Got your own well pump?

[hermetic]

I do but this is a new area for me. It's not working right and I need to pull it, about 200 feet worth. Anyone done this who could tell me how? I could Google it but I thought I'd start here with people I trust. I live way out so paying someone will be real pricey, on top of paying someone to fix the pump, so I thought it was something I could maybe do myself, the pulling.

Thanks and great appreciation to all you other rurals. It's the only way to live.

[Whoa_Nelly]

1. Contact your county

There may be info you can get from them, as well as finding out what the regs, if any, are, such as making sure there's no ground to water table contamination.

Good luck! Sounds like a pretty big job

[hermetic]

3. Thanks for your reply

I've always enjoyed your posts. Let's just say, I don't live in a "county." Or, "yes I've already done that."

I'm just looking for a graphic description of how this is done. I would guess using a winch but have heard it must be done by hand. I'm not saying I'm acutally going to do it myself, I just need to know what's involved.

[China_cat]

2. My grandfather was a well driller.

He also pulled and repaired pumps. The worst messes he ever saw were from people trying to do it themselves when they didn't know what they were doing. 'Penny wise and pound foolish'. Costs more to fix the problems than to have a pro do it in the first place. So please be careful.

Where do you live? Maybe I could recommend someone. My family still knows people in the business in western PA, Ohio and WV.

[hermetic]

4. Thank you China

I am around middle north new york. And I am willing to pay to have a job done right, but me and my friends here are used to doing most things for ourselves. When this came up, though, everyone is saying, "well, I've seen it done but never done it myself." So I thought I'd post it here in the event someone else has actually done the physical work.

I do appreciate your, and your grandfather's, input.

[China_cat]

8. No contacts in NY. Sorry.

But definitely find a driller in your area and at least ask. That's not a one-person job and you might be able to cut the cost of a pro by volunteering your labor for the scut work. (Buy heavy work gloves and be prepared to get extremely dirty)

[pscot]

5. 200 feet is a lot of pipe to handle alone

I saw this done on the tube. They clamped a set of roller jaws around the pipe and cranked it up out of the hole with a small motor, I believe. THe pipe was flexible and they were able to lay it down. Hard to imagine how one would handle a 60 foot column of metal pipe sticking straight up. I would at least talk to a local well guy. Ask your neighbors if they can recommend someone, or check with the local farm supply store. Somebody around there has had this done.

[LiberalEsto]

6. Try the Water Systems Council

Here's a link

http://www.watersystemscouncil.org/wellcare/infosheets.cfm

I helped revise and edit a couple of their publications last year

[murielm99]

7. We live in the country,

and have had this done a couple of times. We live on a hill, so the well has been struck by lightning a few times, frying the pump. Our homeowners insurance covered some of the costs. I don't think they will if you do it yourself.

A plumber did it for us. Rural plumbers are usually experienced in this.

Are you sure you have the equipment to do this? And will you know what do do when you find the problem?

We also do many things ourselves. Most people who grow up on farms know how to repair a number of things. I helped my husband repair a well pump on the farm that is away from our home place, but it was not quite as big a job, and we knew what was wrong before he pulled the pump.

In Illinois, if you open the well, you have to put a few gallons of bleach down the well before you put things back. It kills any germs and contamination that you may have inadvertently caused by opening the cover. It is a good idea to do that anyway, even if it is not the law, and then send a water sample to the state to make sure everything is okay. You can't use your water for a few days after putting the bleach in, and it will foam somewhat when you open the taps to flush them.

I would recommend calling a few plumbers before you do this. Wells are not complicated, but having the right equipment is important, and getting everything back the way is was can be tricky.

[ben_thayer]

9. Try this forum...

http://www.terrylove.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=4

Some of these guys have seen/done it ALL.
I just have a shallow well jet, and they have helped me a couple times.

[NV Whino]

10. Before you attempt to pull the pump

make sure it's not the electrical connection. Frequently earwigs get into the box and gum up the connections. Failing that, I would highly recommend calling a well company. They will have a truck with a crane to pull the pump straight up.

