Drooped a key in the pit

[Ric]

Dropped a valuable key in a bay pit Any tips on how to fish it out

 

[I.B. Washincars]

We once fished out a woman's wedding band with a garden rake. She saw exactly where it rolled in and we snagged it on the first dip.

 

[borumrm]

This happens a lot...get a small electric pump with a hose and pump the water down ....what ever dropped will probably be lying right on top of the mud...don't just start digging around down there without pumping the water out or you will sink it and never find it.

 

[chaz]

You can get a magnet rake at home depot....that is assuming the key ring or key is magnetic.

 

[JMMUSTANG]

I agree get a pool pump from Leslie pool or similar store and pump out the pit first.

 

[DiamondWash]

If you get lucky and have a general location you might be able to pump out the water and pick up the key at the same time.

 

[John L]

A lot of work but it paid off.

The previous answers are much better than mine but I will share a pit experience.A few years two men came to me and said they had dropped a valuable ring in the pit. I pumped out the water but they could not find the ring. They asked if they could shovel out the pit-I informed them it was almost 3 feet deep but the wanted to do it. They borrowed my shovel and one man began putting shovel piles of mud in rows all over the bay. The other man scratched and searched through the piles and after about 4 hours they found the ring. They returned the mud to the pit, washed down the mud with their money and left as happy as if they had won the lottery.

 

[txheat]

if undisturbed and have idea which area it drop, you can get a magnetic antena at Ace hardware and fish it out. One time my wife try to fish it out didnt work. i came home from fishing had a crab net that had small holes...got lucky and scooped it out after several tries...now she has all our keys hooked to belt loop lol.

 

[dogwasher]

Magnet sounds like a good idea

 

[I.B. Washincars]

I just checked the keys on my ring. Of about 20 keys, none are magnetic.

 

[chaz]

Likely the keys are not magnetic....but the key rings typically are.

 

[MEP001]

If the key wasn't on a ring, you can use a rare earth magnet.

 

[mac]

The next time you see an old speaker lying by the curb, take it home and cut out the magnet behind the speaker cone. They are usually about 3" square and really powerful. Works best on retrieving dropped tools.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

What about a stack of Hydrominder magnets? They even have a hole to run a string through.

 

[pitzerwm]

http://www.harborfreight.com/retrieving-magnet-100-lb-pull-36903.html

http://www.harborfreight.com/30-lb-capacity-powerful-handle-magnets-67156.html

I use this one: http://www.harborfreight.com/6-1-4-quarter-inch-multipurpose-magnet-holder-1939.html

 

[Ric]

Unfortunately any keys I've checked are not magnetic.

We now put on of those foam floating key rings for boat keys on any key which this could be an issue. It would probably never make it thru the pit grate but if it did, it would float. Get them at walmart, etc.

 

[Kevin James]

Were you ever able to retrieve the Key you dropped into the Pit?