My best friend has built his entire home off grid no power just some battery power tools, so inspiring to see it. Just unbelievable the hard work that goes into this. We have a property next to him we’re building on we hope to make it our permanent home one day. For now it’s a place to go if we can not stay here anymore. My mom will be on a lot right next to ours we have a trailer there but did get electric on one lot no way to get it elsewhere costs would be more then a mansion an defeat the point of building off grid. Thanks for all you do I just had my 17 year old watch a bunch of your videos he has the same thought process on many things and has become more an more like myself. Unable to eat meats unlike many people I know an some I love an sees things a lot differently. We’re going to add the well in a few weeks to the properties down in Tennessee. I’ll send your videos to my friend John who is doing so much I think he would enjoy seeing he isn’t alone in truly doing it yourself
I dig your son watches us for ideas, he sounds like a cool cat. We just got back to the homestead and I will get some new stories up soon. As far as your mom goes, I would just set her up a solar system. For under $10 grand you can build an amazing system these days. If she is a minimum power user you can build her a pretty nice system for 2 grand.
He gets older but doesn't understand or research how to keep the two separate environments of well water, filtration and contamination. So, to the environmentalist vegan does what most bubble minded people do.....they stop learning once they get the answer they WANT. This is extremely foolish, smart people know Pro's, Con's and risks then make common sense decisions. I hope No urine or phehicle matter seeps down through the gravel from top soil unto the water table. You are supposed to use dry concrete like substance down to the 1st layer of gravel or sand. This will stop contamination at the clay level. Another tip for cleaning dirty water out is before installing pump filter is to suck the debris out vis hand pump or vacuum.
I love seeing this, it's proof you can work hard and accomplish something yourself without expending $1,000's. This is also a skill that one would never forget, I am tackling a project in the near future that is similar. I appreciate your video.
Did this as a kid growing up because my parents hand dug a water well and it was an 8x8 hole that we dug to about 125ft. Took dirt out by riggings and rope with 5 gallon buckets. It took several years to get it done,but we did. Lots of fun.
Howdy All! I'm just starting my project on 200+ acres on highland desert in AZ. The soil is perfect for building adobe the tall grass is abundant, but I have zero water. Later this singer, I'll try hand and battery auger drilling up to sixty feet for potable filtered water and I have an ancient water swale on the land. I'm hoping to fill to attract wildlife and create an oasis in the desert. Looking forward to participating in one of the live events with the Doc and Luptopia.
You need to use11/2 inch galvanized pipe and pound down into the ground with a postpounder not a sledge hammer. The Screens on the points are so fine It won't suck in sand and you have to be able to figure out which type of screen to use on the point. I get over 6 gallons per minute on my point and it is 10 years old now. I had my 28 foot point down and running in two days all buy myself.
Be careful when you glue the fittings together because they tend to jack themselves apart. You can see that clearly with the first coupling which jacked itself out almost 1" after it was let go. Put them together dry and run a marker pen around the pipe, then prime and glue up to that mark on the pipe. That way you can see where it needs to be and hold it there until it grips, it also makes for a tidier job. I wish I had water that close to the surface here. We just had the first real rain after 7 months, a 100 year drought in this area of SW Australia. I also wish we had the tools you can buy to put the well down, it's just crap from China here these days. Lots of made in USA on the parts you used which is good to see. Thanks for a great video.
Good stuff Doc. I am wondering if you are worried about surface water infiltrating the well through the gravel used to backfill the casing? Would a solution be to backfill the last few feet with concrete maybe? I live in the country and have a regular well drilled by a well company that we use here at the house. I built a solar system with a battery bank and inverter large enough to power the well pump in addition to other things but think it would be cool to add a pitcher pump to the well as another failsafe since battery banks don't last forever. . We also have a small seeping spring that I tried to modify so that it flows and I was successful in getting a nice trickle of water out of it but only have about half of the seep captured, I might work on that this summer. Unfortunately though the spring is a bit of a walk to get to.
