Garden Hydrant Helper Handle (Red)

I have three different types of Garden Hydrants on my property. I put most of them in back in the 80's and 90's so they are getting old and stiff...just like their owners.

This helping handle really makes a difference. I did find one of the red hydrants that had a raised ridge from the casting which would need to be smoothed for my handle to fit. But, that particular hydrant is working easily.

I printed three of these with “balanced strength” using PLA+ (red) and Rapid PETG (orange and yellow). You will see one with 1/4" bolts but I refined the others to use 10-24 x 1 inch bolts with nyloc nuts.

I found that with PLA+, the spline in the handle fit easily but with the PETG, it was a very tight fit. I put it together with a large C-clamp and the plastic tolerated the pressure very well. I don’t mind the tight fit since I won’t need to worry about the handle warping. If it starts to warp, I am prepared to add a piece of very large heat shrink tubing.

Note: I also have another version: Garden Hydrant Helper Handle (Green)