That Escalated Quickly (and how I got a new heat pump water heater)

Illinoisfarmer

This is just me admitting a major screw up. Sorry for the length. I'm aware that I was in over my head - but someone may find this amusing...

Last night it got down to 23 degrees here. It's been a LONG fall, and I've been busy with harvest, tillage, spraying, etc. As a result, I hadn't put all the things that can't freeze (chemicals, meter, pumps) into the heated shed. Fortunately, everything that needs to be moved is either on pallets, or mounted so it can be picked up with forks. Last winter, we built a nice loft where everything would easily fit. So at 5:00 last night, I took to moving things to he shed with a tractor and forks. It was going great. I was so pleased with my design and how things were fitting. Except for one pallet that wouldn't line up with the rest. I tilted, jiggled, lifted, lowered - really everything short of getting off the tractor and checking to see what the problem was. Finally (and by this point, I'd downshifted for a little extra torque) I determined what the problem was. Actually, the lights flickered a little and water started pouring from under the loft. I'd crushed the electric water heater that had been installed last winter. If anyone else had done this, I'd have classified it as carelessness. Since it was me, I'm considering this an unavoidable accident

I got the water shut off (the power had conveniently shut itself off) and called our plumber. Doug is a great guy, one man shop, but selfishly has taken his wife out of town for a weekend getaway. Sheesh. I didn't want to bother him - so I told him "No big deal, nothing that can't wait until you've got time" which I think we can all agree sounds better than "I crushed the water heater you installed 9 feet off the floor with a tractor". Frankly, I wasn't too thrilled about admitting I'd done this anyway, and thus far, there weren't any witnesses.

I've been reading the back and forth on here about heat pump water heaters. We've got one in the house and it's fine, and the shop is generally about 50 degrees in winter and rarely air conditioned in summer. Seems like the perfect place for one. Plus our Electric Coop gives a nice rebate, and there's the tax credit. I went to Menards last night and purchased one.

This morning, I decided that I was going to give the install a try. This had the added advantage of disposing of the evidence before anyone can figure out what happened. I haven't sweated copper in years - like 20 years. You all would be appalled at my work. The pipes didn't line up, and I did get to work with pex to make the connections back to the shed restroom - which was easier than I imagined.

I just finished. Almost 9 hours today to install a straightforward water heater. One of my hands is bleeding, I burned my other hand, I briefly lit the building on fire and drilled through the power line running to the furnace. I've completed many complicated tasks in my life. I've plumbed several entire sprayer setups and rebuilt our well pits. To be honest, this job looks more like vandalism than plumbing. I'm not sure where things went wrong, but wow, this went badly. I'm dreading explaining to Doug what I did.

In any case, I always say this, but this is an amazing site, and I have unbelievable respect for what you all do. I'll go ahead and take it a step further and say that if none of you try to plant, grow and harvest corn and soybeans, I'll forever hang up my plumbing tools.

Finally, no there won't be pictures. I spent some time destroying and getting rid of the evidence.

Jamie Hall

Been there, done that... not exactly the same, but oh yeah.

EBEBRATT-Ed

Well, you owned up to it that is more than many would do.

Just don't let Doug or anyone else in the loft!!! LOL

hot_rod

You stuck with it, atta boy for you🚜

Intplm.

When I hear stories like this it reminds me
of this guy.
But @Illinoisfarmer you have all my respect.
Thanks for sharing this story. Seems so familiar.

mattmia2

That sounds like the got frustrated then kept making it worse because you were frustrated problem.

Maybe you can tell me how to keep my tomatoes from always getting septoria.

Robert_25

Thanks for sharing.  I have been through my share of plumbing emergencies on the farm, but I can’t say any of them resulted from squashing a water heater.  Septic tank, yes - a big wheel loader will find every steel septic tank if you drive around on the lawn.

The worst was opening the door on a cold New Years morning just to find that the heifers had broken a waterer overnight and turned the barn into a skating rink.

Jamie Hall

Bottom line: farming is a living breathing lesson in Murphy's Law. If something can go wrong, it will. The farmer is much underappreciated -- he or she has to be able to recover from the darndest things, right now. The stock won't wait...

Illinoisfarmer

Thanks everyone, for the kind words. The loft is no longer used for pallet storage - and now has a railing around it 'to prevent falls'. No one got seriously hurt (except possibly my ego), and most importantly, no one figured out what happened. Again, thanks for your support, and keep doing what you do - you folks are in a different world than me, but I love learning from you!

EdTheHeaterMan

@Illinoisfarmer, I always enjoy hearing about your part of the world. I tell all my friends the you are one of the great ones. Certainly a man who is out,standing in his field.