Colder Than a Well Diggers ...

[WHX?? 52,059]

Well if The Pullstart can make a mess in his backyard. Time for a new water source. 

Way overdue... in the 40 years I lived here all we had is a 11/4" sand point down about 25 ft. Always good water in fact it comes from the waters of the Mecan River which I live next to. Perrier once wanted to put down humongous wells at its headwaters and peddle it. They got voted nay. 

Since its all sugar sand here points only last 10 years before they plug. 

I had replaced it before but it and the pump are down in a pit and not to code.

 

Real old Bucyus Erie cable rig powered by a Continental four cylinder diesel mounted on a newer Ford 800 but is smaller to get it in where needed. 

Manual outriggers! All you equipment operators how would you like to have to set them with every move. 

 

 

Since i can pee faster than this delivers water I have it cross connected to the sprinkler system which is a 2" point down the hill. That one is only down 10 ' 

 

LP tank had to get temporarily moved to get the casings in. So far down 60 ft with enough pipe to 120. I think they plan on 180. 

Edited Tuesday at 03:16 AM by WHX??

[ebinmaine 73,237]

What a neat rig!

[Sparky-(Admin) 23,394]

What was your gallon per minute before and after? 
  Mine was drilled 305’ with (I think, it’s been a while) 5 gallons a minute

[953 nut 60,592]

8 hours ago, WHX?? said:

Real old Bucyus Erie cable rig powered by a Continental four cylinder diesel mounted on a newer Ford 800

Some of us can identify with that.    Wish I could get mounted on a newer chaises, maybe I could get into the recliner faster.       

Don't know what prices are like in your area but last year we had the pump replaced on our 200 foot well, it cost more than the well and pump cost fifteen years ago.

[WHX?? 52,059]

3 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

What a neat rig!

Right?!?!?

 

1 hour ago, Sparky said:

What was your gallon per minute before and after

I have no idea Mike ... never measured it. They knew how far down the neighbors are from permit records so they just base the pipe & cost estimate on that. Guessing a final GPM is based on how high test the pump is they will put down. I told them to put a bad ass one  down ... we'll see. 

 

22 minutes ago, 953 nut said:

pump replaced on our 200 foot well, it cost more than the well and pump cost fifteen years ago.

Right!?!? I should have done this pre-covid as it would have been cheaper. I procrastinated and was busy buying .

 Also post covid I couldn't find someone to do it or even get a estimate. 

I was quoted 14 K for the whole shebang with 1500 add if I want a constant pressure pump. Cheaper than a new truck and last longer.

 I just told them it is what it is gotta be done as long as it's done right. Maybe even have a little left over with what I got earmarked for more horses ... 

29 minutes ago, 953 nut said:

get mounted on a newer chaises, maybe I could get into the recliner faster.

More on that later when I tell about the guy running the rig. 

[oliver2-44 10,810]

10 hours ago, WHX?? said:

Way overdue... in the 40 years I lived here all we had is a 11/4" sand point down about 25 ft.

 

Since its all sugar sand here points only last 10 years before they plug. 

For us that live in rock, granite gravel, or black dirt land, tell us what a "Sand Point Is"? enquiring minds need to know!

PS in the black gumbo clay where I grew up, you hoped to hit a layer of sugar sand for a shallow 40-60 ft well.

Otherwise it was 180+

Where I live outside Austin in the 90's I had a 600 ft well in limestone and the new houses were drilling 700 ft plus

[pfrederi 18,749]

What amazed me a couple years ago had the pump replaced in my 225 ft deep well.  The new power wire actually cost more than the schedule 80 PVC pipe...

[Achto 29,479]

2 hours ago, oliver2-44 said:

For us that live in rock, granite gravel, or black dirt land, tell us what a "Sand Point Is"? enquiring minds need to know!

