Help with well troubles

[Rotax]

Hey all, we have a 55 foot well on our property that hasn't been used in years. There was a pump lowered into the well on a rope and over the years the rope must of stretched and now the pump in stuck in the mud/silt at the bottom of the well and we cannot get it to budge. Anybody have any ideas on how to get it up? There is a piece of 1 1/4" poly pipe on it as well. I had thought about pumping some water down the poly pipe to try flush the mud out but think theres a foot valve on it and that won't work. And I am afraid of pulling to hard on the rope and breaking it, then the pump would be stuck down there for good. Any ideas? Thanks all

 

[Billrog]

Maybe try sticking some PVC down the well to pump some water down and try and flush the pump loose while you keep a steady pressure on the rope.

 

[avillahdw]

If you feel like it is sediment, try putting a twist hose nozzle set to "stream" on the end of the aforementioned pvc to help loosen it up. The more water pressure you can blow down the well, the more likely of breaking it loose. Make sure pvc is lowered as far down as possible. Try to put a little pressure on rope and poly pipe while doing this so when it starts releasing you will know it.

 

[Leejohn]

Better tie off the poly 1st, the rope might not hold.

 

[BHD]

my guess is it is a submersible pump, do not know if it would work, but here is my idea,

would think if one would put a little tension on the polly, and then cycle the pump, a few times the twist of the start up of the motor, may break it loose, start it a few times and see if it breaks loose, and then maybe one can pull it,

 

[troutsqueezer]

That happened to me once. The well guys said all they could do was pull it, if it broke then it would stay down there. Fortunately, it pulled out without busting the poly pipe or nylon rope. The new one was set in ten feet higher.

 

[Baby Grand]

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[GLyford]

Would it help to put some tension on it, and then leave it like that for a while, let the sediment work around the tension by itself, then come along later (hours, days, weeks) and add more tension? Might not take many cycles before you start getting some real movement.

 

[Rotax]

Thanks for all the ideas guys. Right now it is -30c out and won't be doing this till spring, but will put some of the ideas to work if/when it warms up....

 

[BHD]

for a well inspection, (will not work under water, but one can see the casing is not caved in, down to water level, Iused on a 300 foot well,

get a backup camera head, off eBay, (the one I got was under $25) and then a cable for security cameras, I just used a portable TV, to view, and I think I powered the camera with a 9volt battery,

looks like one can get for about $15 now, 7 LED Night Vision Waterproof Rear View Camera NSTC Parking Backup CMOS Camera

back up camera | eBay

it looks like for under 20 one can get the wire, security camera wire rca 100 | eBay