Hard to put a number on this job. You helped the customer out in a not so fortunate situation.. most companies would have said drill a new hole. If that’s not a option for the customer financially they’d pack up and go on to the next one. Time is money, and the labor alone has far exceeded what it would have taken to drill a new hole and install. Like I said hard to put a number on it. Most would have stayed away but you chose the harder option and fixed their problem unconventionally. GREAT JOB. You are good people sir.
It's always great to see a professional try everything possible to save a customer money. You don't often see that and that's what makes you and your family special.
It’s not even that. A lot of the time it may not be a cost effective thing for the consumer to try certain things. Because they’re in financially for a possibility. An if it turns up as a no go. Than it’s a new whatever or start completely over. Than the time involved with the possibility that happened not to go good. That can be applied to any business. A this day an age. Some just aren’t willing to gamble on a possibility.
I'm a homeowner (with a well - constant pressure pump) and an engineer. I really enjoy your real world perspective. I'm surprised that you don't want to leave the rope in so you can pull it tight, where it won't (as you said) wrap around something. Although it would not sit nicely to the side, would it? I suppose weird things can happen down inside a few inch diameter pipe, so you've probably seen things that theory doesn't predict. I was looking forward to your sending down a smaller pipe to jet the hole clean!
Man, when the customer said "I dont know why it was put so damn deep in the first place"..because he was the one that did it an you said "Yeah, who knows?" LOL....
Old farmer here but I've run into a couple stuck pumps in my day, one mine and two friends. I sharpened a u-bolt and attached it to a metal pipe and then added enough rope long enough to reach the pump stuck in casing. You slide sharpened u-bolt over plastic water pipe and lower down until you hit top of pump. Give the rope a few hard pulls and you'll cut right through the water line leaving pump in casing while pulling water line out. We had plenty of water above pump stuck in casing that allowed us to put new pump on top of old pump. I did my well like this in 1999 and it's still working to this day, even watering several head of cattle and horses daily. Can't say it'll work for everyone but when you're facing last resort you have nothing to lose.
Luck was on our side, one well we did only had 2" of water above the replacement pump. The bad pump started coming up and just stopped, wouldn't budge up or down. My buddy said let's try, I had zero faith it would work but it did.
Get you a little solar panel for that crane trailer. 10W panel is all you need. I have one on my flatbed car hauler and I have not touched the battery for 8 years.
I have had a few wells here in the Texas Panhandle that have silted in, and the pump or pump cylinder on windmills was stuck. I took air compressor and dropped a weighted air hose and lowered it to bottom of well into silt and sand cut air on. And just used air pressure in the casing to blow silt loose, and the pumps came free but of course our conditions might be totally different from yours. Like your videos. 👍👍👍👍👍
Great suggestion, I definitely would have a concern about leaving a pump down in a well. Those things do contain oil, I've heard about broken pumps leaving a well contaminated with oil.
I have discovered that customer satisfaction is paramount.. more than a dozen times I've sacrificed a few hours of my time and made repeating customers that made me dividends on those few hours it cost me.. Word of mouth advertising is priceless man.. priceless. Next thing ya know ive got their parents, and cousins and uncles all calling me. Especially in a tiny town like mine.. But I understand where you're coming from i guess 🤷♂️
I had to pull my pump out after it had been down for 2 days.... not an experience I am in a hurry to repeat.. I had totally under estimated the weight ,,,,,pump + 65 meters of pipe full of water + heavy 4 core cable + 6mm stainless rope.. any fool should have known it would be heavy! I had to rig up a pulley system and pull it with my tractor,, all the while thinking "my new pump is going to fall off in my new well jamming everything up requiring a new well"... love the crane... I dont know how I arrived at your channel..but loving the content..
I live in northern Maryland. Going rate for pump, wire and pipe replacement is $6500. Specialized equipment like the crane with an operator on site @ $1700 per day. Whether it runs or not. Crane for 4 days =$6800. Total for this job $13300. I take my hat off to you and the team for your efforts to save that hole.
Who did you use? I live in Maryland, and my family owns Phillips & Son Drilling Inc. Water Wells & Pump Services, Ginn's Water Pumps & Drilling and Cline & Duvall Well Drilling. We own our own crane trucks for this purpose, along with specialized tools we have fabricated for stuck well pumps.
@@randywilson6869 Yeah seriously I'm going to well drilling school and buying a drilling rig and maybe Elon will loan me his boring machine for side jobs. Good lord have mercy.
Congrats on that new toy you got there. I can't speak for other well companies but I'm not sure many of them go the extra mile like y'all did for these folks. That's pretty damn special. Thanks again for another great video and the long video. I could have watched this for an hour or more. Having lived up north for many years (live in Florida now ) and working in cold weather I know what bone chilling is. God bless you all.