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=sandpoint+well&rlz=1C1GCEU_enUS821US821&oq=sandpoint+well&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQABiABDIHCAIQABiABDIHCAMQABiABDIJCAQQABgKGIAEMgcIBRAAGIAEMgkIBhAAGAoYgAQyBwgHEAAYgAQyBwgIEAAYgAQyBwgJEAAYgATSAQoxMTgzMWowajE1qAIIsAIB8QWLX-1Wj-JqsfEFi1_tVo_iarE&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

[WHX?? 52,059]

Ollie... basically a SS screen with a point on the end. The screen comes in different gauzes or the size of the screen. That's what plugs up. Eventually a void forms around the screen. 

They say if one shoots a gun or a fire cracker down the pipe it will clear the plug ... or blow the screen out . Now I don't know about that.  Mama always says just put a new one down. 

 

This is the screen for a submersible. The pump sits inside of it. They can be pulled back out somehow  to replace. 

Would imagine the pump has to be pulled to do it. 

[Pullstart 67,178]

I’ve driven a couple sand points myself around these parts.  Fun times!

[wallfish 18,317]

Around here in New England they're typically conventional wells drilled and a pump sits down inside the bore hole. Most common depths in my area are about 150-300 ft deep. Just measured one today that was at 250 ft. The deepest we have installed a radon system in was 750 ft.

They probably hit water at 20-50 ft on most but they are drilled deep enough to get a good recovery rate. Think the minimum you want is 5 GPM recovery rate and even the small water pumps do 7 GPM.

I've seen one with a 42 GPM overflow right out of the top. (A few with 5-10 GPM overflow) Luckily for that guy it's all farm land behind him so he made a deal with the farmer to capture and use it. Win win for both of them. If it was in a regular neighborhood there would be a big problem as it can't just be capped. Capping it would force all of that water out through the ground at all levels and cause problems or even a sink hole. 

[953 nut 60,592]

4 hours ago, WHX?? said:

They say if one shoots a gun or a fire cracker down the pipe it will clear the plug .

We had several shallow wells (20' to 40') for my father's green house and garden irrigation. They were all driven with sand points and if one plugger up we would use water pressure from another well pump to open it back up. Our old dug well at my grandfather's farm dried up one summer and he hung a blasting cap about two feet from the bottom of the well and detonated it. Mud flew everywhere but it fractured the ground around the well and water began flowing in rapidly.     I don't think you could get away with that these days.

[Beap52 1,520]

I've never heard of a sand point well.  Interesting topic.  

 

Here at my house in southwest MO, soil is clayish with sandstone and can be rocky.  Our well is something like 330 feet deep with water standing to about 220 feet.  I'm not sure how deep the pump sits. I think it produced 30 gpm.  We just had it tested and it's good and safe for drinking.  When they came to bore our well, I assumed the well driller would  witch for water.  He didn't.  He asked where we wanted the well and said that he'd find water at some point.

 

At our farm in North Missouri,  we're told it taps into a underground river.  

[Wayne0 1,269]

Growing up, my Gramps had a driven point at the camp in Maine for many years with a pitcher pump on top.

My brother, at 25yo. who was VERY independent decided to dig a well. By hand. Hit water around 15 feet. Rocked up the sides with stones

from stone walls in the woods. That was in the 60's. That well still runs today.

I've got a picture of him sitting at the bottom in a lawn chair! With a beer. I'll post it if I can find it.

[ebinmaine 73,237]

Our well here on the mountainside was drilled through unknown numbers of various sized boulders and aggregate of all sizes to a depth of 680 ft. 

If I remember correctly they said 4 GPM was touched around 280. That passed but wasn't satisfactory to the owner. 

 

For scale on the 680 depth ... we're around 540 elevation. The river in the valley is 330 or so. 

540 - 300 = 210. 

680 - 210 = 470 feet DEEPER than the local river at the lowest point.  

