[Farmall] New well works!

[Dean Vinson]

Hi Karl.  Thanks for the interesting and, as always, well-told story!

Dean Vinson
Dayton, Ohio
www.vinsonfarm.net 

-----Original Message-----
From: farmall-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
[mailto:farmall-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of
olmstead at ridgenet.net
Sent: Sunday, August 26, 2007 7:15 AM
To: Farmall/IHC mailing list
Subject: [Farmall] New well works!

I bought a 2.5 acre parcel about a quarter mile from where I live, near
Inyokern, CA last summer.  Was gonna cash in on the real estate boom. 
Missed the peak, I guess, so maybe I'll catch the next one.  The property
has an unfinished well.  6" PVC casing, 400 feet deep.

Got the property fenced last winter.  Mostly used my Kubota to disk and drag
a fence line through the creosote bushes.  Poured a new, bigger slab around
the unfinished well a month and a half ago.  Ten by twelve is as big as
California will allow without a building permit, so that's what the slab for
the pump house is.  I surrounded the 7' by 7' slab that was poured for the
well with the new, bigger slab.  Erected the pump house about a month ago.

Used my Farmall 350 to spin a pto-powered generator to run a hammer drill to
bore the holes for the Red Head anchor bolts to tie the shed to the slab.

I got interested in a newer, bigger forklift after I attended the Kruse
auction in Yuma this spring.  Along with 1500 tractors were three JCB 930
forklifts.  They went pretty high, so I didn't buy one.

I wanted to install the pump and drop tube for the new well myself, so I
needed a forklift with at least twenty feet of lift.  Then came the Huisman
auction up in Galt, CA this spring.  I bought a 1999 4WD JCB 930. 
Hauled it home myself, which was an adventure.  It weighed 16,000 pounds. 
Somehow my Logan flatbed 5th wheel hauled it, although we were about 7000
pounds over the GVWR of the trailer.  My Ford F-350 dually is rated to tow
about 12K pounds; the loaded trailer weighed about 22K.  For the first time
ever, I really worried about the truck's clutch.  I kept the engine RPM over
2200 during hill climbs, just to reduce the load on the clutch. 
Didn't help my peace of mind that gravel trucks were burning their brakes
going downhill; I was sure I was smelling my truck's clutch going up in
smoke.  But I made it home safely.  Only problem was loss of the dust cap
from one trailer hub.  I checked tire and bearing temp every time I stopped,
and neither got to the point where I couldn't keep my fingers on the outside
surface.

I bought a used well pump from a guy I work with.  It was small, only 3/4
horsepower, versus the three HP pump I have in my own well.  10 gpm rating.
It cost me $225, instead of $1500 for a new 3hp pump, so I felt that it was
worth a gamble.  The water here is 280 feet below ground level; it takes a
lot of pump to lift it to the surface.

I bought 360 feet of 1.25" schedule 120 PVC pipe.  Based on experience with
my own well, I didn't want to used galvanized pipe.  The well installers
around here look upon galvanized steel pipe as their "retirement fund".
They know that it'll need replacement every six to ten years.

The Schedule 120 PVC pipe comes in 20 foot threaded lengths, with a
stainless steel coupling between each length of pipe.  With the help of a
friend, I installed the pump, drop tube and electrical cable last weekend.
 Only took about four hours.  The new forklift worked great!

I designed the roof of the pump house to lift off.  Made a couple of 10'
fork extensions out of 3" x 6", eighth inch wall steel rectangular tubing.
 Used the extensions to lift off the pump house roof and then to reach in
through the door and install the well drop tube.  Got that done last
weekend, and installed the plumbing to feed the 4K gallon storage tank.

Today I wired the well.  I don't have electrical power to the property
yet,so I patched a generator into the service entrance and powered up the
well.  Used my Farmall C to run the PTO-powered generator.  As the C purred
away, I pumped the first water from the well.  Washed my sweaty face, drank
a little of the fresh, cool water, and pumped about a hundred gallons into
the empty storage tank.  That should be enough to keep the fall winds from
blowing away my plastic storage tank.

It was almost a spiritual moment.  I watched the water run from the tap, and
thought about the miracle that such a wonderful substance could be hiding
beneath the parched sands of the Mojave desert.  And I rejoiced that all the
decisions I'd made and work I'd done had paid off.  The new well works.

-Karl

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