Your knowledge and effort is incredible, plus the new equipment, shows the professionalism you and your crew have. Your videos are very good, your explanations brilliant, this one not the usual type, really interesting, could see a $10000 bill here with no overcharging, WORTH EVERY DOLLAR
I found your channel about two weeks ago. I love it. My dad did the same. Just 90 degrees off. 😂. He had 5 TBMs. It is amazing how different the equipment and methods are. You hit rock, you power through it. He hit rock, the dynamite or 30-06 came out. Yes, 30-06 with armor piercing shells. A small hole was 6". A large hole with a TBM was 52". Largest was 96" in diameter. Two men in the pipe hand digging in front of the pipe. As a kid, I was in that pipe. It was the experience of a life time.
Reminds me of pulling stuck crap out of my oil wells. Pulling with between 70-100k lbs of force. Thanks for sharing your experience and expertise, it definitely will come in handy when I hang on my old water well in the mountains that has just been sitting and never been produced.
You're one of my best subscriptions. Thank you for your content. I gotta ask... Could you have sent another pipe down there and pressure jet water around the pump to loosen the sediment? Thanks! Edit: I see you already thought of that! I spoke too soon. Bravo!
Love these videos of the pump install and-or repair. I've done some of this type of work when I worked for Culligan. I loved the experience of filters and pump work
On your remote, the + and - under the creep function will speed up and slow down your creep speed from 0- 50 % line speed, hold the creep up or down and also press the + or - depending on if you want it faster or slower. Also the reason your anchor point you hit your head on is mounted like that, remember most rigs are on trucks and a lot taller, I have a 2020 6T mounted on a F-450 and I can just reach to unhook my cables, I am only 5'6" tall.
I don’t have an idea of what it would cost but the video shows your honesty and that’s worth a lot. Since I couldn’t do the job, I’d say probably 10 to 15,000. Thanks for sharing the video.
The screen does what it does on the old camera because it's a traditional CRT; so occasionally your camera gets off sync with the electronbeam and you're catching most of the screen between refresh. This doesn't happen on your newer one because it's an LCD display.
Went through something like this about 15 years ago with grandma's well. Naturally it happened in January, here in N. IL.....pump (installed in '85) was stuck at 40' in a 185' 25 gpm well, which was buried about 3' deep. The sch 40 male adapter they glued to the sch 80 well pipe couldn't take the strain and split in half, leading to a no water call. Long story short, we ended up getting what amounted to a giant EZ out in the top of the pump, and proceeded to lift the front of the well company's 2.5 ton crane truck about 3' off the ground pulling on it, never getting more than a few small pieces after successively more violent attempts eventually ripping the EZ out loose and resetting it a few times.....3 week long ordeal short, ended up with their drilling rig out there, which was not too dissimilar to yours. Tried to push the pump down. Nothing. Ended up drilling through the pump, then went all the way to the bottom with no other issues.
Hunke doesn't have that hook welded higher because that hoist is mainly designed to be on a cab and chassis truck. Your trailer is probably quite a bit lower to the ground
Watching you're video on the "stuck pump" , and you are talking about the temperature being 30 degrees. Where I live in Wisconsin it was minus 22 degrees this morning, 1-21-2025.
@paulmorphew1520 I paid one to install a pump a couple of weeks later it started working sporadically. He wanted to "try to clean the well" said if that didn't work he would knock the cleaning fee off a new well. A different driller quoted me a new well cheaper than the cleaning fee. Pulled pump to put it in the new well and all three wires were loose on the pump. I'm not sure if that's attempted robbery or not but it seems close
@@davidjustice1848 That should be against the law. Price gouging at its best. Have the same problem in my county with getting a survey. Only 2 or 3 companies and they have the market tied up. Was quoted $8400 for an acre and a half.. No one should be able to do this to people.
I'm thinking as customer friendly as you are, you're probably going to be at or under 3k all said and done. My first time watching your channel. I really appreciate the narrative. It helps understanding the why and how parts.
I have the same problem you do with charging customers high prices. I can't control the price of the materials, but I can choose items that are less expensive to keep the costs down for them. I make sure that the materials are at least a good quality though. Now on the other hand, I still get a lot of kickback from some customers, no matter how much I save them, they want it even cheaper. My usual reply to them is that I can remove everything and let them find someone else that will do it for less. I'm an electrician, and I know my prices are the cheapest in my area, so good luck with that.
I used to install well pumps and drill wells back in the early eighties. We used a truck mounted crane that looked just like yours and set everything on 1" galvanized steel pipe. I can tell you that a 1000' of pipe, pump, and wire was heavy. I would have to use the small drum at that point, for deep wells more than 700'. I had the hoist cable on the small drum for power and shallow wells on the big side to speed up the cable. I also had a hoop at the top of the mast and when pulling pumps we used a sliding lift collar on the coupling. Lift 21' foot up and then clamp the pipe, then slack it down to rest it on the casing, slide the cable and lift collar back down the pipe . Rehook it below the next coupling and lift the next joint up while guiding the top of the first pipe into the hoop at the top of the crane mast. Pull the next piece up and clamp the pump pipe at the casing again and set it down, unscrew the next coupling and then lift and set these two coupled joints off on a piece of plywood on the ground and it is then racked in the boom for storage. Rinse and repeat, this sped up pump replacement with steel pipe by more than double. We never used plastic pipe for pumps or casing. I drilled wells with small cable tool rig on a 5 ton military 6x6 that would go anywhere and with a big Ingersoll Rand T4 air rotary on a single front axle crane carrier that got stuck everywhere. That beast was a nightmare, 63000 lb. on three axles, and a Jimmy diesel 453 with no power for the truck power. The T4 used 25', 4 1/2" drill stem, 300' racked on the rig and tri cone 6" bit for most of the drilling in the blue sandstone here in Western Oregon. Sometimes we had to switch to the carbide hammer in basalt. We also had a big casing hammer when drilling in sand a gravel. Your channel brings back many memories of my youth!
