Anyone here have any experience with buying large items overseas?

[Cat_Driver]

When all will be said and done I will prob have very close to into this drilling rig what I could have paid someone to do the drilling for me.......thats not the point, the point is to experince new things in life.

I will also ( hopefully ) have the ability ( and will take advantage ) of being able to drill multiple wells on my property, I am also hoping to be able to drill at least one useful well for someone else locally so that I can recoup at least half of my expense.

I think if I were buying a larger item ( more expensive ) I could really see a savings cost. At this point assuming I do save anything it will most prob be in the 1500-2000 dollar range.

I've done tis with most of the vehicles or equipment I purchased over the last 30 years. I buy it low, use the heck out of it then sell it for near what I paid for it.

Bought a M4500 Kubota in the 80's with a 12' road grade for $4,500. Sold just the tractor for $7,500 and still use the road grader.
Bought a Cat skid steer for $29K, used for 5 years and sold it for $29K
Bought a 2006 Ford F250 4x4 with a contractor body used for $16K 5 years later sold it for $19K.

I could go on and on but you're on the right track.
Furthermore as you know you can take a HUGE tax write off for purchasing the equipment you just need a business license

 

[holeycow]

Have you ever drilled a hole before?

 

[dfkrug]

I buy it low, use the heck out of it then sell it for near what I paid for it.

You did very well on those purchases, CAT. I like that approach, too, and use it when I can.

I remember when I lived in AZ back in the early 80s, some folks approached the whole well-drilling problem by buying an old truck-mounted rig, using it, then selling it to the next guy. Things were less "formal" there, when it came to permits.

 

[caver]

I had a large flex-wing trike (ultralight aircraft) shipped from Australia. But, it was part of a promotional deal where they put a bunch of these, that dealers have pre-sold, into crates and that goes into a cargo container to be delivered to Sun N Fun in Florida. I did have to pay a customs/broker type fee but it was pocket change. Yeah not much help

 

[Sportsman762]

This is a little off the subject, however I work part time for a driller and he loves to tell me horror stories of bad wells... I use to think drill hole, drop in case, pump out water, easy. Then I started working for a driller and discovered that they are pretty complex for what appears to be a simple hole in the ground.

Make sure that it is legal for you to drill a well. The local water management district will have requirements. For example the southwest water management district requires all wells that are larger than 2" to be constructed by a licensed professional. If constructing your own well you still need to follow all regulations such as permits, offsets, casing height and grouting requirements.
Below is a document stating the 2" well limit on page 5.
Consumer Guide for Well Construction | WaterMatters.org

Since your looking at doing a drilled well rather than a driven well you will need to grout the casing in to the water districts specs. If your using the Halliburton method of grouting then you will need a 2" larger bore hole than casing, if doing the trammel pipe your bore hole must be 2-7/8" larger. Both methods of grouting require the grout to be pumped into place to prevent voids. Please note that if they believe you did not grout a well they can run a gamma logger down it and see if your grout job is done correctly. If its not done correctly they could make you pull the casing and re drill or perforate the casing and seal the well. Driven wells do not need to be grouted as they are sealed against the borehole and do not have an annular that has to be sealed to prevent aquifer contamination.


Also there is the technical side of drilling. How thick to mix the drilling mud, what to do if you start to have wash outs, what formation you wish to finish the well in, screen selection (if necessary), and how to develop a well for production. And what to do if you have a cave in since you have limited pull back and torque on the rigs your looking at.

The equipment side of a drilled well: drill rig, drill pipe, bit, circulation pump, high volume air compressor to develop the well, and cement pump to grout with. These can be rented, but they add to the cost.

Depending on what your wanting to do a sand point <2" might be a much easier, economical, and perform better than a drilled well.

Sorry if I am long winded.

 

[1930]

I went ahead and purchased this SH26D 22V hydraulic water drilling machine - YouTube drill rig. Im pretty sure Im not gonna have any problems with my purchase. The guys been in business a long time.

The transaction isnt going thru Alibaba so unfortunately I still wont be able to experience what thats all about but who knows what the future will hold.


SH260D-60 220V Hydraulic Drilling Rig[60 meter 51mm drill pipes, 2units alloy drilling bits( 100mm, 150mm),1pcs mud pump, 5 meter high pressure water pipe,] orange colour requirement ，Additional 1pcs 200mm drilling bit 130mm core barrel with PDC coring bit to drill through the rock layer

Total amount is 3182.

I tried to go thru these people first Well drilling rig, portable well drilling rigs, hydraulic drill rigs, geothermal drilling equipment Water Well Drilling Equipment Portable and Hydraulic Drill Rigs Geothermal Drill and the guy refused to answer any of my questions thru e-bay service.

The guy refused to answer the phone and he refused to answer a single e-mail except to tell me if I was drilling only one well Id be better off paying someone.

I had to do a little digging to get reviews and found many complaints but nothing nice to be said so Im pretty sure Im better off.

I then looked into this company Deep Rock Manufacturing and more particularly this http://www.deeprock.com/Specials/Special.aspx?SI=20 drill. Its 3 gees and dosent include much of anything. I would have had to purchase addit drill rod at 1000 bucks, also no mud pump which they would sell for another 780 dollars. I would still have to buy hoses and only comes with 1 bit.

On the flip side they did answer e-mail ( but no phone ) and the guy was pleasant in his e-mails ( but again never answered the phone )

In my opinion the machine looks like a toy, dosent seem to compare in construction to what Ive purchased from Sun Moy.

I also looked into these Small Mechanical DIY Water Well Drill | LS1 | Lone Star Drills drills but stopped when I seen the price ( 7-9 thou for a starter kit )

On no planet can the cost be justified for the small drill rig they offer at that price.

 

[DingDangKid]

I hope you share with us your experiences step by step. I can't even begin to fathom using a modified post hole digger to drill a well. Around here they use a rig like this.

 

[1930]

I hope you share with us your experiences step by step. I can't even begin to fathom using a modified post hole digger to drill a well. Around here they use a rig like this.

View attachment 625967

Whole different story when rocks are not involved from what Ive read. The small rigs are used throughout the world, the unit I purchased is supposedly capable of going 1200 feet.

This guy Deeprock Well drilling rig | eBay claims to have put in hundreds of wells with this Deeprock weed wacker and I believe him

 

[California]

Whole different story when rocks are not involved from what Ive read. The small rigs are used throughout the world, the unit I purchased is supposedly capable of going 1200 feet.

This guy [on ebay] claims to have put in hundreds of wells with this Deeprock weed wacker and I believe him

I thought that motor looked familiar, it is a Wacker 2-cycle motor! I had one that was originally on a Wacker plate compactor (jackhammer style) then was adapted to a floating water pump. The throttle was bolted down to run wide open all its life. Reed float limited rpm to prevent grenading if it ran dry. The same engine was sold as an air cooled outboard motor (Scott Atwater?) and Chrysler industrial engine. Near indestructible. Noisy.

That one must be 50 years old.

 

[1930]

Back to the drawing board. Seller in China told me he couldn't ship for approx 18 days after I had already made payment. I let him know I was under a time constraint with paypal for taking delivery of the product and he refunded my money with no further discussion.