That seems very incredible. How could people make the same mistake in installing a pump to the point where six have to be in the well because the previous five could not be pulled out? All five would have to have had their down pipes dislodged from the pumps, along with the wiring and any safety ropes. There would have been a mess of wiring, ropes, and possibly piping cluttering the well. I don't believe it.
I think I been called a liar. Lol! I have been doing this a looong time. I could tell some stories that would be hard to believe, but that one is pretty common. The well with 5 pumps pushed to the bottom is 1200' deep with 7" steel casing, pumping salt water for an oil company. With a 6" diameter pump in 7" steel casing there isn't much room to start with. A little rust from the salt water on the steel casing in a not so perfectly straight well will grab the pump. Set at 800' on 2 3/8 J55 tubing, the connection to the pump is the thinnest metal and weakest link. The change over connector also steel will rust through in short order. The wire usually comes up with the pipe as it is banded with 3/4" SS bands. But if all I get out is the pipe, I use a spear with an offset hook and spin it around and around until I get the wire tangled enough to come out with the fishing string. Then with 800' of heavy J55 tubing it doesn't take very many tries until it pounds the pump loose and it falls to the bottom of the 1200' well. Just not enough room between the 6" pump and 7" casing to use an over shot. With 400' of rat hole below the pump there is plenty of room for a few 10' long pumps. It is rare for one of these pump to last more than a year or two anyway, so they just started replacing the pump every year whether it needed it or not,
Lots of house wells done the same way. Small steel casing is notorious for grabbing a pump. In most cases people can't afford a new well, don't have the room, or can't get a permit, so they make do with what they have. Even if the pump won't go down any further, you can just cut the pipe off and set the new pump just above the old one.
Now for a story you won't believe, I bailed out a well that was left open for years. Made over 50' of new hole cleaning it out. Mostly bones, skulls, teeth, and fur from rabbits and animals that had fallen in over the years. One of the most disgusting jobs I ever had to do. Lol!