Yes, I should have explained that, I will make a concrete collar around it when I set my base up to lock the surface water out. Thanks for bringing that up
@@TarrinLupo I think you are right about the spring. After reading your comment I found several youtube videos with methods to develop the spring which look way better than what I was trying to do. New project for the weekend!
I realize that this is an old video, but this is the first time I have seen this Green-Works auger anywhere. I knew thew made mowers, and blowers, and lawn tools " Oh My " . I think I'll stick to the cheap gas one I have for now, but I need to try this mobile home anchor machine to drill a hole, 2 people can't hold it though in a vice when we pull the trigger. lol
how do you deal with rocks that keep on binding the auger? I jimmy rigged some hand dig auger extensions on an electric auger head. goes way faster than trying to cut through my hard packed clay loam by hand until I encounter rocks that keep jamming up the bit and wearing the teeth down. I'm thinking i might try a heavy cylinder with teeth on it to hopefully break or displace the rocks, or jet the hole out, except I would have to bring in water which would be a big bottleneck.
Hi I saw your video on youtube on digging a hand well. I really found this to be one the best tutorials in detail on the whole process. I also have a simmons pitcher pump can you help me locate extra gaskets im not sure what they look like.
I’m so glad I found this video! I was watching a bunch of other videos and I just kept saying in my head. Why aren’t they putting a secondary casing around the actual well pipe and putting rocks around the outside of that to keep all the sand and clay out of it. So glad my instincts were on the right path. I love how you are using that tip instead of the well point great idea!
@@TarrinLupo any other suggestions for the Berkey? We have a Berkey that we plan to use with water we catch off a bluff. I thought about a pre filter but I'm not to that point yet.
I realize that I am a bit late to the party here, but out of curiosity... Are you breaking rock with that drill? Or are you basically just cutting through layers of small stone? I'm planning to dig a well in WV and I am sure to hit rock so I am trying to gather some helpful info ahead of time.
If you hook up a 55 gallon drum to it and fill it up and then tap the bottom of the drum the water in the drum will siphon the water up out of the well
I see these videos for digging a shallow well, What exactly will you be using this water for. If not for showering and or drinking then what is the water for? Would you use it for plants and animals or not the animals? What is the solution if you cant afford to dig hundreds of feet down but you still must have water on your off grid home.
Most areas of the country can not use a swallow well. You won't find water only 25 feet down. I dug this because it cost a fraction of what I would have paid a well company, We mainly use it for watering the garden but we can filter it for drinking water if need be. But honestly if I was in your position , I would not dig a well and instead spend a few grand on a nice water catchment system or a machine that pulls water out of the air. Wells have got crazy expensive and there are much cheaper options now.
@@TarrinLupo anytime buddy miss you I should have checked in before now I noticed you been streaming and uploading again you got to get a hold of me we can play some 7 days to die or something I got a good audience for it ;) I have a gaming channel called rockalot
It's official ANYONE can dig a well. no skills or training required. If you can use dowsing rods but that's too much work hey just skip that hard labor of slowly walking a small area. I'm amazed at the description of primer and glue. Wow this is really special.
So many push electric replacements, but ignore that if solar and wind isn't available, fossil fuel is used to produce the electricity. We are heading that way, but are not there yet. I was taking classes on solar design and technology in the early 80's and the professor was a genius, but even he admitted we had decades, or up to half a century till we were ready to convert.
We feel gas might be really expensive or impossible to get in a grid down situation, that is why we went electric. It is not as powerful but I can at least make power for it. But you are right gas is faster.