I've worked in high capacity water wells for 16 yrs in the municipal and agricultural wells. We have big problems with pumps overgrown with sandstone around here after 20 yrs or so. Only so much you can do. Many times we'll pull threads on 10" threaded pipe trying to pull them out, or we'll rip the shaft driven pump to pieces. We do what we can.
have you are can you do a video on the proper way to grout a new well? i getting ready to dig a well for new home. seem to me i see a lot of different ways it done. properly are not. i live in the smith mountain lake area thanks.
I'm not a well guy so this might be a stupid idea. Drop in black plastic pipe all the way to the bottom, then blow in water or compressed air to stir up the sediment around the pump. Would that work to release the pump?
My thoughts also from a "like to see what happens" perspective. I imagine that the pump is not worth much and would have to be replaced anyway. Phillip, I would like to have seen the end game even though we've seen it before. There always seems to be something new along the way. I'd like to have seen what the water looked like.
@@Timoohz What would happen if they had put water or air down the original pipe was my question too. Would the original pump let enough through to help break the pump free? Or is there some kind of one way valve at the top of the pump that prevents it. Hope they see the comment and answere the question.
Last well I did we had a rock bottom in the well we used a 3 foot pipe clamped to the pump and set her solidly on the rock .I used a 1/4 inch stainless steel cable on the pump and anchored it to the well seal to insure easy recovery . I refused to use black poly like this well ,I use steel or 120 schedule pvc pipe with stainless couplers. You need a air compressoer on the crane trailer with a reel with 400 feet of hose,In this case like this you can pump air and agitate the well to try and loosen the pump.
It’s been 10 years since we put our pump in. Now I am wondering if I should pull it and check the depth and move the pump higher to stay away from the bottom. Great job getting that one to the point of being able to reuse the hole!
Do the pumps have a back flow preventer in them or installed just above the pump? If not couldn't you force water back through the pipe to release the suction.. I thought the backflow valve was up near the top
It's great when you get to say "I Win". Wonder if a guy could connect a concrete vibrator to the pipe while under strain to help loosen it up and work through the muck or would it make it worse?
24:25, instead of a half hitch on a bight, how about a figure eight or a bowline on a bight? Both are stronger knots. (Haven't used that term for a long time, means on a loop of the rope, instead of with the end.)
Here in Wisconsin, I just had a pump fail in a 60 foot well and it cost me $2k, but some of that cost was because it was on a Sunday... The installer also had a crane which made everything pretty easy and quick
If you have the time you should look up how different knots lessen the strength of a line it can lessen the working strength by half or more.. I would think that to have the greatest chance of breaking it at the bottom you might consider using a shackle with tape or rubber around it on the hook to cover any sharp edges and then make a half of dozen wraps of line around the shackle barrel.
As a sailor, this was my first thought when I saw him tying overhand knots to attach the rope to the crane hook. And yes, that poly rope really likes to stretch! I'm amazed at the amount of time and labor y'all put into this for the $ you charged. Out here in the PNW, it seems like just getting a tradesperson out is a minimum of $1k. $4500 for several days' worth of labor plus your equipment seems like a serious gift to the homeowner. You're a really good person! Down to reminding the homeowner that he can recover a little $ on the scrap copper...
How much pull does that crane have? I had a pump stuck in the well just like that one. Ended up with a new well but now I wonder if I could have just pulled out the pipe like that and saved 10k
I know nothing about wells, but i understand the concept. I'm curious if the pump is stuck at the bottom, could you force air down that water pump hose to help loosen the sediment?
From an Engineers perspective, it would be helpful to have a strain gage, possibly digital readout of the tension on the line when you pull. Then if the pump releases from the sleeve you could watch the stress go down and strain go down. Would be safer too.
I started watching a couple in Oklahoma that has a crane truck like this and they pull windmills good chanle too. I learned a lot on windmills and pumps
When your slammed up against the casing with the drop pipe, instead of extending the boom to center up, you can always try to add some outrigger left/right to lean the boom to center up on the casing?
Love your videos. I have a well and have learned so much watching your videos. Where is the best place to put a water filter, before or after the pressure tank.?
I never thought of it could you get a blaster to put a charge down in the poly pipe at the pump to cut pump loose pull the pipe and wire and rope? set new pump above the old one.
I’m not a well driller so my thoughts and opinions really hold no weight. My thought once the wire and pipe were out of the hole would have tried to flush well for awhile to see if the old pump and rope would come out. I personally would not want to use the well now that there is an old pump and rope still on the bottom. This is only my opinion though and again I’m not a well driller so this maybe very normal under the situation with the customer. Great video and thanks again for all the wealth of knowledge and information. I have learned “So” much on this channel.
