Well equipment lifts in Wickenburg, AZ

Around Wickenburg, plenty of homes, ranches and outbuildings on acreage get their water from a private well. When a pump has to come up, pipe has to go down or a tank needs to be set, the heavy pieces are only half the problem. The other half is the ground: hills, rock, washes and long ranch drives.

We help well crews with:

• Handling pumps, motors and pipe at the wellhead
• Moving pipe and equipment between the truck, the trailer and the well
• Setting pressure tanks and storage tanks on pads
• Lifting equipment over fences, rock outcrops or down a grade where a trailer cannot reach

Every lift is different. Call with the weight of the item, how far it needs to go and where the truck can park, and Don will confirm the lift.

On Wickenburg acreage the well is rarely next to a paved driveway. It might sit down a two-track road, past a cattle guard, near a wash or on a bench below the house. Before we head up US 60, we want to know how the truck gets there and where it can stop.

• The route in. Gate widths, cattle guards, tight turns, low branches and any steep pitches on the road.
• Wash crossings. Dry washes can be soft sand, and after a storm they can run with water. If the only way to the well crosses a wash, tell us, and expect that rain may move the date.
• The setup spot. Outriggers need firm, level footing within reach of the well. Rocky, sloped ground around a wellhead often means the truck sets up on the road above or below it.
• A turnaround. Somewhere to turn the truck around without backing out a long drive.

OSHA requires crane setups on ground that is firm, drained and graded enough to support the equipment, and the site controller should point out hazards like buried tanks or utilities (29 CFR 1926.1402). Photos of the road and the well area save a wasted trip.

Water systems on hilly properties often include a storage tank on a pad, sometimes uphill from the house, plus a pressure tank near the well or the pump house. Setting those by hand on a slope is hard work and easy to get wrong.

• Have the pad or base finished and level before the crane arrives
• Know the empty weight of the tank from the supplier, and make sure it is empty when lifted
• Tell us whether the tank has lifting lugs or needs to be slung
• Note anything between the truck and the pad: fences, rock, brush, or overhead lines

For tanks, troughs and other ranch equipment that are not part of a well job, see our Wickenburg heavy item lifts page.

We provide the crane and the lift. The well work belongs to your well contractor. In Arizona, drilling, deepening or modifying a well has to be done by a licensed well-drilling contractor, according to the Arizona Department of Water Resources.

Because Wickenburg is about 37 miles from our Surprise base, it pays to plan the day with the well crew:

1. Agree on the crane's part. Which pieces need the crane, and in what order.
2. Line up the timing. Pick a start time so the crane arrives when the crew is ready to pick, not while they are still opening up the well.
3. Stage the pipe. Pick a clear, flat spot near the well where pipe and equipment can be laid down.
4. Name one signal person. One person from the well crew directs the lift. Our crane hand signals page covers the basics.

On lift day, Don and his son Bryce run the crane and work the job together with your crew.

The pump needs power, and on rural Wickenburg properties that power often reaches the well on an overhead line. Look up before you pick a spot for the truck. OSHA requires crane equipment and loads to stay at least 20 feet from lines up to 350 kV unless specific procedures are followed (29 CFR 1926.1408).

Open hillsides can get gusty, and long pipe swings easily, so tag lines and a clear path matter. We will hold a lift if the wind makes it unsafe. Wickenburg is also horse country, widely known as the Team Roping Capital of the World, so secure horses, cattle and dogs well away from the truck and the swing area before we start.