DIY well drilling / trench digging for GSHP

[Geo NR Gee]

Originally Posted by jhwelder

Just lost a bit 28' down after drilling through 15" of solid rock. Guess my son and I shouldnt have been standing on the drill to make it cut faster! Well its off to the shop to make a new one and try again.

Not fun when that happens. I lost one at 25' down but it was because I wasn't lifting the cuttings fast enough and stuck the string. Are you making a new bit?

Geo

[jhwelder]

Originally Posted by Geo NR Gee

Not fun when that happens. I lost one at 25' down but it was because I wasn't lifting the cuttings fast enough and stuck the string. Are you making a new bit?

Geo

Yep, just have to find the time.

I wasn't lifting cuttings out fast enough as well. I drilled down to 28' broke the pipe 5' up from the bit right at the threads on the string. I was using the pool pump and the pool. 13,000 gallons of water at my disposal once the swimming season ended. It was not enough flow. I drilled down 28' and broke the bit. Measured the hole and could only push the tape measure down 15'. It must have had 1/2 the cuttings floating and all settled after the water was turned off. Tonight I picked up a trash pump on craigslist. We'll see how that does.

[jhwelder]

[jhwelder]

Ok... just trying to see if I could post. Previous post is a pic of my rig. Not sure how to make it so you don't have to look at it sideways.

[AC_Hacker]

Originally Posted by jhwelder

Just lost a bit 28' down after drilling through 15" of solid rock. Guess my son and I shouldn't have been standing on the drill to make it cut faster! Well its off to the shop to make a new one and try again.

Sure would like to see photos and specs on the drilling rig that you are using...
Horse power, etc.


Also like to know where the failure occurred, and if you have any photos of that.

Interested to know what kind of bit have you made for drilling through solid rock.

This information could be super useful to all of us.

BTW, regarding sideways photos, if you can make them look like you want them on your computer (use a program like 'Paint' or something similar), then save them that way before you up load, they'll look 'proper' when you post them.

Good luck with your project.

-AC_Hacker

[jhwelder]

Originally Posted by AC_Hacker

Sure would like to see photos and specs on the drilling rig that you are using...
Horse power, etc.


Also like to know where the failure occurred, and if you have any photos of that.

Interested to know what kind of bit have you made for drilling through solid rock.

This information could be super useful to all of us.

BTW, regarding sideways photos, if you can make them look like you want them on your computer (use a program like 'Paint' or something similar), then save them that way before you up load, they'll look 'proper' when you post them.

Good luck with your project.

-AC_Hacker

Power comes from a 1/2 hp reversable motor. Turns a belt driven gear reduction made from some pulleys, which drive an 11 tooth gear that turns a pressure plate/ring gear from a 5.4 liter ford engine. Bearings are large tractor trailer tapered axle bearings that were headed for the dumpster. Final drive is about 30 rpm.
Pipe broke when I was cutting through a larger rock. I cut about 15" through and was coming out the bottom side. It broke in the threaded section just above the union.
The bit I made the first time was fabricated from a bulldozer cutting edge. It was a 4 blade bit. Blades were 6" long and welded to a heavy wall piece of steel tubing. I welded a union on to it to thread onto 1 1/4 pipe. It cut a 5" hole. I will try to post pictures of the next bit I make.

[mejunkhound]

broke when I was cutting through a larger rock

Sounds familiar. My first DIY drill was a rotary bit with teeth. 3 HP motor driving old IHC transmission via the flywheel gear, with the tranny in granny gear coupled to 2" pipe. I was extending my 18ft hand dug water well due to a 50+ house subdivision going in up the street.

Twisted the 1.3" dia output shaft off the tranny when it hit a big rock only 10 ft downhole.
So, machined a new shaft out of a 2" dia 4340M steel billet I happend to have,
Next thing happened on next rock was to strip all the teeth off the tranny bull gear.

Abandoned the rotary, built a walking beam percussion drill setup using a welded '62 Impala reah end to drive the walking beam. That went thru everything, including a 3 ft dia basalt boulder (judging by the number of bailers full of black rock chips). Blue clay layer at 60 ft with 5 ft fine sand above it (bottom of Puget sound glacier)

You may want to consider going to percussion drill? I posted a pic of my setup further back in this thread.

I see in a previous post in this thread that AC requested I add some data on my drill rig.
It is all pretty overgrown as quite a few years since last used but will try get some photos and post in a new thread tomorrow or next week. It is disassembled and laying in weeds but may be able to get enough pic to show the intent.

[slippy]

And it sucks.

I'm only about 6' down. I'm using the drillyourownwell.com water method, and it is going really, really slowly. I'm pretty sure the 100' of garden hose just isn't going to cut it. I think that the cuttings are just bogging me down; when the well settles, my drill bit will come to rest about 2' higher than the last place I was before removing it.

So, whatcha think? Lots more water?

What kind of flow rate would I need to raise "average" gravel-sized stones? I'm suspecting there's lots of aggregate like that in the ground around here.

I tried a shop vac, but it didn't have the lift to get out the mud. I was toying with the idea of a second set of pipe, with a flapper check-valve in the bottom, to use to hand-pump the mess out. Seems like an Archimedes screw of some sort would work as well, but I have no idea where to obtain such a thing.

[Ron342]

Garden hose is not going to lift gravel!
Dig about a 20 cu ft pit, say 2.5 x 3 x2' deep about 10 ft from your hole, with a lead in trench from the hole to the pit, fill pit with water, Get a 5 - 6 hp mud pump and put the suction in a bucket submerged in the pit water (so the mud and gravel flowing up from the hole will be in the pit bottom & pump will be pulling from the water flowing over the bucket top)
Use at least 1" , preferably 1.25 or 1.5" id rigid pipe (pvc will work) from the pump discharge down the hole , some metal teeth on the bottom and an adj. Twisting handle at the top will help a lot! Add sections as you go but wait a minute or so at end of each section for the mud/gravel to flow up and out - Don't leave the pipe in the hole for long if not pumping!!!
In most east coastal areas with no rock, bolders etc you can do well unless you hit roots or any kind of rock or maybe marine clay.
Good luck!

[nokiasixteth]

Originally Posted by Ron342

Garden hose is not going to lift gravel!
Dig about a 20 cu ft pit, say 2.5 x 3 x2' deep about 10 ft from your hole, with a lead in trench from the hole to the pit, fill pit with water, Get a 5 - 6 hp mud pump and put the suction in a bucket submerged in the pit water (so the mud and gravel flowing up from the hole will be in the pit bottom & pump will be pulling from the water flowing over the bucket top)
Use at least 1" , preferably 1.25 or 1.5" id rigid pipe (pvc will work) from the pump discharge down the hole , some metal teeth on the bottom and an adj. Twisting handle at the top will help a lot! Add sections as you go but wait a minute or so at end of each section for the mud/gravel to flow up and out - Don't leave the pipe in the hole for long if not pumping!!!
In most east coastal areas with no rock, bolders etc you can do well unless you hit roots or any kind of rock or maybe marine clay.
Good luck!

Poly gel helps when in gravel . Bentonite also