[AT] Off Topic: Well Drilling

Fri Mar 15 10:32:16 PDT 2013

Grant,   I guess I forget or fail to understand how lucky we are in this 
region to have plentiful water
basically for free.  Hopefully it stays that way.   We have 3 aquifers under 
this area.  Two of them
are pristine.  The third has just in recent years started  show a little bit 
of salt intrusion.  Over on our
farm we have two irrigation ponds 50' x 150' x 12' deep at the deepest 
point.   My dad had those dug in
the late 50's.  We also have a freshwater creek that runs along the length 
of the farm.  It is 30 to 75 feet
wide and up to 30 feet deep.  It is slightly polluted but the pollution is 
primarily run off from hog operations
so the pollution is nitrogen and organic solids so it is ok for irrigation 
purposes if needed and they are in
cleaning it up.  We swam in it when I was a child.

Charlie

-----Original Message----- 
From: Grant Brians
Sent: Friday, March 15, 2013 11:05 AM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group
Subject: Re: [AT] Off Topic: Well Drilling

I personally like that we are beyond the sidewalks as the expression goes. I
will admit that every time I have to buy a pump or motor or well that I
wistfully think how nice it would be to not have to do so, but then I think
about the cost per month if there were mutual water! We have pipeline
irrigation water at my home place only. I pay tax to the water district and
about $200/acre foot of water or so. While having 100psi low salt water for
that price is not bad, they only supply part of what I need to use so I need
to use the well too and even so this past year I had to buy extra water at
$350 per acre foot!
     Every other place I farm is only well water from the place and I have
to pay for the Electricity or Diesel to pump it and all maintenance. If all
goes well we will pick up more land very shortly and with it more wells to
maintain / drill. A new well and pumping plant is generally around $100,000
and can be much more if it is particularly deep or high capacity. Most of
the water here has more salts than we want so we have to work with that
too....
     But the taste of the water at the ranch and the artesian well up on the
creek - WOW. I need a drink right now! Water that is....
           Grant

-----Original Message-----
From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
[mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com]On Behalf Of charlie hill
Sent: Thursday, March 14, 2013 3:48 AM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group
Subject: Re: [AT] Off Topic: Well Drilling

Grant,  our aquifers are probably in the 100 to 200' depth range here but we
have good ground water in many areas.   When I was a child many folks had
wells at their houses and around their farms that were less than 20'.   I
wouldn't
want to use one of those wells today without having it tested.   The house I
live
in is on a shallow well.   I don't know how deep it is or even exactly where
it is
but the same water pump has been running on it for 30 years that I know of.
The water has a fairly high mineral content, about 140 ppm, but there is
nothing
in it that will hurt you and the water taste is good.   I probably just
jinxed that
well and pump.  We have had county water lines past the house for the last
20 years I guess but I never saw the need to hook on.   It's just another
bill to pay
and one more thing to make us dependent on government.

Charlie

-----Original Message-----
From: Grant Brians
Sent: Wednesday, March 13, 2013 8:23 PM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group
Subject: Re: [AT] Off Topic: Well Drilling

I have to admit that I find it interesting when people drill their own wells
for water. I have experience with drilling here but the smallest diameter
well I have worked with is 6" casing and the shallowest one that was not a
windmill one for animals only (66') is 110'. Our irrigation well on the
ranch is 404' with over 200' of gravel and a 12" casing. There are water
wells here in California that are over 2000', although fortunately those are
uncommon as that water will never be replenished from a well that depth. I
am looking at a field of Sprinkler irrigation in front of me right now.
     Grant Brians
     Hollister,California farmer of vegetables, nuts and fruits
p.s. I am trying to replace a 22 acre field that we lost the lease on
because of a non-functional well that the landlord did not want to have us
fix....

-----Original Message-----
From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
[mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com]On Behalf Of Mike
Sent: Wednesday, March 13, 2013 12:32 PM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group
Subject: Re: [AT] Off Topic: Well Drilling

It's clay for the most part, there are rocks, but not an overabundance
of them, I'll have to try that method this spring, it would sure make
things easier.

Mike M
On 3/13/2013 11:01 AM, charlie hill wrote:
> Mike what kind of soil do you have and do you have a lot of natural stone
to
> deal with?
>
> It sounds like you have a good flow of water.  Your water vein is
somewhere
> around 54'
> but the water is rising in the pipe up to 14.5' is the way I interpret
that.
> That would mean
> you could pump from your existing well with a hand pump and that's good!
>
> Now days wells are supposed to be sealed to keep ground water
contamination
> from seeping in
> around the well casing.  That would make me tend toward drilling a 2" or
> larger casing that I could seal
> at the top with concrete.  Then you can drop in a 1 1/4" pipe for your
pump.
>
> Charlie
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mike
> Sent: Wednesday, March 13, 2013 10:29 AM
> To: Antique tractor email discussion group
> Subject: Re: [AT] Off Topic: Well Drilling
>
>    Those pitcher pumps are exactly what I was hoping to install, also a
> lot  of good advice from the well driller. I was able to locate the
> drillers report from when they put the well in at our house. Our well is
> only 54' deep and the static water level is listed at 14'6". I'm hoping
> that this means I won't have to drill much more than 20 ft or so to get
> a decent well. From reading the advice from the well driller, it's a
> little hard to tell whether he uses one or two pipes, one as the casing
> and a smaller one to connect to the well with a sand screen on the end
> of it, or just the outside casing for the well. Will have to do a little
> more reading as the time gets closer to do it. Thanks.
>
> Mike M
>
> On 3/13/2013 9:00 AM, charlie hill wrote:
>> Mike this is the best advice I've seen on that site yet.  It's by a
>> professional driller.
>> http://drillyourownwell.com/Advice-from-a-real-well-driller.htm
>> He fills in the details on how to know when you've hit water.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: charlie hill
>> Sent: Wednesday, March 13, 2013 8:29 AM
>> To: Antique tractor email discussion group
>> Subject: Re: [AT] Off Topic: Well Drilling
>>
>> Mike here are a couple of old style cast iron pitcher pumps.
>>
>>
http://www.agrisupply.com/HEAVY-DUTY-TALL-CAST-IRON-PITCHER-PUMP/p/66844/&si
d=&eid=/
>>
>>
http://www.agrisupply.com/Hvy-Dty-Cast-Iron-Pitcher-Pump-Open-Spout/p/40132/
&sid=&eid=/
>>
>> Charlie
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Mike
>> Sent: Tuesday, March 12, 2013 7:47 PM
>> To: Antique tractor email discussion group
>> Subject: Re: [AT] Off Topic: Well Drilling
>>
>> Thanks Charlie, I spent some time looking at the videos, as I plan on
>> doing something like that this spring. I wish it would have shown how to
>> install a hand pump because that's what I would like to do. We have a
>> pasture in front of our house that is too far for hoses, and hauling 5
>> gallon buckets for the horses is a PIA.  It would also give me a source
>> of water in case of a protracted power outage.
>>
>> Mike M
>>
>> On 3/12/2013 11:07 AM, charlie hill wrote:
>>> A while back we talked about drilling our own shallow wells.
>>> I happened across this web site this morning and there is some
>>> great information in it that might be valuable to some in the group.
>>>
>>> http://drillyourownwell.com/
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