I wonder if you could use one of those pressure washers. They used for clean inside of pipe like rotor rooter down in . Disturb all that soil around that pump.
Is there a way to vibrate the pipe when under strain to help loosen the sediments around the pump? Just a thought for future reference. Thanx for the last part about pumping all the junk out of the well before you hook it to the house. I was wondering how you were going to clear all the floaties out of the water before plugging the house water filter. Keep the videos coming.
Hi, just one question, why don't you use a compressor or an air lift to loosen the sediment at the bottom of the well, then you would have to remove the pump, at least it has always helped us. of course, if the well is not completely collapsed
After pulled the pipe out i would have liked to see what the hold up was if you had a camera to send down that would have been very interesting for someone who does not do this kinda work but yet has a home also
This was a great video I'm going to say pump and materials 3K Labor 1K per day for 2 Men Mobilization 1K Crane $750 a day running or not. Total $11,000+
Been waiting for this vid. Given all the time on the site plus the parts I'm guessing $3000. Just as a point of reference, finished wells cost $75+ per foot where I live. Most wells here are in the 350+ foot range. Typical 400' finished well/pump costs $35K not including the 5000 gallon storage tank and associated boost pump. Edit: Just read that he charged about $4500 ................ which is still a crazy good deal for the customer. Glad to see Phil is charging enough to keep the biz going well.
SE PA. Bought the house from the builder 32 years ago. Well is 215 ft drilled; pump @ 185 ft. Pump has only been pulled once for a failing check valve. Every other mechanical system has already been replaced once or more. Am I living on borrowed time for the pump?
Had my 650 foot well collapse, pump stuck at 450. Broken pitless, couldn’t pull it out. New 650 foot hole was dry, had to zone frack it. 31K. Fun times.
I have used high pressure high volume water down a well to dislodge a silted in pump and to clear french drains. Blow the water in until it is full and then recirculate the water until the silted probably has loosened
Could you hook up pressurized water to the line and push water down to the pump and pull up while pumping water to try to flush the sediment out? (Edit: didn’t think about a back flow valve might be on the pump)
Where I am at the cost local would be around 5k at best I am sure. That being said, as one poster has already said, most if not all drillers would say new hole. My well is 520 with pump around 480 and water up to around 280. If mine sits in, time to move!
What if you got another pipe to the bottom and pumped water in would it back flow the crap off the bottom and out the top and release the existing pump?
All my neighbors wells are between 100 to 300 feet and the 300 hit salt water. My 80 year old uncle witched mine and he said drill here about40 feet they hit water at 45 and drilled to 55 and the well is 30 years old and I just replaced the pump and still have water. The driller said I was crazy to believe in him. I believe.
Hard to put a number on this job.
You helped the customer out in a not so fortunate situation.. most companies would have said drill a new hole. If that’s not a option for the customer financially they’d pack up and go on to the next one. Time is money, and the labor alone has far exceeded what it would have taken to drill a new hole and install. Like I said hard to put a number on it. Most would have stayed away but you chose the harder option and fixed their problem unconventionally. GREAT JOB. You are good people sir.
It's always great to see a professional try everything possible to save a customer money. You don't often see that and that's what makes you and your family special.
AMEN !
It’s not even that. A lot of the time it may not be a cost effective thing for the consumer to try certain things. Because they’re in financially for a possibility. An if it turns up as a no go. Than it’s a new whatever or start completely over.
Than the time involved with the possibility that happened not to go good. That can be applied to any business.
A this day an age. Some just aren’t willing to gamble on a possibility.
I always enjoy the camera in the well. Being able to see what you are describing helps us learn.
I love the way you think like a detective !
I'm a homeowner (with a well - constant pressure pump) and an engineer. I really enjoy your real world perspective. I'm surprised that you don't want to leave the rope in so you can pull it tight, where it won't (as you said) wrap around something. Although it would not sit nicely to the side, would it? I suppose weird things can happen down inside a few inch diameter pipe, so you've probably seen things that theory doesn't predict. I was looking forward to your sending down a smaller pipe to jet the hole clean!
I'm a 57-year-old handyman. I love watching your videos and I've learned a lot.
Man, when the customer said "I dont know why it was put so damn deep in the first place"..because he was the one that did it an you said "Yeah, who knows?" LOL....
Old farmer here but I've run into a couple stuck pumps in my day, one mine and two friends. I sharpened a u-bolt and attached it to a metal pipe and then added enough rope long enough to reach the pump stuck in casing. You slide sharpened u-bolt over plastic water pipe and lower down until you hit top of pump. Give the rope a few hard pulls and you'll cut right through the water line leaving pump in casing while pulling water line out. We had plenty of water above pump stuck in casing that allowed us to put new pump on top of old pump. I did my well like this in 1999 and it's still working to this day, even watering several head of cattle and horses daily. Can't say it'll work for everyone but when you're facing last resort you have nothing to lose.
Your idea would have worked in this case but for those plastic white pipe centering things not allowing your rig to slide down the existing pipe.