Tip: use rain /shine glue.. with the purple cleaner . it welds pipe slower and better ! HOLD glue couplings 10 seconds.. cause they do as yours did= backs itself up. and you not get full areas glued. . cleaner needs be solid purple color.. its main purpose is= makes area soft and ready for glue to solid weld the 2 pipes ... pliers.. you used backwards..lol.. they bite on there own as you push.. ! 4 inch pipe you didnt coat beggining edge /like 1/4 inch lol. thats most important area. tip/ i like use cleaner inside same pipe to be glued= cleaner does 2x longer than the glue! cleaner softens the area better if do this. although glued perfect/ it hard/ brittle =want go inside/ or take out.- without doing 10 feet sections.. but its easier and better after installed/ want ever come unglued!
I just bought a house on a acre just out of the city limits and am going to put a well in, had metered water but like you said someday we'll have a grid down situation, I mean Oct 4th there is going to be a test over the phones on a national scale that's for a nuclear event , you gotta wonder why....the government knows something we don't I'm thinking 🤔
Even if you use Dowsing, it is no way to know how far down Water might be, if you live close to a Swamy area, generally the water Table will be High thus Driving a Pump Shallow will be easy and most likely always find water at 20 ft. or less...
It helps to know if there are other shallow wells in the area. You can always consult usgs for grounwayer depths in your area. Outside of that, trial and error. Lots have dug wells by hand and have found nothing.
Unfortunately, most PVC is not rated for use for drinking water, not due to a high risk of toxicity, but due to the fact that it can degrade with high temperatures, UV light exposure and extremely high pressures. Any degradation can damage the water supply and make it unsafe for drinking water.
I've drilled hundreds of water wells, this guy has so many flaws in his video. Although this may work, if you get lucky, but so many things can go south on you with this method.
I was thinking much the same. I have a well on mountain property my family owns. It's at about 380 feet, and I'm wondering what happens if the water level drops. It's served us well for almost 50 years, and is just no showing signs of not pumping as much water. We have it choked down to 10 gallons/minute, but it has a capacity of 80 GPM.
Building a drilling derrick would have saved your back. Unfortunately using electric is a pain compared to gas as with gas you could use the weight of the motor. Your idea is awesome, but there are other ways to get further faster with gas.
My best friend has built his entire home off grid no power just some battery power tools, so inspiring to see it. Just unbelievable the hard work that goes into this. We have a property next to him we’re building on we hope to make it our permanent home one day. For now it’s a place to go if we can not stay here anymore. My mom will be on a lot right next to ours we have a trailer there but did get electric on one lot no way to get it elsewhere costs would be more then a mansion an defeat the point of building off grid. Thanks for all you do I just had my 17 year old watch a bunch of your videos he has the same thought process on many things and has become more an more like myself. Unable to eat meats unlike many people I know an some I love an sees things a lot differently. We’re going to add the well in a few weeks to the properties down in Tennessee. I’ll send your videos to my friend John who is doing so much I think he would enjoy seeing he isn’t alone in truly doing it yourself
I dig your son watches us for ideas, he sounds like a cool cat. We just got back to the homestead and I will get some new stories up soon. As far as your mom goes, I would just set her up a solar system. For under $10 grand you can build an amazing system these days. If she is a minimum power user you can build her a pretty nice system for 2 grand.
He gets older but doesn't understand or research how to keep the two separate environments of well water, filtration and contamination. So, to the environmentalist vegan does what most bubble minded people do.....they stop learning once they get the answer they WANT. This is extremely foolish, smart people know Pro's, Con's and risks then make common sense decisions. I hope No urine or phehicle matter seeps down through the gravel from top soil unto the water table. You are supposed to use dry concrete like substance down to the 1st layer of gravel or sand. This will stop contamination at the clay level. Another tip for cleaning dirty water out is before installing pump filter is to suck the debris out vis hand pump or vacuum.
I love seeing this, it's proof you can work hard and accomplish something yourself without expending $1,000's. This is also a skill that one would never forget, I am tackling a project in the near future that is similar. I appreciate your video.
What a nice thing to say, TY. Good Luck on your project.