 

[oliver2-44 10,810]

We have 3 hand dug well on the farm at Lagrange 30-40 ft. They are cased or lined with 36” dia. X 48” tall sections of concrete culvert type pipe. Years ago (early seventies) dad had an old well digger had clean one out. He told me they just dug under the bottom of the concrete and let it slide down the hole as they dug. They were probable dug in the 20’s when the houses were built on that land.  The concrete is rocky looking, possible cast on site with flint rock and sand from the creek. 

Edited Tuesday at 11:51 PM by oliver2-44

[WHX?? 52,059]

1 hour ago, Beap52 said:

Interesting topic. 

Finding water in the earth is interesting Beaps.

 

They told me they like to see 40' of water minimum  over the pump. Guessing the witching thing is for shallow wells. 

 

Interesting how this well is not drilled but pounded in. When he get so far he runs a pipe down and fills the pipe with dirt/slurry. then brings it up and dumps it. Kinda like a straw in a drink. I'll have to get a pic of it. A lot slower he only gets in forty foot a day. Less as it gets deeper he says. 

 

Most rigs have a regular drill to bring it up. Woulda never got one of those big rigs in the back yard without land clearing. 

 

At 30 ft he hit clay so the water I was tapped into sits on top of the clay. They say you need to go deep as the water is less contaminated. Your not supposed to drink out of a shallow well 'cause Pullstart drains his tractor oil in the dirt. ...  

[WHX?? 52,059]

So here ya go Richard this guy is 74. 

Not a real big guy either but pretty spry. He set it all up by himself & saw him climb half way up with a five gallon bucket of water to dump down. Only guy on the job. Was told he is the only guy who knows how to run it. It shows he knows where every lever is second nature without looking.

Funny he doesn't have an apprentice. Really no need for a second guy but to learn. 

 

An idea of how tall it is. 

 

The casing is in 20' lengths. they couple together with a big @ss chain wrench. He puts a choker around them to pick them off the trailer. They gotta be hevvvey. 

 

Video ... lemme know if don't work. Might need to get it on YT. 

Edited yesterday at 02:16 AM by WHX??

[953 nut 60,592]

10 hours ago, WHX?? said:

this guy is 74.  Was told he is the only guy who knows how to run it. It shows he knows where every lever is second nature without looking.

Funny he doesn't have an apprentice. Really no need for a second guy but to learn. 

I guess when he gets old he may want to bring on a helper.                     

10 hours ago, WHX?? said:

Video ... lemme know if don't work. Might need to get it on YT. 

That ponds it down rather quickly.     Around here you get into granite at about 30 to 40 feet and it drills very slowly through for several hours.

[WHX?? 52,059]

54 minutes ago, 953 nut said:

That ponds it down rather quickly.     Around here you get into granite at about 30 to 40 feet and it drills very slowly through for several hours.

Thank you Richard.  I asked the guy what happens if it hits a boulder or hard rock. He said if they can't pound or drill through it they abandon what they have down and move. 

[SylvanLakeWH 28,780]

Slick operation!!!

 

Maybe you could use that rig on  steering wheels and hitch pins... 

[ebinmaine 73,237]

1 hour ago, 953 nut said:

I guess when he gets old he may want to bring on a helper.                     

That ponds it down rather quickly.     Around here you get into granite at about 30 to 40 feet and it drills very slowly through for several hours.

 

57 minutes ago, WHX?? said:

Thank you Richard.  I asked the guy what happens if it hits a boulder or hard rock. He said if they can't pound or drill through it they abandon what they have down and move. 

 

 

Well drillers up here don't plan on hours. 

They set out DAYS. 

 

Many of the local companies will bring two large trucks and several smaller trucks. The driller is separate from all the bits and extension pipes. The other trucks are for transporting back and forth from the job site.

[WHX?? 52,059]

Not much today got down another 30 ft to 130 total. Pulling up all red clay now.  Pipe trailer went back for more as he only had 6 lengths on it.  I think the magic number is gonna be 180 - 200.

See what he does tomorrow then it's off to a show Dan and I have this weekend. Last one for the season. 

Guy works four 10's so no Friday action.