Hello all, this will take me a bit to get this posted with several posts, I will do it as I have free time in the evenings.
If you have done this or have knowledge that you want to share on this adventure, jump on here and let us know how you did it.
So for 18 months or so I have been interested in having the ability to drill my own water well. I have some land and I want to be able to install a few solar pumps in different areas to keep my food plots watered. Some of it is close to groundwater or near existing water sources and does not need to go very deep.
On the property an old existing cabin well is 135' deep and is now too far from the new cabin site which is about ' or so away. I know this because I pulled the pump and replaced it. It was 41 years old.
As far as water well drilling goes I am green to this. I have never actually seen a well drilling rig up close nor have I been around when one is drilled. But I have watched every video I could find on drilling a well, sealing a well and installing casing. Online, I have seen some very neat simple machines.
That being said I am also interested in down the hole hammers and rock cutting bits. I have been thinking of ways to make my own bits. The tri-cone bit is very neat. I am going to drill into sandy type soil that is mixed with red clay. I don't believe I will hit rock but who knows. I have many options I could choose, to get a well. I am most interested in doing this myself.
Some options I have thought of:
A. Buy a tractor mounted pto drill.
B. Use a skid steer with an existing auger attachment / Build a derrick to mount on a skid steer.
C. Build a trailer mounted drill unit.
D. Use a dump truck with bed extender, a long cable and heavy steel drop a pipe, hit the same place over and over to make a hole as it goes down.
E. Pay someone. I will do this if my project fails.
F. Other
Looking through the options:
A. - A tractor mounted drill was not going to have enough flexibility nor weight carrying ability.
B. - I have a skid steer and looked hard at using it. I spoke to several people about it and got laughed at.
I wanted the rig to be portable and to be able to move into the woods and do its job. After much thought I decided that what I wanted would be more than a skid steer could do. The weight of the derreck, drill and drill rod and misc was going to be heavy. I also did not want to ruin the hydraulic system on the skid steer since I will more that likely not be able to keep it very clean. I also do not want to work on one. They are hard to get into the engine bay and a pain to work on.
C. - A trailer mounted rig is a great option. For me the power unit was the problem, I did not want to take the time to fab a diesel engine and fuel tank to a trailer to power the hydraulics.
D. - The dump truck option works and I saw guys in texas going deep with this setup. This could be a 2nd attempt.
E. - Not ready to call a professional just yet.
F. - I am looking.
On my rig project, I have decided that I want it to be able to do several things hydraulically.
1. Run a drill. Forward and backwards.
2. Run a winch. Up and down.
3. Power drill up and power down. I want up and down pressure.
4. Level the derrick left and right
5. Level the derrick front to back.
6. A hydraulic drill stem clamp.
7. The derrick must tilt so that the mast can lay down for travel.
That is a lot of functions.
In addition to that I also want
8. To use 2 6' long drill stems each time I add stem. So it will need 12+ feet of up and down travel.
9. To use existing materials I have around the yard. Things I have laying around, to build it....
10. I want to be able to install 20' runs of casing.
I will be building this rig on my OWN in my free time. I want to keep it simple..
My main area of concern is moving the drill cuttings out of the hole. Most big guys use hydraulic mud pumps which are high dollar. I have decided that I will not pay for one of those systems. I will not have enough horsepower available nor do I have access to a nice hydraulic mud pump.
to be continued...
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The successful execution of a large number of specialty geotechnical construction techniques necessitates the efficient and safe drilling of holes through any and all ground conditions. Inappropriate means and methods may, in fact, worsen the ground properties or structural conditions the construction technique is intended to remedy. There are a potentially bewildering variety of drilling methods and associated technical concerns. This review is intended as a fundamental guide to various aspects of the technology, including drilling methodologies, flushing, drill hole deviation, monitoring and specifications.
The specialty geotechnical construction processes of grouting, anchoring, micropiling, soil nailing and ground freezing all require the drilling of holes through overburden and/or rock. Such holes typically are 3 inches to 12 inches in diameter and are rarely more than 200 feet deep. Holes may range in inclination from vertically upwards to vertically downwards, with most holes for grouting, micropiling and freezing being within 30 degrees of vertical, and most holes for anchoring and nailing being within 30 degrees of horizontal. Although rock masses naturally are variable in terms of strength and structure, overburden - from the drilling viewpoint - usually poses far greater difficulties to the drilling contractor. For the purposes of this review, overburden is regarded as any non-lithified material, either deposited or formed by nature, or placed or created by man. Such material may range from soft and loose to hard and dense, and from dry to saturated. Overburden may contain artificial and/or atypical inclusions or horizons, which will be problematical to penetrate - for example, boulders or deep foundations in soils, and utility trenches or shallow foundations in fills. Such conditions will challenge the drilling contractor who, for financial reasons, will always want to drill the holes as quickly as possible, with the minimum practical 'footage' cost. Equally, however, specific project needs may impose significant restrictions or performance requirements.
