Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations PTO pump to drain pond?

Does anyone have experience with PTO-driven pumps as a way to drain a pond? I have been unsuccessfully trying to siphon a shallow 1/3 acre pond for about 3 weeks now (my calculations show maybe 35,000 gallons or so). I am pretty sure I don't have a good 4 foot drop to the outlet and that is why it will siphon for a day or two, then stop.

I could try to remedy the lack of drop by buying more PVC, but it would mean getting another 100 feet length of it. If I am going to spend that kind of money, why not buy something that I may have other uses for.

I thought maybe since I have a tractor (35 hp) then maybe I could get more bang for my buck with a PTO-driven model? Any and all advice welcomed.

I had a farmer with a PTO pump to fill a pond from a creek with around a 15ft lift. Worked good.

You can rent trash pumps for not too much money if you can run electric out that far.

I went through a similar mind-checklist and equipment search a few years back. I settled on a 2-inch semi-trash pump.

As I did my research and brain exercises, I put the tractor PTO water pumps in the same category as PTO driven tractor snow blowers. I figured it would sit a lot more than it would ever be used.

I went with a 2-inch semi-trash pump. Mostly I use it to irrigate my gardens, but we've also pumped ponds with it.

These are just rough numbers, but a 2-inch semi-trash pump will move about 7500 to 10,000 gallons per hour. A 3-inch pump will move about 12,000 to 15,000 gallons per hour. A 4-inch will move about 20,000 to 25,000 gallons per hour.

Except for the high-end Honda pumps, most cost a lot less than low-end to moderate PTO pumps. They don't tie up your tractor every time you need to use the pump for a few days.

My pump lives in a "dog house" during the summer months. It runs on about a half-gallon of gasoline per hour.

If you were doing big-time irrigating, or constant water removal at relatively high volumes, a PTO pump may be well worth it. Most contractors I know, that have to do water removal on excavation jobs, use semi-trash or trash pumps rather than tying up an expensive tractor.

Anyway, this is just my opinion from my rather narrow experience.

Good luck with your effort. Please keep us informed of your progress.

As mentioned above, rental of a big trash-pump is a great option too.

Ken

Thanks Ken, I think you are right. Good advice.