Luck was on our side, one well we did only had 2" of water above the replacement pump. The bad pump started coming up and just stopped, wouldn't budge up or down. My buddy said let's try, I had zero faith it would work but it did.
Get you a little solar panel for that crane trailer. 10W panel is all you need. I have one on my flatbed car hauler and I have not touched the battery for 8 years.
That or a hot line from the tow vehicle is how I keep my trailer mounted batteries up
@@servicetrucker5564 Yea, but I would assume this trailer spends most of its life disconnected.
@@kennethmc2601yea it seems that way, this was its first job and they got it around summer if I remember correctly. Solar panel is def the way to go.
And damn 8 years is crazy for a battery. That’s getting ur moneys worth there lol
I got one on my seldomly driven beater/parts hauling SUV. It works great. The old beast can sit a month in the cold and start right up.
I have had a few wells here in the Texas Panhandle that have silted in, and the pump or pump cylinder on windmills was stuck. I took air compressor and dropped a weighted air hose and lowered it to bottom of well into silt and sand cut air on. And just used air pressure in the casing to blow silt loose, and the pumps came free but of course our conditions might be totally different from yours. Like your videos. 👍👍👍👍👍
Great suggestion, I definitely would have a concern about leaving a pump down in a well. Those things do contain oil, I've heard about broken pumps leaving a well contaminated with oil.
I have discovered that customer satisfaction is paramount.. more than a dozen times I've sacrificed a few hours of my time and made repeating customers that made me dividends on those few hours it cost me.. Word of mouth advertising is priceless man.. priceless. Next thing ya know ive got their parents, and cousins and uncles all calling me. Especially in a tiny town like mine.. But I understand where you're coming from i guess 🤷♂️
I had to pull my pump out after it had been down for 2 days.... not an experience I am in a hurry to repeat.. I had totally under estimated the weight ,,,,,pump + 65 meters of pipe full of water + heavy 4 core cable + 6mm stainless rope.. any fool should have known it would be heavy! I had to rig up a pulley system and pull it with my tractor,, all the while thinking "my new pump is going to fall off in my new well jamming everything up requiring a new well"... love the crane... I dont know how I arrived at your channel..but loving the content..
Really like how the older gentleman is smart enough to stand clear of the extreme pressure being put on the pipe!!!
Experience pays off!!!
I live in northern Maryland. Going rate for pump, wire and pipe replacement is $6500. Specialized equipment like the crane with an operator on site @ $1700 per day. Whether it runs or not. Crane for 4 days =$6800. Total for this job $13300. I take my hat off to you and the team for your efforts to save that hole.
Who did you use?
I live in Maryland, and my family owns Phillips & Son Drilling Inc. Water Wells & Pump Services, Ginn's Water Pumps & Drilling and Cline & Duvall Well Drilling.
We own our own crane trucks for this purpose, along with specialized tools we have fabricated for stuck well pumps.
You didn’t charge for film crew and helper on that crane crew. . Actually I would you in to the state if you gave me a bill like tha
You left out common sense, you have to charge for that too.
You have one time customers.
@@randywilson6869 Yeah seriously I'm going to well drilling school and buying a drilling rig and maybe Elon will loan me his boring machine for side jobs. Good lord have mercy.
Congrats on that new toy you got there. I can't speak for other well companies but I'm not sure many of them go the extra mile like y'all did for these folks. That's pretty damn special. Thanks again for another great video and the long video. I could have watched this for an hour or more. Having lived up north for many years (live in Florida now ) and working in cold weather I know what bone chilling is. God bless you all.
I don't do wells but I enjoy learning something new and you explain it all so well I feel like I could attemp it if I had to, thanks!
Your knowledge and effort is incredible, plus the new equipment, shows the professionalism you and your crew have. Your videos are very good, your explanations brilliant, this one not the usual type, really interesting, could see a $10000 bill here with no overcharging, WORTH EVERY DOLLAR
I found your channel about two weeks ago. I love it. My dad did the same. Just 90 degrees off. 😂. He had 5 TBMs. It is amazing how different the equipment and methods are.
You hit rock, you power through it. He hit rock, the dynamite or 30-06 came out. Yes, 30-06 with armor piercing shells.
A small hole was 6". A large hole with a TBM was 52". Largest was 96" in diameter. Two men in the pipe hand digging in front of the pipe.
As a kid, I was in that pipe. It was the experience of a life time.
I always learn something new about wells watching this channel.
Reminds me of pulling stuck crap out of my oil wells. Pulling with between 70-100k lbs of force. Thanks for sharing your experience and expertise, it definitely will come in handy when I hang on my old water well in the mountains that has just been sitting and never been produced.
You're one of my best subscriptions. Thank you for your content.
I gotta ask... Could you have sent another pipe down there and pressure jet water around the pump to loosen the sediment? Thanks!
Edit: I see you already thought of that! I spoke too soon. Bravo!
Love these videos of the pump install and-or repair. I've done some of this type of work when I worked for Culligan. I loved the experience of filters and pump work
Nicely done trying to get a stuck pump from the bottom of the hole is real challenge
great video glad to see your new setup for pump pulling is working well. It's such an improvement.