Effective drilling systems must be capable of permitting continuous and straight penetration in all materials, which may vary from very soft to extremely hard. They must be capable of providing a constant diameter, stable (or temporarily stabilized) path full depth, from which the drilling debris has been wholly removed, and which is consistent with the needs of the specialty construction process it serves. They will employ appropriate combinations of thrust, torque, rotary speed, percussive effort and flush parameters to economically reach target depth. They must facilitate the effectiveness of the flushing medium used. They must ideally be dictated by the ground conditions, cost notwithstanding, although historical bias and regional experience strongly influence the choice. Application should determine technique. The method also must satisfy project environmental restraints including noise, vibrations and flush control and disposal. The hole must be used for its intended purpose (e.g., anchor tendon installation) as soon as possible after drilling to minimize any time-dependent deterioration of its walls.
There are three methods of rock drilling for production holes:
High rotational speed (i.e., 600 rpm), low torque, low thrust: relatively light drill rigs can be used to extract core samples, when using a core barrel system, or can also be used simply to drill 'footage,' using 'blind' or 'plug,' surface-set or impregnated, diamond, or tungsten insert bits. Instantaneous penetration rates are higher for core drilling than for full face ('blind') drilling, but the latter is more economical the deeper the hole (by 50-100%) since no time is lost retrieving core runs. The method typically is used for holes up to 3 inches diameter to depths of 165 feet to 500 feet.
Advantages of high speed rotary drilling include:
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Despite these advantages, which are widely exploited in certain applications (e.g., deep mineral mines), the use of this drilling method is declining in geotechnical construction, largely on economic grounds under competition from rotary percussive methods in particular. Rarely are coring methods used for production drilling, except in situations where heavily reinforced concrete must be first penetrated.
Low rotational speed, high torque, high thrust: used with heavier and more powerful rigs to drill holes of greater diameter to considerable depths. The penetration rate depends largely on the amount of thrust and torque applied to the bit. A variety of carbide tipped tri-cone roller, or finger bits are available which penetrate via 'grinding and shattering' mechanisms. Rotary drills equipped with continuous flight augers commonly are used to advance uncased holes in soft rocks or soils.
The drill bit (carbide insert, cross or button) is both percussed and rotated. In general, the percussive energy determines the penetration rate. With a top hammer, the drill rods are rotated and percussed by the drill head on the rig. With a direct-circulation, down-the-hole hammer, the (larger diameter) drill rods are only rotated by the drill head, and compressed air fed down the rods activates the percussive hammer mounted directly above the drill bit. Top hammer drilling is performed at rotation speeds of approximately 60 rpm to 120 rpm to provide hole diameters seldom more than 4 inches. Hole depth is limited to approximately 200 feet by power availability and by hole deviation concerns. Due to the path by which the energy is transferred to the bit (i.e., via successive rod couplings), penetration rate decreases with depth. Down-the-hole drilling is performed at approximately 10 rpm to 60 rpm in hole diameters above 31'2 inches to depths of over 300 feet. Since the percussive effect is applied immediately above the bit, regardless of depth of hole, penetration rate is constant with depth, other factors being equal.
Advantages of percussion drilled holes:
There currently are four basic concepts in down the hole (DTH) drilling:
In principle, the prime technical controls over the choice of drilling method ideally should be the geology, the hole depth and diameter. Other considerations such as hole linearity and drill access restraints also may have significant impact on choice on any given project.
This technique was developed in the late s and is becoming increasingly popular where strong environmental restraints are in force. It is a dual-cased system that uses high-frequency mechanical vibration to provide continuous core samples, or simply to advance casings for other purposes, such as deep wells or freeze holes. The string is vibrated at continuously adjustable frequencies between 50 Hz and 150 Hz, and is rotated slowly in harder formations to evenly distribute energy and bit wear. The frequency is adjusted to achieve maximum penetration rate by coinciding with the natural resonate frequency of the drill string. Resonance provides extremely high energy to the bit, and in soil it also laterally displaces the particles, greatly facilitating penetration rate. Penetration is optimized by varying frequency and thrust parameters.
Regarding its advantages, sonic drilling:
Several major geotechnical construction-related applications have been recorded to date, including projects through dam embankments where conventional flushed drilling systems are not allowed. The sonic system has exceptional potential for rock and soil drilling in certain combinations of circumstances. In the clever promotional words of its developers, it may be indeed be 'the wave of the future' in drilling technology.
Next month, we pick it up with a look at overburden drilling.
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