landlocked well pump in need of repair

How do you repair a landlocked well pump? Approx. 200 ft deep made with galvanized pipe.

Sorry Mary, going to need more info. What do you mean by landlocked? I guess you are talking about a submersible pump hanging on 200' of galv pipe?

Yes I think it is a submersible pump? I had a repair company come out to look at the well to see if it could be repaired. They said their truck could not get close enough to the well to work on it because it is land locked. I think its too heavy to lift out. He said to see if I could find some one to build a scaffold to work on it. He refused to do that kind of work too dangerous? Two other phone calls got the same results. Iam looking for any other possibilities. Maybe a giant crane could reach over the house but don't know about cost. One company said to build a road? First guy that came out said to tear out my deck to make room for his truck. I guess Iam just looking for ideas to make the well work again. It's not water we use for the house we just use it to water the plants and ivy. We are located in Pine Cove outside Idyllwild California.

How do you repair a landlocked well pump

Move it out to sea.

Their truck is a derrick truck and it has to back up to the well casing to lift the pump and that 200' of galvanized pipe, power cable and the weight of the water in the pipe all together. Then they have to hold it all to take the (usual) 21 foot sections of pipe apart without dropping all the rest back down the well.

So until you can find someone with a pump pulling machine that can lift all that weight or a way to get a derrick truck to the well, you're out the use of the well.

Since this is not your household water you can take your time pulling the pump.

You could put a pair of large posts on either side of the well; mount a winch on a pair of beams run between the posts, and haul the pipe and pump out 5 ft at a time.

You almost certainly need a winch of some kind. You can get 12 Volt or 120 Volt winches that would lift it. The 12 Volt winches are generally sold for hauling 4x4s out of the mud or for loading boats. They don't have as much life as industrial winches, and they require 12 Volt batteries or heavy-duty chargers, but they haul a lot of load and don't cost as much as industrial winches.

It is not a wise idea to to try to hook up your own winch setup it is very dangerous and you can get yourself seriously injured. I would be patient and keep calling well companies until you get somone willing to tackle the job.

Sammy

Some pump installers use a portable unit. The one I am familiar with is called an Upsy Daisy. Not sure about the spelling. Maybe you can find one to rent. Otherwise I would find someway to get a good winch truck in there, because Sammy is right about a home made device being dangerous, for the operator and the well.

Second the Upsy Daisy advice, if a truck can't get in there.

land locked well pump

Thanks for all the great ideas. Just this weekend Ask This Old House ran an episoide about replacing a well pump and the well drilling company was using an upsy daisy. The pump they replaced was using plastice pipe and the upsy daisy didn't appear to have any problems lifting the pump and pipe out. Do you think an upsy daisy would be able to lift galvanized pipe?
Where do you rent an upsy daisy in Southern California? Thanks again.

Rent one? Not likely. This is where you hire a pro.

I had a Pul-A-Pump, it has tracks and sits on the casing with a collar down the casing 5-6". One guy can handle it and set it up and take it down. It is much better overall than the Upsy Daisy which has three tires set in a triangle pattern and you push the one tire against the pipe which pushes it against the other two. The foot print against the pipe is quite small. The tracks grab the pipe with much more surface area. And the Daisy has to be supported over the casing.

I've pulled a 1.5 hp on 500'+ of 1" 160 psi PE with my Pul-A-Pump but no galvanized. I think there is a weight limit of 600 lbs. I'd want to clamp on a pipe vice on top of the tracks or tires while taking galvanized apart.

Pictures here: http://www.pulapump.com/index.html