Used-to-be-iowa-dave
Member
We're on a 65' deep well with a submersible pump. It quit working last winter. The pitless adapter is about 6-8' down (3-4' under true ground level, 3-4' of mounded earth creating a wellhead). While diagnosing the problem, I pulled the top section of PVC wellhead pipe off. This section starts at the top of the "mounded" ground level and goes up 4'. Pulling it off exposes wiring connections and the handle for the pull rod used when pulling the adapter/piping/pump out of the ground. I grabbed the handle and the whole rod fell away to rusty dust. Luckily we didn't need to pull it at that time as the problem turned out to be a break in the electrical line, somewhere between the house and the wellhead. We ran a temporary line aboveground, where it still sits today. I've run various types of equipment, but never a backhoe/excavator. Is digging down 6-8' around my pitless adapter to replace the pull rod and trenching the electrical line 50' to the house something I should cut my teeth on, or should I hire this one done? What's a ballpark estimate on hiring it out? I've also got 2 stumps, one apple and one pine, not more than a foot in diameter I'd like to get out. A nearby rental place can rent me a Bobcat X323 (46 HP) or 331 (75 HP) with various size buckets. Is it feasible I'd overcome the learning curve and get it done in one rental day? I figure I'd start on the trenching and "graduate" to digging out the wellhead. As long as I'm in there and getting dirty, would you replace the pump? We've lived there for 23 years and believe that pump may have been in the ground for 12-15 years prior to that. It was pulled once 10-15 years ago to replace the check/foot valve. What's the longest it could possibly stay in service at that age?