River Pump Setup

Let me start by saying that March, on the banks of the Red River, after a rainstorm the previous day, is definitely not a fun place to be.  That being said, with our spring river "crest" out of the way and the Red holding steading at 18 feet, I figured it was time to get the pump out.

This little contraption that someone concocted about 20+ years ago to pump water out of this god forsaken river is probably the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen in my life.  A floating electric pump that is hung from the inside of a homemade "float" made out of sealed up old fertilizer jugs attached to a rusted out 30' long trailer arm that is tethered with cables to a muddy river bank is not exactly how we are supposed to pump water in the 21st century.  But, it will have to suffice

We never actually got the chance to get the pump out in the river last year because the water level stayed too high almost the entire summer.  By the middle of September it had finally dropped low enough we could have put it out, but by that point in the summer it was almost a lost cause.  Unfortunately, because of that we had to do pumps and hoses across 14 fairway from the ponds on the north side of our property to fill the irrigation reseroir.  That was not only unsightly and loud, but also a huge pain to have to gas up and reprime pumps almost daily once the weather turned dry in early August. 

While this river pump setup is less than ideal, it is without a doubt better and cheaper than running the gas pumps down on 14.  Let's all keep our fingers crossed that we can actually get it in the river and running safely next week and that it can stay out there for the entire summer!

Bolting together the 6" PVC line for the river pump setup.  We are adding
and burying an additional 100' of pipe in hopes that we don't have to take
it out and disassemble it in the fall.  This should make the pump installation
much easier in the future.

Hooking up the pump on the inside of the trailer float.