Drill-Thru Pitless Adapter?

DebbieDoesDIY

DebbieDoesDIY

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My husband and I are trying to replace our submersible well pump. I was able to see a conversation thread on here from 10+ years ago where somebody had the same type of pitless adapter we have. In that thread it was referred to as a "drill-thru pitless adapter". We cannot get this thing pulled even after reading through all the comments. I attached a photo to show you what it is we have. Any advice for pulling that adapter will be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
20230603_100417.jpg
 
What pitless and/or thread matches what you have?

Nice photo.
 
A search didn't turn up anything for me so not sure what the OP found. To me, it just looks like a standard slide (lift-off) adapter similar to the Baker below.
150BTLF.jpg
 
Valveman said:
I don't see a lever or screw to turn. I also think it is a standard slide type pitless. It may just be stuck and I know it is heavy.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your comment. You might be right, but we cannot get this thing loosened. Here is what I know now - In the old thread ( https://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?threads/how-do-i-puill-this-pitless-adaptor.47684/ ), the commenter who mentioned the "drill-through pitless adapter" says that the receiver is welded to the outside of the casing. See the pictures that the OP posted below. I have also now researched and tried to find weld-on pitless adapters and found only one which you can see in the link below. They also sell a clamp-on style. In this link, they mention a "REMOVEABLE BRASS INSERT PERMITS EASY PUMP REMOVAL FOR SERVICE OR REPLACEMENT", but don't mention how to remove the brass insert. One more thing, if you look at the view from above on the schematic of their clamp-on style, it appears to look like ours does. http://www.maassmidwest.com/PDFs/Maass_Midwest_Model_J_and_C_Pitless_Accessory_Options.pdf

The first picture shown was in the original post and the second picture is of our adapter (the removal tool was inserted in the adapter when I took our photo).
Pitless2.jpg
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So maybe something like https://www.ebay.com/itm/334780131564

Most pitless adapters with a trapezoidal socket use a nominal NPT thread 1 inch pipe to lift with. In your first photo, it clearly says "3/4". Could it be that your lift pipe is 3/4 inch pipe (1.05 in OD)? Just speculating.
 
Reach4 said:
So maybe something like https://www.ebay.com/itm/334780131564

Most pitless adapters with a trapezoidal socket use a nominal NPT thread 1 inch pipe to lift with. In your first photo, it clearly says "3/4". Could it be that your lift pipe is 3/4 inch pipe (1.05 in OD)? Just speculating.
Click to expand...
After hours of researching this adapter and a phone conversation with an expert on YouTube, we agreed that we likely have a Maass Midwest Model J Weld-On Pitless Adapter. This style is permanently installed by welding a housing to the outside of the well casing. This housing is designed to support the weight of the entire internal workings of the well by wedging it via gravity against the inside of the adapter housing.

I have attached 2 documents. The first one is page 7 of a list of all Wisconsin DNR approved Wellhead Equipment where the adapter we believe is in there is listed. The second document is from Maass Midwest Inc.'s document that has all the specs, etc. of their Model J Style Pitless Adapter options. Please see pages 1-8. I placed a green check mark on page 5 next to the model I believe we have in our well.

screenshot-dnr.wisconsin.gov-2023.06.04-18_47_30.png


My husband has now been working on a winch setup in the hopes of breaking the contents free of the wedge. Wish us luck! I will check back with further updates when I have them.
 

Attachments

Clamp on or weld on, they all still have the slide fitting. I think all that rust is sitting on/in the pitless connection and has it stuck. Not only do you have to pull hard enough to get it unstuck, but you have to lift the weight of the pump, pipe, wire at the same time. You only have to lift a couple inches to get the pitless loose. I would fashion a little hydraulic jack to get the first couple inches.
 
Thank you for the advice. The good news is, we broke it free last night! We went and picked up some PB Blaster yesterday afternoon then my husband rigged up a tri-pod/winch system to see if we could loosen the adapter from the well casing housing. After the lubricant sat on the joint for a short while, he put some tension on the winch then started hammering from the underside of the T-puller. After about 4 good whacks, the adapter began to loosen and then broke free!

We pulled up the unit and were very happy to find that not only was the pipe only about half as long as we guessed, but also found that the water pipe wasn’t galvanized. It was heavy, but nothing we couldn't handle!

I have to say, I’ve been patting myself on the back since then because all of my hard work and research led me to the exact pitless adapter set-up that we found in the well! As mentioned in my previous comment, the adapter is in fact a Maass Midwest J Style weld-on type. Now comes the job of figuring out what pump we need as a replacement.

I want to mention what we observed on the outside of the pump, which was a thick black film. After doing some additional reading, I ran into some information that could explain the gunk on Wisconsin’s DNR website in which they warned of the potential for drinking water contamination from submersible well pumps. I cannot seem to find good information about this pump as the numbers on it don’t match exactly with any Sta-Rite model. (I attached their document here.

20230604_205611.jpg
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20230604_212603.jpg
 

Attachments

Glad you got it out. Looks like a 10 GPM, 1/2HP to me. But how deep was it??? You can't find pumps made that well anymore. Just have to limit the on/off cycles is you want a new pump to last any length of time. Those wire stand offs and the torque arrestor won't be needed if you limit the cycling, and they make it harder, or in some cases impossible to get the pump out of the hole.
 
Valveman said:
Glad you got it out. Looks like a 10 GPM, 1/2HP to me. But how deep was it??? You can't find pumps made that well anymore. Just have to limit the on/off cycles is you want a new pump to last any length of time. Those wire stand offs and the torque arrestor won't be needed if you limit the cycling, and they make it harder, or in some cases impossible to get the pump out of the hole.
Click to expand...
Thank you! I was wondering if the wire stand-offs and torque arrestor will still be needed. What can we do to limit the on/off cycles - that was a constant issue for the past 6+ years that we've lived here.
 
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