How to Pull Pump From Well

Removing an old pump from a well can be physically challenging.

It happens infrequently, but once in a while a well pump goes bad and needs to be replaced. Removing the old pump is not a difficult task, but it can be physically challenging, especially if your well is deep. If your well is 50 to 150 feet in depth, you can remove the pump by hand with a partner, but if it is deeper, you will need the additional help of a winch.

Difficulty:

Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Heavy work gloves
• Heavy rope
• Phillips-head screwdriver
• Winch

1. Turn off the electricity to the pump at the circuit breaker box. Although the pump may not be running at this point, you do not want it to turn on suddenly when someone in the house turns on a faucet or flushes a toilet.

2. Clear the area around the well cap. You will need about 8 feet of space to lay down the pump and electrical wiring that you will remove from the well. Unscrew the well cap and remove it.

3. Put on heavy work gloves. Look into the well casing and you will see a flexible pipe. It is usually black and made of polycarbonate. This is the discharge pipe that's connected to the pump that sits at the bottom of your well. Connected to the casing of this pipe is the electrical cord that goes to the pump head.

4. Grab the discharge pipe and start to pull it straight up out of the well casing. As you are pulling it out, your friend needs to lay the pipe on the ground in such a manner that it is not in the way and it does not get tangled.

5. Lift the discharge pipe out as smoothly and as straight as possible. Depending on the size of your pump, you may be continuously lifting 40 to 70 lbs. If you start to get tired, either switch positions with your friend, or ask your friend to tie the heavy rope securely to the discharge pipe at the level of the well head and then secure the other end of the rope to a tree or fence. This will give you an opportunity to take a break.

6. Use a winch to pull out the pump if your well is more than 150 feet deep or if the pump head is especially heavy. Logistics will be more of a problem with a winch, because it will have to be placed 150 feet or more away from the well head, with a clear path in between to ensure that the discharge pipe does not get caught on anything. After the winch is turned on, one of you will have to stay at the well head to guide the discharge pipe up out of the well casing. The second person will need to make sure the pipe stays unencumbered and also stand ready to turn off the winch when the pump emerges.

Tips & Warnings

• Removing a pump from a well is a messy job. Wear appropriate clothing for the job.