrigation method is still used in many parts of the world to raise water from rivers and canals to force it upwards until it poured out at a higher level to irrigate crops and fill water storage systems. The bottom of the screw is placed in the water fixed at both ends by rods seated in vertical support beams, catching the water in the ‘threads’ of the screw and winds it up to the top pouring a continuous flow of water out as it is cranked. The volume of water dis­charged tends to decrease as the angle of inclination becomes more vertical. The water screw is generally used for relatively low lifts of about one to four feet.

LOOK BELOW the ad for the rest of the article….

Homesteaders could use the Archimedes screw water irrigation method instead of endless hours of hard manual labor of hauling water up in heavy buckets.

This ingenious innovation is still used in many parts of the world to irrigate small cultivated areas and by people choosing to live off the grid.

Plant harvesters are a horizontal Archimedes Screw. The twisting motion of the screws pulls up the plants then the screw transports plants into a bin.

Click here to read more about Archimedes Screw Water Irrigation Method:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archimedes%27_screw

.

This video explains how the Archimedes Screw works for the first minute and 11 seconds but after that I quit watching it.