Pond Maintenance - Water/Trash Pump

[Beltzington]

Would a 2" 187 gallon/min gasoline trash pump be enough to drain a 1/2 acre pond, fire control, maybe irrigation? Found a Honda powered construction grade unit for a good price but since I have never used one I'm not sure what the recommended capacity is. They are not cheap so if I am going to spend the cash I want something I am going to be happy with.TIA

 

[charlz]

Would a 2" 187 gallon/min gasoline trash pump be enough to drain a 1/2 acre pond, fire control, maybe irrigation? Found a Honda powered construction grade unit for a good price but since I have never used one I'm not sure what the recommended capacity is. They are not cheap so if I am going to spend the cash I want something I am going to be happy with.TIA

I have a Honda WMP20 general purpose pump. If you look at their pump page they show the applications for each. http://www.hondapowerequipment.com/products/Pumps/ Mine is not rated for sprinklers but that is what the guy I bought it off used it for. I mainly use it to drain my pond when needed and to flood irrigate certain areas when needed. Handy to have around.

Mine is 2" and rated at 220 gal/min but I can't run it anywhere close to that because I only have 1.5" outlet hose. I think I probably need like 3" hose so the pressure at the end of the hose is low enough to prevent it from cutting a hole in the ground. I usually just fast idle it and let it run.

I don't think you can deadhead these pumps like you would in a firefighting situation when closing the nozzle. Maybe if you designed some type of pressure release and sent that water back to the pond or whatever.

A 2" pump definitely moves some water but might be a little undersized to drain a 1/2 acre pond. Can you shut off water coming into the pond or do you need a pump big enough to overcome the inflow and still remove water from the pond? I have been keeping my eyes open for a larger old pump with a bad motor or something that I could adapt to be a PTO pump for when I want to drain the pond fast.

 

[MikeD74T]

Would a 2" 187 gallon/min gasoline trash pump be enough to drain a 1/2 acre pond, fire control, maybe irrigation? Found a Honda powered construction grade unit for a good price but since I have never used one I'm not sure what the recommended capacity is. They are not cheap so if I am going to spend the cash I want something I am going to be happy with.TIA

Pond draining; some quick numbers, if your pond averaged 4' deep it would contain 1.3 million gallons. With that pump you're pumping for 7000 minutes or 116 hours -assuming it don't rain. What kind of pumping time are you looking for?
For firefighting this, Floating Fire Pump, 13 HP, Briggs & Stratton, would be better, obviously much more HP which further indicates that Honda won't do much for you.
For small scale irrigation it might be adequate. MikeD74t

 

[20 20]

I have a 3" and a 1.5" pump, I have used them more then once to drain my pond/s{over an acre}. A 2" will work but it'll take some time especially if it rains.


I think my higher expence was/is the hose, especially when 100'+ plus is needed.

 

[kevinwak]

The Honda trash pumps are bullet proof. We use them at work to pump rain water out of berms surrounding oil well. At times they run 24 hours a day for a week. Just fill with gas every 2 hours. The 3" has about twice the capacity as the 2" so it really depends on how much time you have. I plan on using mine hooked to a sprinkler to water my garden out of a dugout. As for fire fighting, they should work good. Not sure how far they spray with a nozzle. It is a centrifugal pump so it is safe to run with the discharge blocked in. I know Honda does make a higher pressure version specific for firefighting.
Can't best a Honda. First pull starting after sitting all winter.

 

[Beltzington]

All good information, I would have never guessed a small pond held so much water. I did finally find Honda's "pump selection" ap and it looks like this pump would be marginal for all my tasks. Until Kevin chimed in I had decided to pass on the 2" pump. Since I am not in a hurry I'll probably rent first to get a better idea on performance. Appreciate your input.

 

[JD 4520]

You conclusion of renting first is a smart decision. If you can use one, rent one, borrow one first, you won't be dissapointed that it didn't do the job as anticipated. I try to do this with most expensive equipment purchases. Sometimes rental works out better than ownership.

I'd be interested in what you plan to do with so much water in a non-native location...this assumes that you are planning on pumping a million gallons of water out of the pond to somewhere else.

Good luck

 

[Beltzington]

My pond has a drainage ditch input and output, I will just pump it down stream. I have been told there is a spring somewhere upstream but from what I have seen in the last couple years it is feed by run-off.