New Pump for old shallow well

I am looking to get an outdoor well back up and running. The details:

* As best as I can tell, the well is an old shallow well pump (in Florida) maybe 30+ years old
* The depth, as best as I could tell, is 25 ft or so.
* I got it up and running 17 years ago when I bought the house for yard irrigation
* The well would occasionally run dry
* 5 years ago I got rid of the grass yard and seldom used it.
* It hasn't worked for 2 years.
* It has an old well tank and a shallow well pump, both not working (and not in repairable condition)

I want to get it back up and running, if it wouldn't cost that much, just for occasional yard work. I see combo tank and pumps that are fairly inexpensive from harbor freight. I am not sure if something like that would do the trick. It has been fairly dry recently and I am not sure if anything would work right now.

Thanks for any help!

Do yourself a favor and spend a little more money on a pump/tank with some quality. Big box stores are not the place to shop for pumps and tanks.

I usually replace jet pumps with small deep well submersibles. Holding it with a standoff or pipe to the pitless.

OK... let's get a little further details then.

First, I am not interested in spending a bunch of money if my well is dry. Should this be a concern of mine? If so, how would I test it? (BTW, I am by the beach in Venice).

Second, I get the idea of getting a quality pump, but even then, if all I want to do is hand water some plants once a week, how much would a setup cost? $300? $500? $2000?

Third, I am seeing the various prices on combo tank/pumps. Is that a viable option? The install would be a lot easier.

Thanks for any help...

Seems like you have resigned yourself already to the big box stores. I would start there with the pricing.

Many years ago, tank mount pumps were used a lot. Now days, it's the box stores who like to sell them that way.
I have a rental in Venice that has a 1hp jet pump (Betta Flo) that I used to sell when I had the pump business. The well is a 3" rock well at about 75' deep. No screen. I would think yours is a rock well also. So it won't go dry. If you see the gulf suddenly going down, then worry about the well going dry, not until then.

My rental is at Shamrock and Piedmont if you know where that is, which might give you an idea of what you might have for a well.

As far as occasional watering, junk is still junk and that is what you will get at harbor freight. Tractor supply sells Myers under a different name. Lowes and HD selll either Myers or Sta Rite's plastic junkie pump (Flotech). The Myers aren't too bad, but their motors are sub standard, not the same motors you would get in a Myers pump. It's too bad, but even the good motor brands are being bought out by Chinese companies and will soon be like all the rest. I can get you a good STa Rite, Myers or a couple of other brands, but their pricing won't be comparable to big box stores.

Thanks for the good info.

So how can you tell which Sta Rite / Myers is a good pump?
A quick check online shows variations of 1/2 hp (StaRite / Franklin) Shallow Well Jet Pumps for $200-$275.
Also, if I need a pressure tank, what size would I need?
I only have 115V available. Would a 1/2HP fit the need for just hand watering?

Yes a 1/2hp will do a good job. Any Myers or Sta Rite with the actual brand name and not some name like Water Ace (Myers) or Flotec (Sta Rite) Those are the junkie pumps. Franklin is OK. They are Jacuzzi's and were a decent pump. Hell of it is, nothing is as it seems anymore. Everybody buys out somebody else makes some changes (generally for the worst) so you don't know what your buying. Just stick with the brand names and you will be OK.

Pressure tank can be very small as long as you use enough water to keep the pump from cycling. Or you can physically turn the pump on while watering and turn it off when done without a tank or pressure switch. Just be sure water is moving through the pump or it will melt the impeller.

OK, so I can find a 1/2 HP Sta-Rite FNC Shallow Well Jet Pump for $200 online. The SNC-L version is $240. That's the same as Lowes or Home Depot(?!?!).

Last question then, is there anything I should do to extend the life of the pump? It is going to be outside, but should I make/get a cover for it?

Some of those model numbers you're quoting I'm not familiar with there's a lot of new ones for state Stay Rites that I don't know about most of them are plastic pumps. These
days stay away from plastic and stay with cast-iron you'll do better.

Got a Sta-Rite cast iron pump installed. Works great. Only issue I had was that it had been so long since I did irrigation piping that I forgot about outside diameter versus inside diameter for the fittings.

Thanks for all the help.

That pump is what I knew as the FSCH. FS meant Florida Special, the C meant 1/2hp and the H was for high head (higher pressure). It is a very good little pump and should give you years of service.

All PVC plumbing pipes are sold by inside diameter.