Bought a $400 submersible pump for my Mississippi River job and it paid for itself in one day

I was working a dredge operation near Baton Rouge last month and got hit with a sudden rainstorm that flooded my pump pit. That 2-inch submersible pump I spent $400 on from a local supplier handled the water in under 3 hours and saved me from losing a full day of work. Just wondering if anyone else has had good luck with those smaller pumps in a pinch, or if you stick with the big rigs.

3 comments

3 Comments

blake7921mo ago

That bit about tripping over the cord made me laugh, @wendy820. I've done the same thing with my own electric model, but I learned to lay a heavy rubber mat over the cord where it runs through the work area. It saves you from eating mud and keeps the plug from getting yanked out. For the money, those submersibles are tough to beat in a pinch because they're easy to drop into a pit and forget about. But if you're dealing with thick sludge or sand like I was on the river, you might want to hose the pump off after each use so the impeller doesn't get clogged. Have you run into any problems with debris in yours?

wendy8201mo ago

Totally agree with you, @alicemurphy, that little pump earned its keep fast. I got the electric model, and honestly I was ready to be all smug about it until I tripped over the cord and fell face-first into the mud pit I was trying to drain. So yeah, it worked great, but my pride took a bigger hit than that rainstorm ever could. At least the pump didn't laugh at me, which is more than I can say for my crew.

alicemurphy1mo ago

Did you get the Honda powered one or the electric model? I picked up a similar sized pump last year for ditch work on my property and it handled a flooded basement like a champ. That little thing earned my trust fast enough to keep it in the truck for emergencies.

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