Eureka!

I'm pumping water out of the ground - pretty happy about that. When I got ready to put the pump on the stand pipe I looked at the bottom of the pump and something didn't look right. I checked out the exploded view in the instructions and it seemed as if the bolt that holds the weight to the bottom diaphragm was missing. I took the pump apart and the bolt was inside but the nut and washer were missing. Fortunately I had a 6mm nut in stock, so it was bolt everything back together and screw the pump onto the stand pipe. Primed it, waited five minutes like it said to in the directions, and bingo, I had water. The water was still a little cloudy but it started to rain before I could pump much. The well water was starting to clear up, however, before I ran for cover. It comes out better than the little drizzle that you see in the picture but it's tough to take a decent photo while working a pump handle, especially when it's starting to rain.

Now I need to finish the platform for the welder. We've had some serious storms the last few days and we've been lucky that the power hasn't gone out. I'm not sure how I would've kept the little chicks warm down the basement if the power went out. Now that the pump job is finished, the welder platform is next on the agenda.