Pond Boss Forums AERATION Systems questions Trash Pump Questions

I am looking on craiglist for trash pumps/..

I see one that is 3" but has 8Hp Engine and another that is 4" but has 5.5 HP engine..

What would be the differance?

4" glog less?

8HP move mor water, stronger suction?

ETC....

I bought mine on craig's list and you have to do a lot of comparison to understand what each one will/will not do. Some will say a high HP, but as we all know, that rating may be a lot less than an old engine rated at say 5HP. I ended up with a 4" pump, and don't regret the extra size. I can't remember the HP off hand, but it never revs up all the way. From what I understand it's an emission rating thing, so they put a limit for high the rpm's can go. I was also told that I could get more GPH out of it if I would modify it to go faster, but at 4" it was not necessary.

If you can, choose one that comes with all the hoses you need. To go buy them separate, it might cost you more than the pump. The quick connections are the way to go.

I would also think the type of pump that is on it is as important as HP. So bigger Hp to make up for a lower quality Pump?

http://daytona.craigslist.org/for/4467812125.html

vs

http://jacksonville.craigslist.org/for/4466887106.html

I just went by gpm and have been told a honda motor is the only way to go, and after several years have not regretted it.

I got mine brand new for less than $300.00 if i remember right from TSC lacking the roll bar carriage. No sweat on that. I just mounted it on some lumber.

Any idea how many gallons the pond is?

can yousend a link to where you got your?
I cant find honda ones forless than a grand new. Many off brands are very near $1,000 new. Saw a couple on amazon that are submersable pretty cheap, but submersable ones seemed not very usable to me.

edit, TSC, Tractor supply co....

I see they have two semi trash for less than $300, the only trash they have is $600 hundred. Seems like Craiglist might save me some money.

Ill look into the GPM on the two and see. I do agree that honda might be good engine....

Do a search for tractor supply company (TSC) and type in trash pump in the search window.

I'll take a peek at mine and be right back to tell you exactly what I have.

The motor is a honda GC160 5.0 hp. I'm pretty sure intake is 2 inches and the outflow collapsible hose is 3 inches.

Consider this 2" semi trash pump kit for $269, those fittings and hoses are worth about half that. I used to keep these on the boat for sinkers and they always performed well and if you dropped it overboard it Wasn't the end of the world.

http://www.bjs.com/champion-power-equipment-2-semi-trash-pump-with-hose-and-wheel-kit.product.234482

I used to keep these on the boat for sinkers

and they always performed well and if you dropped it overboard it Wasn't the end of the world.

http://www.bjs.com/champion-power-equipment-2-semi-trash-pump-with-hose-and-wheel-kit.product.234482

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Now I'm curious! What was sinking and how was the trash pump helpful for this? You sucked up items that had sunk? or you used the trash pump to sink things?

Marine towing and salvage bizness, sinkers are boats taking on water and are sinking. Not in a pond, but offshore.

I want to get a trash and not semi trash so I can take up a little silt while I am at it. The ones I have been looking at are about 13,000 gal per hour.

craiglist seems to be the best price at around $300 for slightly used. The two above have sold already. Ill have to wait for another to pop up and grab it I think now that I kind of know what I am looking for.

As Cecil B mentioned those with the Honda engine are the best and easiest starting. Possibly a little more expensive but very dependable.

Quite a few engines start as well or better than a Honda. It's just hype

I'll agree with that. I have a Honda pressure washer, and boy it's not that easy to start. The cheap trash pump I got is so much easier. Yes, I have used it a lot, and it's still going. Question is, will the cheapy last as long as the Honda. Years down the road will tell the story.....

All I can say is the honda pump has started right up for at least five years now, I've drained a million gallon pond twice, not to mention three 100,000 gallon ponds once a year.

I recently bought this pump at Northern Tool

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200395731_200395731

I have used it for about 40 hours and it has worked like a dream. I particularly like the 10 hour run time between gas refills.

I have noticed the semi trash pumps tend to be much cheaper than the trash pumps..

Why might this be...

I assume the trash pump is built more strudy to handle more trash mixed in the water?

Yes, true good trash pumps around here start at $1,000, and that's used. I don't know if I would fret over trash v semi-trash. If you need to remove that much sediment, it would be better to just hire someone to clean it out with the proper equipment. With a semi -trash you could stir up the water and mix sediment in and it would pull it out, especially a 4". But even doing that is time consuming, I wouldn't want to do quantities of that. My experience too is that the suction hose has to stay under water, and it needs to remain short as possible(most are 20' or less). Its a big hassle moving that around as needed. I think the big problem would be gravel. Depending on the pond bottom and how good the pump blades are to take the impacts.

I suppose if you could pick the lowest spot, leave some water in the pond, and walk around and stir it up, pushing the sediment towards the one spot as the pump works, it may work over several go-arounds. Maybe do it after each rainfall? The discharge hose will fill with the heavier sediments too, especially if it goes uphill or in low spots.

Where would you push all this sediment and how far?

I think the pump portion of the unit is more robust. I've got a 3" semi-trash pump w/honda motor that has pumped probably over 18 million gallons of water in the past 5 years (that's just a rough estimate) and it's probably way over that amount. It's just now loosing performance due to pumping a sand/water mixture for a 12 hr period while unattended. I'll bet the seals are starting to go because it's not as self priming as it was at first. The biggest plus about the Honda motors is the oil indicator that stops the motor from running if the oil level is low. We trashed a Mitsu motored pump when it tipped sideways and kept running. Motor couldn't pump oil and scored everything. It was cheaper to buy another pump/motor than to replace the motor in the time frame that we needed the pump.

I converted a 6 gallon outboard motor gas tank to replace the gas tank that came with the pump. It will run approx 14 hrs on full throttle and about 20 hrs on part throttle with the aux. tank.

Trash pumps typically have larger impeller vanes and housings than semi-trash pumps do, and they can pass larger materials.

Low oil shutdowns are fairly commonplace among engine manufacturers now. Even the basic, 6.5 HP briggs I have on the shelf are utilizing them. Overall I think they are a good idea, but they don't work worth a darn on a rototiller.....

Here's a side thought. Is there any one near you that rents trash pumps? Buy a semi trash pump to do the long periods of draining water and then go rent the trash pump to do the hard work. Wear and tear of the hard work on short rental time.

Hype? I guess hype is also why Honda is number one, by far, and that is with Chinese made Honda Clone engines made to the exact same spec and material costing 40% less. Hype doesn't keep the top market share for over 20 years, quality does...hands down the easiest to start, maintain, find parts for (which are not often needed) and most reliable, in every size and model.

Personally, I'm cheap and go with the off color clones over the Honda red. I have 8 engines, and not one takes two pulls to start, and never have taken 2.....well, the time I submerged the brand new pumps at full throttle under 3 feet of water, took a few extra tugs....lol