That time I tried to clear a jam with a broom handle

We were pulling up muck from a channel near Mobile last fall and the pump intake got clogged with what felt like a whole tree root ball. The foreman was on lunch, so I figured I'd be smart and save time. I grabbed a wooden broom handle from the tool locker and started poking it down the access hatch. It worked for a second, then the pump suddenly caught and sucked that broom handle right out of my hands. I heard this awful grinding crunch from down the line. Shut everything down, and we spent the next four hours pulling apart sections to fish out about three feet of splintered wood. The boss just looked at the pieces and said, 'You know they make rods for that, right?' Learned my lesson: never use the wrong tool just because it's close. What's the dumbest quick fix that ever blew up in your face?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_betty7d ago

Tried to stop a leaky pipe with a whole roll of electrical tape once. Wrapped it up real tight, felt like a genius for about ten minutes. Then the water pressure built up behind it and blew the whole mess off, spraying my entire basement. What a mess, lol.

xena_fox397d ago

Did you at least get a cool water fountain effect before it exploded?