Best Fishing Tool to pull pipe from a well

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Leaky Boot

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What would be the tool of choice for catching a 1 inch Sch 80 PVC with no coupler, just a slick pipe? Had one last week where in this case the well house had burned and the PVC got hot and pulled out of the top T, falling down the hole. I was not set up to do the job so let a well service with a camera take over. I need to stock up on fishing equipment. LB
 

ThirdGenPump

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Just a piece of pipe with no couplings would be pretty difficult to hook. Fortunately a drop assembling has wire and couplings down the entire length. Sometimes you even have wire guides that are easy to catch.

Most fishing for me is no camera work just send galvanized pipe down with a curved metal arm welded to the bottom. Spin it as we are lowing it and it usually catches something. If the top coupling is gone you still have the next one. PVC installs are so light it's rarely even a challenge, catch just tape and you can probably bring it up.

Steel installs we start with a camera and may need to go though a few different custom tools to get a grip.

I know some guys will try without a crane or pump hoist. I couldn't imagine doing that. I like using the steal pipe, you can get a good feel as to what you are touching and really yank it when you got something. Trying to fish with a cable is a fools errand imo.
 

Boycedrilling

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Just got home from teaching a class on fishing for the Oregon Groundwater Association’s Spring Technical Seminar. I’ll see if I can post some pictures of some fishing tools for fishing drop pipe tomorrow.
 

Craigpump

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A few ways,
1) is with an overshot with fingers that catch under the couplings. Mine runs in on 2" steel and will slide right over the lost 1" pipe.
2) if the wire is there run a treble hook in on steel pipe and wind the wire into it.
3) if you're really lucky & patient, you can run a taper tap in on steel pipe and wind into the sch80

I always use steel pipe.
 

LLigetfa

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I guess it would depend on the casing or borehole size. There are a couple of models that have a ring to hold one end open.
 

Valveman

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If the wire has been broken off and out of the way, and you can see the pipe with or without a camera, I have had good luck with a small nylon strap on the end of steel pipe. I use a string to hold the loop on the nylon strap open. Once I have the loop over the pipe, I pull the string to cinch up the nylon strap over the PVC pipe. If the pipe doesn't fall very far this works well. But if you have the pump hanging a long ways from the bottom of the well and if falls a long way down, it is hard to see how to get the strap over the pipe.
 

Leaky Boot

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Just got home from teaching a class on fishing for the Oregon Groundwater Association’s Spring Technical Seminar. I’ll see if I can post some pictures of some fishing tools for fishing drop pipe tomorrow.

Get a chance to post those photos I would like some new ideas. Thanks, LB
 

Jim Griffin

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I'm a newbie here. I trolled the site after a broken drop pipe became a reality and I needed some fishing tool ideas. I recently got a lesson in fishing and the effects of frugality pertaining to this particular situation. We have 6 wells on our property ranging from 150'-480'. In early February, one of them had a problem. This particular well was in service when we bought an adjoining parcel to the land we had owned since 1964. We had no experience with or knowledge of the well. Anyhow, I went to pull the pump and the galvanized pipe at the surface broke at the coupler due to corrosion. Of course, this is our only well that didn't have a rope or cable attached to the pump. So, y'all know what happened next. I spent a considerable amount of time fabbing fishing tools and had zero success. I finally got fed up and bought a Fetch. After 45 minutes of fishing, the Fetch ended up snagging the pump wire and I was able to retrieve 120' of pipe and a Franklin 1.5hp motor and 15 stage jacuzzi pump. The drop pipe was schedule 80 pvc except for the top 6" where the galvanized started. What I'm getting at is, I recommend the Fetch and actually have a slightly used one up for sale!

The sticker the Jacuzzi pump is dated 12 April 1995! That's pretty good life in a silty well.

Jim
 

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Valveman

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Never heard of a Fetch. I can see where it would work on some situations. Yeah usually when the pipe breaks the wire balls up in the well and makes it hard or impossible to get to the pipe for fishing. I have used all kinds of hooks, spears, and augers to grab the wire. Most of the time the pump is stuck in the mud and when you pull on the wire it just breaks off a piece. Once I break off enough of the wire to get to the pipe, and overshot works well if there is a coupling sticking up.

Rope makes it worse. The so called "safety rope" balls up big time when something breaks off. Then you have to fish out the rope a piece at at time, then fish out the wire a piece at a time, before you can get to the pipe and grab something substantial. If the pipe breaks and the pump is hanging from a rope, you just didn't have good enough pipe. o_O
 

Jim Griffin

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Maybe not stovepipe but thinner than any I've ever seen.
It's pretty thin. I'd estimate it at about 12-14 gauge thickness. The well, from what we've been told is from the 40's. I'm not sure it's cased all the way down either. The original house on this parcel was built in 1903. There is also a hand dug well on the property.
 

Reach4

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What diameter? If big enough, maybe you would consider a PVC sleeve.
 

Jim Griffin

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I haven't put a tape on it but, i'd say its about 6" I.D. I've thought about getting the well "rehabbed" but the cost is prohibitive at this point.
 

Boycedrilling

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What you’ve never heard of the “California Stovepipe” method of drilling? It’s described in “Griundwater & Wells”. I just looked in my current 3rd edition. It’s not there any more. It’s in the 2nd edition, along with the “mud scow” method.
 

Boycedrilling

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The stovepipe method used thin gauge pipe in 5 ft lengths as I remember right. It was a double layer with the inner layer offset half the length so it had a male and female end.

I remember talking with a driller from the southwest a number of years ago. If he didn’t need to drive Casing, he would use .188 wall steel.
 

Leaky Boot

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Had a well about 3 weeks ago that the well house caught fire and burned. PVC melted at the well cap and of course the hole deal went down the hole. A post here said he used a hook on the end of pipe. I went down with Sch 80 x 1 inch and we turned the pipe as we advanced down. At 90 ft we easily snagged the cable and out we come. Worked perfect. 3 inch 5/16 bolt and a 1 inch coupling. I drilled a hole, stuck the bolt thru, welded the head, bent the bolt to make a slight hook, then ground it sharp like a rooster spur. 2 bucks.
 
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