Introducing "Pumpzilla"

This 5,000-gal/minute "portable" pump would fit under the category of
Things I Never in One Million Years Thought I'd Own

As near-record water levels in Lake Erie (and by association, Sandusky Bay) exacerbate our challenges within the marsh to bring water levels down (to broaden the footprint of Japanese millet seeding -- see yesterday's post below), we have found ourselves wrestling with some "new" equipment. But as with so many things in marsh country, this equipment is anything but new. Per usual, it's old . . . and repurposed.

I first laid eyes on "Pumpzilla" -- our affectionate name for the beast pictured here -- a year or so ago. While still hulking in scale, it was somewhat unassuming then, sitting dormant amidst overgrown grass beside a neighbor's barn. If you would have told me then that I'd eventually be the proud owner of this monstrosity, I would have said you're nuts.

But marsh management is often about timing, and when our neighbor said he had no use for the pump, Roy's wheels started turning -- especially when we were told it could be ours for "free."

If we are to have any chance to execute on our most aggressive 2017 goals for the East Marsh (complete with ~80 acres of millet seeding), we only have at most a couple weeks to get the water off. We have 30 acres in the books, but the remaining 50 will be interesting to say the least. We've been dry recently in terms of precip, but a leaking dike off-site has been plaguing our ability to make progress on our broader vision for this growing season.

Whether this pump bails us out of our current bind or not,
if we can get it and keep it running, it will prove to be
a valuable asset to augment our two main electric pumps

So step one was to see if we could get this beast of a pump set up and running (no small feat). That has been accomplished, but step two is equally important: keep the pump running. Despite some preventative maintenance (a new fuel pump, some new belts, oil change, grease everywhere, etc.) on the JD diesel engine, we only got about an hour of run time on Tuesday before the water pump (within the engine itself) failed.

Now, we wait for the part, cross our fingers that it will prove to be the end of the maintenance money pit, and then cross our toes that it will keep running long enough to overcome the rain and afternoon thunderstorms that are sure to come over the next couple weeks.

I've been reminded many times over the last few years focused on this project that this type of land management takes a lot of planning, a lot of sweat, a lot of resources, and probably more than anything, a good amount of good luck. Time will tell.


Pumpzilla's discharge dwarfs the neighbor's stationary (electric) pump in the background. We are told that it made its way here from Florida, where it was used to prevent orange groves from flooding!