Thanks Dennis. I told our friend the same thing, empty the basket quickly and replace it. The real problem is vacuuming and I've solved it as well. By the time we got the skimmer plate in, the skimmer was dry, even before we could hook up the hose! I figured out that the hose fits in the hole in the bottom of the skimmer so I'm having her fill the hose with water then stick it directly in the hole. Seems to work fine. Ball valves are already installed before the pump and after the filter so obviously the guy had some experience.
Why are the pumps you are installing so oversized? You must admit, a 1-1/2 HP pump for a 13k gallon above ground pool with one return and one skimmer is a little excessive. Think how much more efficient a 3/4 would be, cheaper to operate, quieter and it would still vacuum the stuff off the bottom right? Not to mention avoiding what seems to be a common problem of "Tornados in the skimmer".