Did this as a kid growing up because my parents hand dug a water well and it was an 8x8 hole that we dug to about 125ft. Took dirt out by riggings and rope with 5 gallon buckets. It took several years to get it done,but we did. Lots of fun.
I love the play by play - it seriously helps! Thanks for being you and than you for being a great teacher too!
Peace and love brother
Way More informative than most of the other videos. Great video thanks
Howdy All! I'm just starting my project on 200+ acres on highland desert in AZ. The soil is perfect for building adobe the tall grass is abundant, but I have zero water. Later this singer, I'll try hand and battery auger drilling up to sixty feet for potable filtered water and I have an ancient water swale on the land. I'm hoping to fill to attract wildlife and create an oasis in the desert. Looking forward to participating in one of the live events with the Doc and Luptopia.
Will you be able to hit water around 50’?
You need to use11/2 inch galvanized pipe and pound down into the ground with a postpounder not a sledge hammer. The Screens on the points are so fine It won't suck in sand and you have to be able to figure out which type of screen to use on the point. I get over 6 gallons per minute on my point and it is 10 years old now.
I had my 28 foot point down and running in two days all buy myself.
Be careful when you glue the fittings together because they tend to jack themselves apart. You can see that clearly with the first coupling which jacked itself out almost 1" after it was let go. Put them together dry and run a marker pen around the pipe, then prime and glue up to that mark on the pipe. That way you can see where it needs to be and hold it there until it grips, it also makes for a tidier job.
I wish I had water that close to the surface here. We just had the first real rain after 7 months, a 100 year drought in this area of SW Australia.
I also wish we had the tools you can buy to put the well down, it's just crap from China here these days. Lots of made in USA on the parts you used which is good to see.
Thanks for a great video.
You need to seal top from run off. You don't want surface water with ground water so I've been told
Good stuff Doc. I am wondering if you are worried about surface water infiltrating the well through the gravel used to backfill the casing? Would a solution be to backfill the last few feet with concrete maybe? I live in the country and have a regular well drilled by a well company that we use here at the house. I built a solar system with a battery bank and inverter large enough to power the well pump in addition to other things but think it would be cool to add a pitcher pump to the well as another failsafe since battery banks don't last forever. . We also have a small seeping spring that I tried to modify so that it flows and I was successful in getting a nice trickle of water out of it but only have about half of the seep captured, I might work on that this summer. Unfortunately though the spring is a bit of a walk to get to.
Yes, I should have explained that, I will make a concrete collar around it when I set my base up to lock the surface water out. Thanks for bringing that up
If I were in your place I would build a spring box instead and use fresh spring water. Awesome your well is off grid :)
@@TarrinLupo I think you are right about the spring. After reading your comment I found several youtube videos with methods to develop the spring which look way better than what I was trying to do. New project for the weekend!
thank you guys.
Our pleasure!
Would love to see how you ran the second pump (electric) down he well casing at the same time.
Nicely done good information thanks God bless and stay safe
I realize that this is an old video, but this is the first time I have seen this Green-Works auger anywhere. I knew thew made mowers, and blowers, and lawn tools " Oh My " . I think I'll stick to the cheap gas one I have for now, but I need to try this mobile home anchor machine to drill a hole, 2 people can't hold it though in a vice when we pull the trigger. lol
how do you deal with rocks that keep on binding the auger? I jimmy rigged some hand dig auger extensions on an electric auger head. goes way faster than trying to cut through my hard packed clay loam by hand until I encounter rocks that keep jamming up the bit and wearing the teeth down. I'm thinking i might try a heavy cylinder with teeth on it to hopefully break or displace the rocks, or jet the hole out, except I would have to bring in water which would be a big bottleneck.
