Pulling well pump

[E/S]

I need to pull my well pump this summer, its on 1 1/4" galvanized pipe - 300' to 500' deep. What I'm looking for are ideas on how to do this myself pulling
21' lengths of pipe at a time. I have done it pulling 10' to 11' at a time, cutting the pipe and repeat. That process is slow and messy ( but its as high as my loader will go).
I am considering building a SSQA boom poll but am a little concerned about stability.
I pulled / set pumps for years as a younger man with a crane, but those days have passed. Now i just want to do my own and possible 3 or 4 others a year in my area.
Any input would be greatly appreciated.

E/S

 

[Bigkrank]

Makes me glad all our wells are 35-55 ft deep. Have fun.

 

[nybirdman]

You are talking about 1500# or so plus the pump.I would replace with plastic.
I have done up to 400 ft.but had a crane.May-be a tripod with a chain-fall but your are still only going to be able to pull 10-12ft.at a time.

 

[Egon]

Tall tripod, chain hoist, pipe clamp, something solid to rest the clamp on, pipe wrenches, two sledge hammers, pipe cutters and helpers.

It is preferable you supervise and the helpers work.:thumbsup:

 

[beeforty]

Makes me glad all our wells are 35-55 ft deep. Have fun.

Yours is deep, mine is only 29'10":laughing: Years ago I helped my brother put in his pump, and he had a guy with a backhoe with a piece of channel iron bolted to the bucket to give him the reach needed for full lengths. Of course you need something to hold onto the remainder of the pipe, we just used 2 flat bars bolted together below each coupling.

 

[RoyJackson]

This is going to be a labor intensive job, no matter how you do it.
a 500' well using 21' lengths of galvanized comes to 24 lengths. Based upon your lifting height of 10-11 feet, that's two pulls per length.

You also need to rig a fixture or framework to hold the pipe as you rechoke it on your loader.
If you're planning to unscrew the pipe lengths at each coupler, you'll need to choke the pipe (in the well) as well as the pipe to be unscrewed. That's a challenge. It'll be easier to cut those lengths (as you wrote in your post), but then you cannot reuse them (if that was your plan).

The problem using a boom pole is, as you wrote, stability...plus you have the weight of that 500' of pipe. I don't know the weight of one 21' length of 1.25" galvanized...but multiply that by 24 (number of lengths used in a 500' well). Can your loader handle that weight even at the bucket?

 

[SandburRanch]

I've used a pipe vise and pipe wrenches for 40 ft. wells pulling 20 ft. joints but for 500 ft. I'd recommend going with the tool made for the job and un - couple every 21 ft.

Heavy Duty Column Pipe Holder 1" - 4": Water Well Casing Handling Tools

 

[RoyJackson]

I've used a pipe vise and pipe wrenches for 40 ft. wells pulling 20 ft. joints but for 500 ft. I'd recommend going with the tool made for the job and un - couple every 21 ft.

Heavy Duty Column Pipe Holder 1" - 4": Water Well Casing Handling Tools

Good post...I didn't even know such a tool existed.

 

[DJ54]

You are talking about 1500# or so plus the pump.I would replace with plastic.
I have done up to 400 ft.but had a crane.May-be a tripod with a chain-fall but your are still only going to be able to pull 10-12ft.at a time.

How long will that 300-500' of plastic last, with that pump torqueing on it, every time it comes on..?

Makes me thankful mine's only 86' of plastic w/Jet pump..!!

 

[RoyJackson]

How long will that 300-500' of plastic last, with that pump torqueing on it, every time it comes on..?

Makes me thankful mine's only 86' of plastic w/Jet pump..!!

My well is about 250' deep and is plastic pipe. It's about 20 years old...still functioning OK (Jeez!!! I hope I didn't jinx myself!!!)

If you do need to pull plastic pipe (I did to replace a foot valve), it's flexible enough that you don't need to cut it. You do need enough area to lay it out though.