Anyone have any luck drilling their own well?

Believe it or not, in some states it is illegal to dig your own well. Mine is one, unfortunately.

U.P. Upper Peninsula

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practically everything is practical

You're speaking my language there, we should be getting something from Deep Rock in the mail.

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practically everything is practical

I believe this is the sort of rig texican is speaking about: http://www.dangerouslaboratories.org/drill.html

I also saw a website not long ago that gave the principles for a rammed well, where you basically set up a tripod where the ram was pulled up and dropped repeatedly into saturated earth and eventually, you would hit water. There was a mechanical setup, pulley on engine, to lift the ram, then you let go and the ram fell back to the earth. The original setup called for lifting the ram by hand or livestock if you were so inclined.

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How do you do, How Do I? Thanks for the link, that looks simple to build. My little sawmill has a similar set up to raise and lower the cutting head.

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practically everything is practical

Whereabouts are you in the U.P., eh? I'm just south of the state line. I wonder if you're sitting on the same granite substrate as are we. I know it extends up into Ontario.

It complicated our well drilling to a great extent. But we have great water.

Good luck,

Don

Thanks for the luck Don. We are in the Keweenaw peninsula, Houghton county.

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practically everything is practical

It's beautiful there. Being closer to lake level you shouldn't have to go way deep. We had to go 280 feet through mostly granite. If you were farther inland, it would be more of a problem.

This isn't to say you should drill a shallow well. I know that our well, in 1974, was many thousands of dollars. I will be interested to hear how you progress if you get that drill. Maybe we can work something out down the road. You aren't that far away.

d

He didnt have a diamond bit to start with, and he burnt it up. THey saved for the D bit, and got down 30ft if I remember and wedged it, Then they seperated, Me and the neighbor next to them on the other side went to see what they had left behind. he took the stand and motor, and I took the lengths of shaft and used them for fence posts. I also got a burial vault from there. I hooked it to the lift on my CC Case, raised one end, and came home with it. Made a good stock tank. It finally dissolved on one end. There only good above ground, for around 15 yrs. You CAN drive a pipe intro the ground IF you dont have rock down there waiting to meet it. Rock will distroy the sand point, and it would be HARD to retreave all that pipe just to replace the sand point. AND that sand point wouldnt hurt a good sized rock any. It would still be down there

I've talked to several people around here and it sounds like I've got sand, clay and sandstone layers to go through. I'm fairly optimistic that I will be able to do it regardless of what I run into.

Maybe we can work something out I always ready to accept help and ideas, there's always something to learn. I'll keep you posted.

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practically everything is practical

We thought about driving a point but decided against it, that's more of a gamble than I'm willing to take. Especially if I can build or buy my own drilling rig.

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practically everything is practical

Our deep well hand pump works all winter long (we do get -30ºF plus temps). What you have to do is drill a 1/8" hole in the drop pipe at a point in the pipe where it is a foot or two below the frost level. Then, after you pump up your water, the water in the delivery (drop) pipe will drain back down to below the frost level and will not freeze in the pipe.

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I bought a Deep Rock rig about five years ago. It has been used to drill a few wells and is still working fine. There are definately some tricks to the process (like getting the casing down the hole), but if you don't have to go through any solid rock, it's a slick rig. The people at Deep Rock are also pretty good at helping and trouble shooting over the phone.
Tom

we are going to try the "borzit" yes that is how it is spelled I'll let you know how it goes. My husband is getting it on his next trip home-we truck.

Just a quick note to say several states have laws against drilling your own well, you know the old line "for public safety". So be sure to check out local ordinances. Here in AZ you must be a licenced well driller to drill your own well. Not worth the effort if it's just for you.

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"That's the governments job. To meddle and interfere equally" - Reynolds

Thanks Tom, that's 3 Deep Rock +'s, I'm curious about fireliteca's borzit. What size motor is on your's and what's the deepest you've gone?

Knowing this concept is viable, Texican's really got me thinking about building my own now.

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practically everything is practical

What kind of horse power are you looking at and how deep are you thinking you have to go?

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practically everything is practical

I'm thinking 'try it first, than ask'. Everything else we're doing is by the book, we've already have our septic permit and the building inspector said that because we are using nontraditional building methods, he will issue an "on site permit" and just come and check once in a while. I really like this guy.

The nice thing about these portable rigs is that they are rather inconspicuous, and easy to put out of site.

Michigan state law does allow for home owners to dig their own well, put in their own septics and build their own buildings

As far as public safety goes, I'm of the mind that that should be more up to the public and the public should be more accountable for their actions.

Thanks for the thought

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practically everything is practical

Frankly I'm glad you feel that way, just wanted to let you know.

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Please forgive Typo's and Gramatical Errors as a result of public education

"That's the governments job. To meddle and interfere equally" - Reynolds

That's what I was imagining. How deep is deep, and what kind of hand pump are you using?

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practically everything is practical