Cleaned out the main pump strainer on the old 12-inch dredge and found 47 pounds of river junk.

I was doing the usual weekly check on the Willamette River job, expecting maybe 10 pounds of sticks and plastic bags. When the scale hit 47, I realized we'd been running at half pressure for days without noticing the slow clog. What's the most weight you've ever pulled from a single strainer cleanout?

3 comments

3 Comments

nathana4820d ago

My buddy Mike had a wild one on a gravel pit pump last year. He pulled out what he swears was a full, waterlogged beaver dam from the strainer basket, tangled up with old fence wire. The thing weighed over 60 pounds and they only found it because the pump started making a god-awful crying noise. Makes you wonder what else is down there just waiting to gum up the works, doesn't it?

holly_sanchez7512d ago

Wow, that's insane! We had a pump clog up with what looked like a whole rotten picnic blanket once. Took three of us to yank that soggy mess out, but the pressure came back instantly.

robert_anderson6920d ago

Man, 47 pounds is a serious haul. We pulled 38 pounds of muck and fishing line from a pump on the Snake River last spring. The crew chief thought the flow meter was broken until we opened it up. It was packed solid with wet leaves and what looked like part of a sweatshirt. You really don't notice the drop until you clear it and everything screams back to life.