In what why do you use this Merrill MFG FVNL125 1-1/4" No-Lead Brass Foot Valve 710 Series, 1.25" Female Connection
3:20 I'm a big fan of dowsing...anywhere you put it, it's going to work. hmmm
Thank you, well done, yes a pump joke! lol great share
Glad you enjoyed it
Should cap top for ground for ground water can’t get in well casing
Hi I saw your video on youtube on digging a hand well. I really found this to be one the best tutorials in detail on the whole process. I also have a simmons pitcher pump can you help me locate extra gaskets im not sure what they look like.
Sorry I took so long to respond, I didn't see this till now. Thanks for the nice words. This is probably what you are looking for. amzn.to/3Np0LkW
I’m so glad I found this video! I was watching a bunch of other videos and I just kept saying in my head. Why aren’t they putting a secondary casing around the actual well pipe and putting rocks around the outside of that to keep all the sand and clay out of it. So glad my instincts were on the right path. I love how you are using that tip instead of the well point great idea!
do you use any gravity filtration systems like a Berky filter as a pre-treatment for any water you gain?
We use a primitive rock, sand , chacol filter for our rain water, then into the berky. The berky clogs super fast, I am not real happy with it
@@TarrinLupo any other suggestions for the Berkey? We have a Berkey that we plan to use with water we catch off a bluff. I thought about a pre filter but I'm not to that point yet.
I realize that I am a bit late to the party here, but out of curiosity... Are you breaking rock with that drill? Or are you basically just cutting through layers of small stone?
I'm planning to dig a well in WV and I am sure to hit rock so I am trying to gather some helpful info ahead of time.
Just so you know amazon sells a valve type thing to your power drill that can prime your well till it clean water
You bought a 1-1/4" adapter for the stop valve, but you bought 2 inch PVC pipe and couplings.
Well, with slitts that high, you will be getting surface water into your well. 👍
Uni sent me. 👊
This looks interesting.
Tell him thanks, I appreciate you checking me out.
If you hook up a 55 gallon drum to it and fill it up and then tap the bottom of the drum the water in the drum will siphon the water up out of the well
Wow, I did not know that, thanks for the advice.
If you make the casing taller you can put a piece of wood on top of it to make the hand pump more stable.
I see these videos for digging a shallow well, What exactly will you be using this water for. If not for showering and or drinking then what is the water for? Would you use it for plants and animals or not the animals? What is the solution if you cant afford to dig hundreds of feet down but you still must have water on your off grid home.
Most areas of the country can not use a swallow well. You won't find water only 25 feet down. I dug this because it cost a fraction of what I would have paid a well company, We mainly use it for watering the garden but we can filter it for drinking water if need be.
But honestly if I was in your position , I would not dig a well and instead spend a few grand on a nice water catchment system or a machine that pulls water out of the air. Wells have got crazy expensive and there are much cheaper options now.
Have not seen a part 2 with an electric shallow well pump.
doc!!! sharing now!!!
Wow thanks for the share my man.
@@TarrinLupo anytime buddy miss you I should have checked in before now I noticed you been streaming and uploading again you got to get a hold of me we can play some 7 days to die or something I got a good audience for it ;) I have a gaming channel called rockalot
@@TarrinLupo oh and they just updated 7 days to die with a brand new graphics engine a brand new algorithm it's really different and really good
I have played it a little, I would jump in and play with you if I am around. I am out at the homestead a good deal and it doesn't have great internet.
And or in cold weather with check valve won’t go down and pipe will freeze and break
It's official ANYONE can dig a well. no skills or training required.
If you can use dowsing rods but that's too much work hey just skip that hard labor of slowly walking a small area.
I'm amazed at the description of primer and glue.
Wow this is really special.
So many push electric replacements, but ignore that if solar and wind isn't available, fossil fuel is used to produce the electricity. We are heading that way, but are not there yet. I was taking classes on solar design and technology in the early 80's and the professor was a genius, but even he admitted we had decades, or up to half a century till we were ready to convert.
We feel gas might be really expensive or impossible to get in a grid down situation, that is why we went electric. It is not as powerful but I can at least make power for it. But you are right gas is faster.