On your remote, the + and - under the creep function will speed up and slow down your creep speed from 0- 50 % line speed, hold the creep up or down and also press the + or - depending on if you want it faster or slower. Also the reason your anchor point you hit your head on is mounted like that, remember most rigs are on trucks and a lot taller, I have a 2020 6T mounted on a F-450 and I can just reach to unhook my cables, I am only 5'6" tall.
@NickLudwig-o4x awesome information! Thank you! That makes alot of sense!
I don’t have an idea of what it would cost but the video shows your honesty and that’s worth a lot. Since I couldn’t do the job, I’d say probably 10 to 15,000. Thanks for sharing the video.
The screen does what it does on the old camera because it's a traditional CRT; so occasionally your camera gets off sync with the electronbeam and you're catching most of the screen between refresh.
This doesn't happen on your newer one because it's an LCD display.
🎉🎉🎉 a New video from Phil ... I don't even have a well and Love your video's .. God Bless
Went through something like this about 15 years ago with grandma's well. Naturally it happened in January, here in N. IL.....pump (installed in '85) was stuck at 40' in a 185' 25 gpm well, which was buried about 3' deep. The sch 40 male adapter they glued to the sch 80 well pipe couldn't take the strain and split in half, leading to a no water call. Long story short, we ended up getting what amounted to a giant EZ out in the top of the pump, and proceeded to lift the front of the well company's 2.5 ton crane truck about 3' off the ground pulling on it, never getting more than a few small pieces after successively more violent attempts eventually ripping the EZ out loose and resetting it a few times.....3 week long ordeal short, ended up with their drilling rig out there, which was not too dissimilar to yours. Tried to push the pump down. Nothing. Ended up drilling through the pump, then went all the way to the bottom with no other issues.
Hunke doesn't have that hook welded higher because that hoist is mainly designed to be on a cab and chassis truck. Your trailer is probably quite a bit lower to the ground
Thanks
Watching you're video on the "stuck pump" , and you are talking about the temperature being 30 degrees. Where I live in Wisconsin it was minus 22 degrees this morning, 1-21-2025.
Good to see you guys doing a good honest job. I've seen some drillers do borderline criminal work
$11,000 to drill 28 feet at neighbors. There are many crooks.
@paulmorphew1520 I paid one to install a pump a couple of weeks later it started working sporadically. He wanted to "try to clean the well" said if that didn't work he would knock the cleaning fee off a new well. A different driller quoted me a new well cheaper than the cleaning fee. Pulled pump to put it in the new well and all three wires were loose on the pump. I'm not sure if that's attempted robbery or not but it seems close
@@davidjustice1848 That should be against the law. Price gouging at its best. Have the same problem in my county with getting a survey. Only 2 or 3 companies and they have the market tied up. Was quoted $8400 for an acre and a half.. No one should be able to do this to people.
Great Job. I share your excitement of getting the pipe out. Etc... Cheers to you, Pop, and Mike's job well done. No pun intended. 👍💪
Stay Warm 🎉
I'm thinking as customer friendly as you are, you're probably going to be at or under 3k all said and done. My first time watching your channel. I really appreciate the narrative. It helps understanding the why and how parts.
I was also thinking 3 grand....
A friend had a stuck pump once. They sent a blasting cap and wire down the pipe to cut it off at the bottom. Worked great for him.
I have the same problem you do with charging customers high prices. I can't control the price of the materials, but I can choose items that are less expensive to keep the costs down for them. I make sure that the materials are at least a good quality though. Now on the other hand, I still get a lot of kickback from some customers, no matter how much I save them, they want it even cheaper. My usual reply to them is that I can remove everything and let them find someone else that will do it for less. I'm an electrician, and I know my prices are the cheapest in my area, so good luck with that.
Glad to see y'all didn't pull the hole out of the ground. Haha
I used to install well pumps and drill wells back in the early eighties. We used a truck mounted crane that looked just like yours and set everything on 1" galvanized steel pipe. I can tell you that a 1000' of pipe, pump, and wire was heavy. I would have to use the small drum at that point, for deep wells more than 700'. I had the hoist cable on the small drum for power and shallow wells on the big side to speed up the cable. I also had a hoop at the top of the mast and when pulling pumps we used a sliding lift collar on the coupling. Lift 21' foot up and then clamp the pipe, then slack it down to rest it on the casing, slide the cable and lift collar back down the pipe . Rehook it below the next coupling and lift the next joint up while guiding the top of the first pipe into the hoop at the top of the crane mast. Pull the next piece up and clamp the pump pipe at the casing again and set it down, unscrew the next coupling and then lift and set these two coupled joints off on a piece of plywood on the ground and it is then racked in the boom for storage. Rinse and repeat, this sped up pump replacement with steel pipe by more than double. We never used plastic pipe for pumps or casing.
I drilled wells with small cable tool rig on a 5 ton military 6x6 that would go anywhere and with a big Ingersoll Rand T4 air rotary on a single front axle crane carrier that got stuck everywhere. That beast was a nightmare, 63000 lb. on three axles, and a Jimmy diesel 453 with no power for the truck power. The T4 used 25', 4 1/2" drill stem, 300' racked on the rig and tri cone 6" bit for most of the drilling in the blue sandstone here in Western Oregon. Sometimes we had to switch to the carbide hammer in basalt. We also had a big casing hammer when drilling in sand a gravel. Your channel brings back many memories of my youth!
