water well drilling opinions needed

[mike44]

What did you use to drill your wells. Do you have or did you make a rotary yourself? Did your pump pull the cuttings well enough?

My brother worked for a well driller. He actually drilled the wells for me. I had the pumps and box for the bentonite clay fluids. The well drill machine was an older one that sat dormant for years. I worked on the motor to get it to run. Stan's boss was pleased to see the old driller run again as it was useful in areas in confined spaces.
He waived charges and paid for parts. Just needed maintenance stuff, plugs, distributor cap , new wiring and other minor stuff like fuel filter etc.

 

[don4140]

Went and looked at the name of the only polymer i really use on shallow stuff is pene-trol helps with the clay sticking to the tools, that is also a baroid product. But polymers are for systems that are ran across shakers and desilting cones and where feet per hour matter. If you make 3-4 feet an hour through the clays count yourself lucky with a home built rig.the sands will be a lot faster though
dont dump your fluid any place that matters that stuff slimes up every rain for years

Drilling time is another thing that was hard for me to imagine so this is good. Glad to know about the fluid being an afterward problem. I had planned to use the tractor auger to dig the pits and just assumed the mud would just be covered over with fill. Might not be a good idea now. I guess i will plan to move it, since the well wont be that far from the house. In this conversation i have concluded that most of my potential problems might be solved if i just get some used drill stem. Do you use a special trash pump or are they too small for what you do? I have an 8 hp cast iron trash pump but can't remember the discharge diameter or output.

 

[don4140]

You might want to go by Hardin Tubular Supply on the east side of Victoria there on the Houston HWY. They might have something laying around that may work. Ken

Thanks, we should be going back to the farm in two or three weeks and i can "check em' out".

 

[don4140]

Hello don4140:

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Thank you for the info. I am beginning to look around myself also. Henderson is about seven hours from the house and i saw some advertised on craigslist out of College station. It might be that it is a good enough price to make a trip. There is a company in Longview texas that had good deals on boat lifts some time ago. That's another project for another day, but you pass through Henderson on the way to Longivew. Appears that your search "shoppok" might pan out for me. Thanks again. Don

 

[idacal]

You need to be able to move about 30 gpm for a 4” hole so if your pump will do that it will work that’s why on full sized rigs you will see 3-400 horsepower running a piston pump but they are pushing 5-600 gallons a minute through 2” piping and api threads that’s why I recommend uping your drill pipe size.
Basically your flow is neutral mud in the drill pipe and mud outside the hole theoretically jus a few psi will make it flow, the volume is where the cutting removal happens

 

[don4140]

You need to be able to move about 30 gpm for a 4” hole so if your pump will do that it will work that’s why on full sized rigs you will see 3-400 horsepower running a piston pump but they are pushing 5-600 gallons a minute through 2” piping and api threads that’s why I recommend uping your drill pipe size.
Basically your flow is neutral mud in the drill pipe and mud outside the hole theoretically jus a few psi will make it flow, the volume is where the cutting removal happens

You have sure helped me in this process. Even though i have no plans to drill more than this one well, it needs to be successful not just expended energy. So your input as well as the others who have graciously offered their time as well, have convinced me that a larger diameter pipe is in order for me, so that is the route i will take. I truly had no idea that the used drill stem was so available and could be purchased reasonably. I may fail in the attempt, but it should not be by starting a project with very questionable equipment. I really hate the idea that I could have spent a lot of time making pins and boxes for small diameter pipe that was more likely to fail than succeed. I have no idea how many gpm i can squeeze out of the trash pump. I am now reasonably sure it has a 3" discharge as i remember the hose looks like an anaconda TY Don

 

[dalmatiangirl61]

I'd think any scrapyard (that will sell to the public) between Houston and SA will have drill stem. Just down the street from City Market BBQ in Luling is a small scrap yard, ask for Bennie, he usually has some drill stem at another yard down the road that you'd never know was there.

 

[true temper]

You might check out something like this, https://www.purplewave.com/auction/...nd_Trenching-Directional_Boring_Unit-Missouri a little short on the drill pipe but would have most of the stuff to build a rig. Including a mud pump. I haven’t found the GPM on it but I am guessing 25 GPM.

 

[DDoug]

I'd think any scrapyard (that will sell to the public) between Houston and SA will have drill stem. Just down the street from City Market BBQ in Luling is a small scrap yard, ask for Bennie, he usually has some drill stem at another yard down the road that you'd never know was there.

Why does this stuff get scrapped ?
Could it be a fools errand to try to use is again in drilling rather that making fencing with it ?
Last thing you want is for it to break and have to build a fishing tool.

 

[4GSR]

Why does this stuff get scrapped ?
Could it be a fools errand to try to use is again in drilling rather that making fencing with it ?
Last thing you want is for it to break and have to build a fishing tool.

Lots of reasons it gets scrapped. Most the ID thru the pipe is washed out so bad it's going to fail. Worn out tool joints is the other. Last would be superficial cracks starting to show up when inspected. When the drillers start to get a million cycles of rotations in the drill pipe, they start to pull that pipe out circulation. Yeah, it's inspected, NDE, anything questionable gets scrap out. A string of pipe, the tool joints can get the threads chased up to three times before it gets scrapped out. Do they build fences out of drill pipe? Most of it is too big for fence posts. Now tubing on the other hand, it can be used for fence posts. You don't see ranchers doing so. T-bar is much cheaper than messing with pipe unless they are using it for entrance to the property. The small drill rigs used for horizontal drilling for fiber optics and such has the perfect pipe to use for a homemade water well drilling unit IMO. The stuff just doesn't come up for sale often.