Tip: use rain /shine glue.. with the purple cleaner . it welds pipe slower and better ! HOLD glue couplings 10 seconds.. cause they do as yours did= backs itself up. and you not get full areas glued. . cleaner needs be solid purple color.. its main purpose is= makes area soft and ready for glue to solid weld the 2 pipes ... pliers.. you used backwards..lol.. they bite on there own as you push.. ! 4 inch pipe you didnt coat beggining edge /like 1/4 inch lol. thats most important area. tip/ i like use cleaner inside same pipe to be glued= cleaner does 2x longer than the glue! cleaner softens the area better if do this. although glued perfect/ it hard/ brittle =want go inside/ or take out.- without doing 10 feet sections.. but its easier and better after installed/ want ever come unglued!
I just bought a house on a acre just out of the city limits and am going to put a well in, had metered water but like you said someday we'll have a grid down situation, I mean Oct 4th there is going to be a test over the phones on a national scale that's for a nuclear event , you gotta wonder why....the government knows something we don't I'm thinking 🤔
did you ever get this water to run clear?
I see you found where my outhouse used to sit.........
You should not have rock all way to ground level as contaminants can get in well, the top 5 to 8 feet needs to be filled with bentonite ( sp).
Even if you use Dowsing, it is no way to know how far down Water might be, if you live close to a Swamy area, generally the water Table will be High thus Driving a Pump Shallow will be easy and most likely always find water at 20 ft. or less...
If you are afraid of loosing the bit, tie it to a rope and you will have a way to retrieve it.
Good Idea.
How do you know if there's water shallow enough to do a shallow well?
It helps to know if there are other shallow wells in the area. You can always consult usgs for grounwayer depths in your area. Outside of that, trial and error. Lots have dug wells by hand and have found nothing.
How do you add an electric pump to it?
You shouldn't have gravel at the top. you need to seal it with bentonite clay to prevent surface water contaminating the ground water
Tnks for video
I cut my auger in half and put my chimney sweep on it I got down 32 feet my lunch with my dad
Wish I could add pictures
@@einchopp2730 me too I would love to see that set up. Great idea. You could make a video and link it here.
👍
I would think putting geo cloth around your pipe would keep the sand out Jim Swanson Oregon Ohio
That looks like Greenwood fire tower. They tore the pecan farms tower down.
it says 43cc gas engine.but is an electric. GFY if you wanted the 43cc gas engine.
Unfortunately, most PVC is not rated for use for drinking water, not due to a high risk of toxicity, but due to the fact that it can degrade with high temperatures, UV light exposure and extremely high pressures. Any degradation can damage the water supply and make it unsafe for drinking water.
UNI SENT ME!!
Thanks for coming.
The machine looks useless to me..
😊😊
Uni sent me and I don’t know why….
ha ha ha, ty.
Flies have died of old age watching this video.
Mabey you should Shower if your having fly problems
I've drilled hundreds of water wells, this guy has so many flaws in his video. Although this may work, if you get lucky, but so many things can go south on you with this method.
Doesn’t seem too smart to cap the bottom. No way to go deeper if needed.
I was thinking much the same. I have a well on mountain property my family owns. It's at about 380 feet, and I'm wondering what happens if the water level drops. It's served us well for almost 50 years, and is just no showing signs of not pumping as much water. We have it choked down to 10 gallons/minute, but it has a capacity of 80 GPM.
Building a drilling derrick would have saved your back. Unfortunately using electric is a pain compared to gas as with gas you could use the weight of the motor. Your idea is awesome, but there are other ways to get further faster with gas.
That would have been a smart idea. It got super heavy. I will do that next well.
Battery drill what a joke
Gasoline augers work much better than your overpriced batteries. 🙄
Just do it without having to talk too much
Pfft battery powered crap
Gas is not reliable, really? You gas unit will work on a cloudy day won’t it?