Yessss I’ve been waiting to see the new crane in action.
“He did”. Thanks for explaining the whole process! And for saving them bucks. Note to self - don’t put the well pump on the bottom.
This was one of your best videos
I've worked in high capacity water wells for 16 yrs in the municipal and agricultural wells. We have big problems with pumps overgrown with sandstone around here after 20 yrs or so. Only so much you can do. Many times we'll pull threads on 10" threaded pipe trying to pull them out, or we'll rip the shaft driven pump to pieces. We do what we can.
how do you backflush pump to get sediment off??? the new pump? check valve on pump or up top? thank you and great job
have you are can you do a video on the proper way to grout a new well? i getting ready to dig a well for new home. seem to me i see a lot of different ways it done. properly are not. i live in the smith mountain lake area thanks.
Could you put air pressure to the well pipe and push air through the well pump and motor to clear some debris from around it?
I'm not a well guy so this might be a stupid idea. Drop in black plastic pipe all the way to the bottom, then blow in water or compressed air to stir up the sediment around the pump. Would that work to release the pump?
Thats what my thought was
My thoughts also from a "like to see what happens" perspective. I imagine that the pump is not worth much and would have to be replaced anyway. Phillip, I would like to have seen the end game even though we've seen it before. There always seems to be something new along the way. I'd like to have seen what the water looked like.
@@glennschlorf1285 I agree and it would have saved three days of labor.
There's already one pipe going down, but the question is would water go trough the pump the wrong way fast enough to flush the well?
@@Timoohz What would happen if they had put water or air down the original pipe was my question too. Would the original pump let enough through to help break the pump free? Or is there some kind of one way valve at the top of the pump that prevents it. Hope they see the comment and answere the question.
Last well I did we had a rock bottom in the well we used a 3 foot pipe clamped to the pump and set her solidly on the rock .I used a 1/4 inch stainless steel cable on the pump and anchored it to the well seal to insure easy recovery . I refused to use black poly like this well ,I use steel or 120 schedule pvc pipe with stainless couplers. You need a air compressoer on the crane trailer with a reel with 400 feet of hose,In this case like this you can pump air and agitate the well to try and loosen the pump.
It’s been 10 years since we put our pump in. Now I am wondering if I should pull it and check the depth and move the pump higher to stay away from the bottom. Great job getting that one to the point of being able to reuse the hole!
I would !
Excellent video, thanks for sharing. Loved it.
Hi there rather than a hard hich tie a figure 8 it's a nicer knot as it has smother bends and so is less likely to snap at the knot.
I wish people like u did business here in Tennessee... my pump is stuck and noone will even try to get it out
Those Rings are a Pain in the Butt and Serve Very Little Function. Great Video. 🤔👍🙏
Impressive rope. Especially considering that the wire would be essentially three braided lines, it must've been very compromised.
I'm interested in how much pull you have on the pipe / pump have a load cell on the hook
so is there a check valve on the pump? why i'm asking, is could you pump water down the hose to try to flush the sediment from around the pump?
Yes it's usually built into the pump. Otherwise you would have water flow back and forth and churn up the water so it looks like chocolate milk.
Wow, I still would like to see what is on the bottom. I really liked this episode. Thanks
Do the pumps have a back flow preventer in them or installed just above the pump? If not couldn't you force water back through the pipe to release the suction.. I thought the backflow valve was up near the top
It's great when you get to say "I Win". Wonder if a guy could connect a concrete vibrator to the pipe while under strain to help loosen it up and work through the muck or would it make it worse?
24:25, instead of a half hitch on a bight, how about a figure eight or a bowline on a bight? Both are stronger knots. (Haven't used that term for a long time, means on a loop of the rope, instead of with the end.)
Here in Wisconsin, I just had a pump fail in a 60 foot well and it cost me $2k, but some of that cost was because it was on a Sunday... The installer also had a crane which made everything pretty easy and quick
Can you back feed the pump and wash it out that way or is there a check valve?
Would it be worth using a towable compressor to air lift all that sediment before installing the new pump?
Hello,
What are the exes down the well on cam?
Can you put a pipe down and de-silt the pump?
If you have the time you should look up how different knots lessen the strength of a line it can lessen the working strength by half or more.. I would think that to have the greatest chance of breaking it at the bottom you might consider using a shackle with tape or rubber around it on the hook to cover any sharp edges and then make a half of dozen wraps of line around the shackle barrel.
As a sailor, this was my first thought when I saw him tying overhand knots to attach the rope to the crane hook.
And yes, that poly rope really likes to stretch!
I'm amazed at the amount of time and labor y'all put into this for the $ you charged. Out here in the PNW, it seems like just getting a tradesperson out is a minimum of $1k. $4500 for several days' worth of labor plus your equipment seems like a serious gift to the homeowner.
You're a really good person! Down to reminding the homeowner that he can recover a little $ on the scrap copper...