[tularetom]

11. I pulled one about 15 years ago. It was a submersible pump

and weighed about 150 lbs. We used a truck mounted crane that my son in law borrowed from from an auto mechanic. The kind they use to pull engines. Turned out the pump had to be replaced so the pump company put the new one in for us.

[hermetic]

12. Thank you, thank you

to all who replied. That was exactly the kind of info I was looking for. And the terrylove.com site, wow. There's a keeper. I'll be reading that all day.

Wishing you all a great weekend.

[LWolf]

13. Yes, but there is no way I'd pull it myself.

When I was married, I helped do so; my ex is a good mechanic and he kept the old well and pump running well.

On my own, though, I call the experts. This area doesn't do storage tanks; most wells pump directly into a pressure tank and into the house. Above ground tanks are hard to keep liquid in the hard winters and below ground cisterns are expensive to dig because of the ever-present layer of volcanic rock.

In my old place, if the pump went out we had 1500 gallons on a tower and could make do on a gravity feed while we fixed the pump. Here, all access to water stops. I keep the animal's troughs topped off in case of a power outage or pump problem, and call the guy who installed the pump to begin with.

I've only had to call him once; he was here within two hours and had it running in 30 minutes. It cost me about $130 all told, including parts, trip, and labor.

[hermetic]

14. Yeah, I'm gonna try to find

an installer.

I have a 60 gallon tank on a tower for summer use but it's getting around freezing and below here so it is drained. It's just me and my cat here so we don't need a lot of water. I would love to have a cistern and it is in my plans for the future.

Thanks for your reply LW, take care.

[Gregorian]

15. I just drilled a well. And I'm getting ready to install the pump.

I have a crane truck. But I am probably not going to use it. I'm going to rig up a plate that I can use to hold the well pipe with as I assemble things. You can do the same, but just in reverse. Pull up a section at a time, rest it on the plate, and disassemble things.

I checked with the driller about doing this by hand, and he was in complete agreement that it can be done by hand. He even confirmed that he had done 400 foot wells by hand. But I think there has to be a way to interrupt the process, or you get stuck trying to hold the mess up and work on it at the same time.

As for rebuilding submersibles, I've done it numerous times. But I also have an extensive mechanical background and shop. But all it takes is a bit of patience and paying attention to details. And a little common sense. But the reality is that the parts are the expensive part. The labor isn't more than a couple hundred bucks.

[Gregorian]

16. Hang on. I just learned more about pumps today.

I just got off the phone with a well driller who I know.

For a well that's 200 feet, he said to use 200psi Poly hose. This makes the installation super easy. No rigid pipe. Just assemble it on the ground. Insert the pump into the well, and lower it.

Now he said that you don't want to drop it all the way in. Leave it about 15% from the bottom. So he prescribes about 185 feet of hose.

Ta da! :) And now I'm off to go do it myself.

[newfie11]

17. Poly Hose

Yep that's what's in our well and it goes through the caseing. When the pump went out the plummer just pulled out the hose by hand and replaced the pump. You are right in that you do not want it sitting near the bottom of the well.

[ConcernedCanuk]

18. SAND - did it occur to you to mention

.
.
.

That your pump is working fine?

But

that after installing filters before and after your new pressure tank your new toilet still turns brown with silt from your water supply?

And the filter before the tank gets granular sand in it(instantly), while the filter after the tank turns brown with the finer silt?

And in your "quest" for experts on drilled wells - why not call the people that installed it - it is your purchase agreement, as well as stamped on the well casing in your yard - I believe that the phone # is stamped right on it - I am certain that the name of the company is.

If you don't know the name of the Company - I do - just ask me

[lepus]

19. Do you know something from the posts that we do not?

I would have offered basic troubleshooting to isolate the problem. You seem to have half stepped the problem and found what was wrong with a total lack of information to come at your conclusion.