barrel pumps

[MaxFlow]

I have a couple questions that I so far haven't been able to find, first, does a barrel pump keep the water in its shell after it has first been pumped, or does it leak back down, secondly, how long could the barrel be to use this type of pump, what I mean is, if I had three 55 gallon drums welded onto each other, and then I weld a longer suction pipe on the barrel pump, would it still work, and also is considsering a hydraulic pump the better of the barrel pump designs?

[DanG]

http://tinyurl.com/7alnp

Unless you add a check valve past the output nozzle they drain back down. Some of the higher output non-rotary piston types will stay primed for a few days; I've used alot of these http://tinyurl.com/dyscw, adding an extra 10 feet rise while the pump is new should be no problem.

Care to add any details on what should be worth your effort w/ this idea?