I wondered if you can use a high pressure jetter to stir the sediment up
How much pull does that crane have? I had a pump stuck in the well just like that one. Ended up with a new well but now I wonder if I could have just pulled out the pipe like that and saved 10k
What if you pumped water down the well pipe to stir up the water around pump?
I know nothing about wells, but i understand the concept. I'm curious if the pump is stuck at the bottom, could you force air down that water pump hose to help loosen the sediment?
Here in Phoenix we have hot weather problems, where the battery dies because of the heat, lol!
You can install a sandmaster between the pump and rhe pressure switch. You can install one on the pump as well.
From an Engineers perspective, it would be helpful to have a strain gage, possibly digital readout of the tension on the line when you pull. Then if the pump releases from the sleeve you could watch the stress go down and strain go down. Would be safer too.
I started watching a couple in Oklahoma that has a crane truck like this and they pull windmills good chanle too. I learned a lot on windmills and pumps
When your slammed up against the casing with the drop pipe, instead of extending the boom to center up, you can always try to add some outrigger left/right to lean the boom to center up on the casing?
Love your videos. I have a well and have learned so much watching your videos. Where is the best place to put a water filter, before or after the pressure tank.?
Have no clue of the final cost, would like to know though, been following your channel for a long time now. Love your videos
I never thought of it could you get a blaster to put a charge down in the poly pipe at the pump to cut pump loose pull the pipe and wire and rope? set new pump above the old one.
I’m not a well driller so my thoughts and opinions really hold no weight. My thought once the wire and pipe were out of the hole would have tried to flush well for awhile to see if the old pump and rope would come out. I personally would not want to use the well now that there is an old pump and rope still on the bottom. This is only my opinion though and again I’m not a well driller so this maybe very normal under the situation with the customer. Great video and thanks again for all the wealth of knowledge and information. I have learned “So” much on this channel.
I wonder if you could use one of those pressure washers. They used for clean inside of pipe like rotor rooter down in . Disturb all that soil around that pump.
Is there a way to vibrate the pipe when under strain to help loosen the sediments around the pump? Just a thought for future reference. Thanx for the last part about pumping all the junk out of the well before you hook it to the house. I was wondering how you were going to clear all the floaties out of the water before plugging the house water filter. Keep the videos coming.
Hi, just one question, why don't you use a compressor or an air lift to loosen the sediment at the bottom of the well, then you would have to remove the pump, at least it has always helped us. of course, if the well is not completely collapsed
After pulled the pipe out i would have liked to see what the hold up was if you had a camera to send down that would have been very interesting for someone who does not do this kinda work but yet has a home also
great result ...well done.
This was a great video I'm going to say pump and materials 3K Labor 1K per day for 2 Men Mobilization 1K Crane $750 a day running or not. Total $11,000+
Curious on why you didn't try and air lift from the bottom once you had the poly attached? Blow the sediment out that's holding the pump in.
Ha! I spoke too soon. .
Great job 😊😊😊
Your a good man.😎👍
I’ve got a crazy question. Do water wells ever produce crude oil?
If so, what is the protocol?
Been waiting for this vid. Given all the time on the site plus the parts I'm guessing $3000. Just as a point of reference, finished wells cost $75+ per foot where I live. Most wells here are in the 350+ foot range. Typical 400' finished well/pump costs $35K not including the 5000 gallon storage tank and associated boost pump.
Edit: Just read that he charged about $4500 ................ which is still a crazy good deal for the customer. Glad to see Phil is charging enough to keep the biz going well.
Wouldn't adding vibration on the pipe and rope helped to free the pump from the sediment?
SE PA. Bought the house from the builder 32 years ago. Well is 215 ft drilled; pump @ 185 ft. Pump has only been pulled once for a failing check valve. Every other mechanical system has already been replaced once or more. Am I living on borrowed time for the pump?
What kind of chlorine do you put in there?
Had my 650 foot well collapse, pump stuck at 450. Broken pitless, couldn’t pull it out. New 650 foot hole was dry, had to zone frack it. 31K. Fun times.
I have used high pressure high volume water down a well to dislodge a silted in pump and to clear french drains. Blow the water in until it is full and then recirculate the water until the silted probably has loosened
What did the pump get stuck on?
Would a stainless steel cable be better than a rope for the well pump when installing a new pump
Could you hook up pressurized water to the line and push water down to the pump and pull up while pumping water to try to flush the sediment out?
(Edit: didn’t think about a back flow valve might be on the pump)
Where I am at the cost local would be around 5k at best I am sure. That being said, as one poster has already said, most if not all drillers would say new hole. My well is 520 with pump around 480 and water up to around 280. If mine sits in, time to move!
What if you got another pipe to the bottom and pumped water in would it back flow the crap off the bottom and out the top and release the existing pump?
Would a cable help or any water from top ?
All my neighbors wells are between 100 to 300 feet and the 300 hit salt water. My 80 year old uncle witched mine and he said drill here about40 feet they hit water at 45 and drilled to 55 and the well is 30 years old and I just replaced the pump and still have water. The driller said I was crazy to believe in him. I believe.