October 27, 1999 Gusher Pumps – Pumped Up ​| Industry Today

Volume 2 | Issue 6

Ohio-based Gusher Pumps continues to meet a variety of applications from customized design for everything from clean water to molten metal.

The marketing strategy of Gusher Pumps, a leading manufacturer of centrifugal pumps, is based upon a versatile approach to customer requirements. While many in the pump industry produce standard models and sizes, few will engineer units to meet the growing need for custom designs. With more than 11,000 design variations listed in its catalog, Gusher is ready and willing to meet unusual applications with innovative engineering.

For more than 80 years, Gusher, with headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio, has been providing solutions for a diversity of industries as a division of Ruthman Pump and Engineering Inc., a company established in 1913 to provide mechanical maintenance for steamboats on the Ohio River.

Founder Alois Ruthman, looking to expand into the machine tool industry, saw a need for high quality, reliable industrial coolant pumps. In 1924 he introduced the first vertical ball bearing sealless centrifugal pump and called it the “Gusher”. His new company adopted that trade name and has progressed to the point of serving a worldwide market with one of the largest selections of centrifugal pumps available from a single manufacturer.

A Family Profession and a Professional Family

Thomas R. Ruthman joined his father’s company in 1949 at age 16 and is now president and owner, but the firm maintains that the term “family business” also encompasses the more than 200 employees whose loyalty, commitment and teamwork philosophy have contributed to its success. In the last eight decades, many have passed their expertise from generation to generation at the Kentucky plants in Dry Ridge and Williamstown as well as an assembly facility in Cudahy, Ca. Stocking warehouses are maintained at the three plants and in New Castle, Ind.

A global network of sales and service representatives and strategically located distributors with repair shops ensure prompt response to customer inquiries and problems. Instant information has become accessible with Gusher’s recent inauguration of an on-line downloadable price book and the availability of Gusher’s electronic pump selection program. The warehouse stock list is also available on Gusher’s web site at www.gusher.com and is updated daily.

Diversity is the Key Word

Gusher Pump’s customer list gives evidence of its ability to meet an extensive range of applications in a wide array of industries. American Airlines, Anheuser-Busch, Ford Motor, Toyota, E.I. Dupont and Maytag are a few of the thousands of companies in North America, Europe, Asia and South and Central America who have availed themselves of Gusher’s hydraulic skills. The firm’s pump catalogs also depict the extensive scope of its line with motor sizes ranging from 1/25 to 250 horsepower for applications as far apart as film developing fluids transfer and municipal water systems.

The Gusher 7071 Series pumps are horizontal with open impellers and meet ANSI dimensions. Some models, using an optional dynamic seal repeller, do not require expensive mechanical seals.

The 7550 Series is designed for heavy duty industrial applications such as spray washers and paint and cooling systems with capacities to 4,000 GPM and total dynamic heads to 275 feet .

The vertical, top pull-out 7600 series models greatly simplify pump removal and the Molten Metal Series is designed to handle lead, babbitt, solder, tin, zinc and other liquefied metals and salts at up to 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit.

The Gusher centrifugal line also includes self-priming units, a seal-less immersion design, high-pressure multi-stage units, solid and slurry-handling Vortex pumps, truck pumps and replacement coolant pumps for imported machine tools. Vertical and horizontal gear pumps, with capacities to 36 GPM and pressures to 1,000 PSI, can handle a variety of fluids from alcohol to molasses.

Total Quality Management

Quality is an integral function of every department at Gusher which operates under the stringent provisions of ISO-9001, an international standard of excellence covering all phases of order handling through engineering, manufacture and field service, and requiring rigorous training and inspections for continued compliance.

At Gusher’s modern research and development center in Dry Ridge, Kentucky new models are continuously being created using computer assisted design, and tested to meet the needs of a progressive market where innovation is in constant demand.

Further evidence of Gusher’s heavy investment in quality is a state-of-the-art testing facility which has just been completed at the same site and which will provide greater precision in the testing of motor drives and pumps.

A modulating inverter motor control can be programmed to function in four different operating zones: standard constant torque; standard variable torque; quiet constant torque and quiet variable torque. Other modes can also be configured to meet customer preferences.

A 4-20 milliamp signal actuators control the discharge flow rate, and inlet and outlet pressures are measured by A 4-20 milliamp signal gauges. Motor temperatures are analyzed using a thermal coupling. National Instruments Labview software gathers the various data, analyzes it and presents it through interactive graphical panels. All test data is stored on a hard disk for future reference.

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