What's On Your Engine #23? - LDH But No LDH Discharge
By President Mark Davis
March 5, 2026
While going through photos from our 2011 seminar in Dekalb County, Alabama, we found several images demonstrating how to use 5-inch large-diameter hose (LDH) when your pumper does not have an LDH discharge. This is not a new technique, but these photos serve as a useful reminder.
By connecting two smaller hoses from a pair of 2-1/2 inch discharges into an LDH appliance, flow is typically improved compared to attaching the LDH directly to a single 2-1/2 inch discharge. The Hammondville team successfully established a draft and supported a 1,000-gallon-per-minute tanker fill site by using short lengths of smaller hose to supply an LDH appliance.
If your pumper is not equipped with an LDH discharge but you carry LDH, it is important to preplan your hose layout to ensure maximum pumping efficiency.
A number of different appliances will work here. This one required the use of two, double-female adaptors - which were easily located.
Hammondville Engine 1 (1250 gpm) was able to draft and support a 1,000 gpm tanker loading site by twinning some smaller lines into the 5-inch LDH.
