Quote:
Originally Posted by nokiasixteth
Basically a synthetic form of bentonite comes in gallon jugs instead of bags . For a lot of places if your diggin less than 100 ft we use it instead . Have dug 260 without it . The sack mud bentonite is nasty mess we try stay away unless its bad gravel.
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Did you mean you went 260 ft with the poly gel?
What kind of structure were you going thru and how did you add the poly gel? And how much! I watched a pro driller once who added a few onces of a liquid he said was poly gel to his mud pit - he was careful to add a little at a time - must be powerful stuff!
In much of the middle eastern coastal areas we have clay/loam down to a certain depth (say about 25 ft) then sometimes over a hundred feet of marine clay, and sand and gravel. You can jet a 4" hole in the clay/loam but the marine clay needs at least a good mud pump (5 - 6 hp) and 3 - 5 hp drill. It drills fast but tends to form collars of gooey clay around the drill pipe joints if you go fast without good water flow. The marine clay also forms its own clay slurry in the drill pit like bentonite to seal the sides of the hole against collapse. And all over you too!
For me rock of much over large gravel (think golf balls on up) is the end of drilling.
Also, since you sure seem to be in the business, is there any kind of grout that is pumpable with ordinary centrifical pumps?
I had heard that neat cement makes good easily pumped grout for the hole but have no idea how its mixed or used?