 

[idacal]

open discharge a harbor freight predator 2" will do 100 gpm thats what i use to mix mud through a venturi mixer. (pumps are cheap and when they quit working take them to the auction) put 100' of 1" hose on it maybe 30, thicken the water to a decent vis your 10 - 15 gallons a minute its straight up friction loss thats why I keep saying try it just use 1.5 or 2" pipe. A 3" trash pump open discharge will move 200 gpm + but dead head with drill fluid at 25 psi or less. it will dead head with clean water around 45 psi.
one job not long ago I was trying to use a centrifugal pump a 3x4x13 with a 100 horse on it, dead heading it the pump would put out 190 psi but I had a little air in the drill fluid because of some drill foam that had been left in the mix tanks from an earlier job. I could not push 40 gpm through 300 foot of drill rod and that was with 2-7/8 if threads so 1.75 hole roughly. but that was a fluid issue.
Just use pipe thread get 2 aluminum 48" wrenches and get at it. you need 7 sticks of 2" pipe have them cut to 5 footers and get at it. one project (not drilling, junk milling out some damage from a pump drop inside a building) needed a bunch of shorts, couldn't clear something, I just threaded 1 end and cut a coupling in half and welded that to the other end and I put way more torque and pull on that cheesy set up, than 14 hp at 140 rpm is ever going to put out. your going 140'. time has no value your doing it for the experience, or you would be paying someone to do this for you. my drilling education costed me 60 70 thousand dollars in lost tools, time, fuel, and redoing jobs. and that was after my boss paid my educationcosts (screwups) for 4 years. and I still get to pay education cost anytime I drill in an area where I haven't worked before, usually just time now, though so wages and fuel. a 3 day job just took me 2 weeks because of education costs , thats after doing it from age 18 to 42, present age
your going to screw something up, would put money on it that you will do it at least twice, to get it right, with enough water flow for your use, no sand, and the state sign off. but just do it

 

[FredC]

4GSR, on my ranch we used both 3/16 wall tubing and drill stem with 1/2 to 3/4" wall for corners and end posts (4 1/2 inch OD). Afterwards you worry about liability of those corners with the drill stem. A car that would come off the road and hit one might be cut in to 2 pcs. The 3/16 wall tubing would probably give and be less likely to injure the driver or passenger.

 

[dalmatiangirl61]

Why does this stuff get scrapped ?
Could it be a fools errand to try to use is again in drilling rather that making fencing with it ?
Last thing you want is for it to break and have to build a fishing tool.

All the reasons 4GSR gave, and a hundred more. Yes, it would be a fools folly to put it back into commercial service, but for a slow speed diy rig to get to 130', it is what I would use.

4GSR,
Some folks just use it for corner posts and bracing, some will build entire fence lines with it. In my area T posts will be leaning in just a few years, if you want a fence that lasts you drive a 5 ft stick of pipe most of the way into the ground, then sleeve the next smaller dia pipe into it and weld it. Why drill stem instead of steel tubing, the drill stem won't rust out in 10 years.

 

[Robert R]

The 2 3/8 drill stem is rated for a 3000 ft-lbs maximum torque or a 150,000 lb maximum tensile load when new.

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When the drill stem fails inspection due to cracks or holes it is marked with a red stripe. A white stripe indicates greater than 80% stem wall remaining. A yellow stripe indicates that it has more than a 70% wall. A orange stripe indicates that there is less than a 70% wall. A drill stem that no longer meets the as new specification may still be usable for less demanding applications.

 

[DDoug]

I know the thread is a bit old but I can offer some general advice for anyone else who may come across this thread in the future.
When it comes to drilling a well, it's important to have a sturdy and reliable setup to ensure that the drilling process is successful and safe. Using non-threaded pipe or improperly threaded pipe can lead to equipment failure and potential accidents.

How do you drill a water well with "non threaded pipe" ?
Should go right thru the SPAM layer pretty easily, but the rock
will slow it way down.

 

[Bill D]

I see the OP is in Texas so I assume he is under Spanish water laws. This means he may not be allowed to drill or use well water on his own property. Check with a lawyer before spending time or money on something you may be forced to return to original condition.
Bill D

 

[reggie_obe]

I see the OP is in Texas so I assume he is under Spanish water laws. This means he may not be allowed to drill or use well water on his own property. Check with a lawyer before spending time or money on something you may be forced to return to original condition.
Bill D

Zombie thread revived by a spammer.

 

[Richard King]

5 years ago I had a well drilled in Missouri by a licensed Well Driller at a Cabin I owned down there. They used the outer casing a PVC Plastic Pipe that went down to the bedrock - then they poured concrete around it to seal it. I couldn't believe that as up here in MN they use steel pipe for the casing. I live in the boonies and have my own well and septic.. In both wells they used a deep well pump with galvanized pipe up to the top where they used black PVC pipe to the house.

 

[Bill D]

Zombie thread revived by a spammer.

I am not the zombie spammer! Someone had revived this thread before I even saw it. I am selling nothing, no links
BilL D.

 

[DDoug]

I am not the zombie spammer! Someone had revived this thread before I even saw it. I am selling nothing, no links
BilL D.

Could have fooled me....all these years...
Who knew ?