A simple pump change saved a week of headaches on the Willamette

We were on a channel job near Portland, and the old 8-inch pump kept clogging every few hours with river debris. I figured it was just a bad spot and we'd have to tough it out. My lead hand, Dave, kept pushing to swap in the 6-inch pump from the barge. I thought it was a waste of a day for a smaller pump. We finally did it on a Thursday, and that thing ran smooth for the next 48 hours straight without a single stall. The smaller intake just handled the leafy junk way better. Anyone else had a job where going smaller on the pump was actually the right call?

4 comments

4 Comments

violag801mo ago

Ever read that old saying about how a bigger pump just pulls in more trouble? Totally fits here (and what @phoenix_martin40 said about 4-inch pumps). Sometimes the smaller gear just filters out the junk better.

anderson.taylor1mo ago

Forget pump size, @violag80, and consider how the junk itself changes the game.

phoenix_martin401mo ago

My foreman swore by 4-inch pumps for muck, and I finally get it now.

wilson.olivia1d ago

That 4-inch sweet spot is interesting. I've actually seen guys run 3-inch pumps with a different impeller design that handles the muck even better, just takes a bit more maintenance.