Dug a small well this weekend

[mark1]

Wish I had known..I have a well I no longer use..ya coulda had it.

 

[ldabe]

I've been thinking of a small dug well ever since I built the little barn for her cows.

You may have posted some pics already, and I just didn't see them,
But do you have any of the little barn you built?

 

[shvl73]

You may have posted some pics already, and I just didn't see them,
But do you have any of the little barn you built?

Here's a couple.

 

[Bill Barrett]

I would have to go larger in diameter and deeper to water my garden. There isn't a quick enough recovery in this little well. Also, this little pump isn't made for pressure.

Was told by a old timer that they use to excavate a large area, set a pipe or sand point, dump washed gravel couple feet thick, then back fill. They use to get plenty of ground water, in a low water producing strata.
Beautiful place shvl.

 

[fiddler kelly]

Shvl73 , I plan on digging a well behind my cabin/cottage next year. I am going to place a extension on the back of the cabin for a back entrance and it is under the floor of the extension is where I am going to place the well, probably put the well in first before the floor though,lol.

The area is very rocky but you don't have to go far to hit water only a couple of feet below the ground.I would like to have the well under the floor of the cabin for to prevent freeze ups in the winter and make access to it easier if there was a problem especially in winter not counting vandalism.

 

[atgreene]

Looks good! You could build a small wellhouse over the well, preventing anyone or thing from falling in. Either that or a concrete cover. The advantage of a wellhouse is that it may slow down the freezing problem. If there was a way to suspend the pump down in the well with the hose sticking out, it would prevent it from freezing until we get real cold and you could just wire it to an outside switch.

 

[Mattlt]

Since you've already got power there, it wouldn't be too hard to have a heated well house. Use two 60 watt light bulbs - should be more than enough to heat a small **** house. (use two smaller bulbs instead of one larger one. That way you'll still have heat if one of the bulbs burns out)

If you really wanted to get fancy you could install an indoor-outdoor thermometer on the outside of the well house, with the "outdoor" probe thingy on the inside of the well house - you'll always know what the temperature is inside of the well house, without having to open it up to look.

 

[Spiveyman]

Very cool shvl. I like the simplicity of the thing. We're in a drought here in KY, but there's still water a few feet down where my farm is. I hadn't thought of something like this but that could really save my tail if we don't get some rain.

...excavate a large area, set a pipe or sand point, dump washed gravel couple feet thick, then back fill. They use to get plenty of ground water, in a low water producing strata.

Not completely sure I follow here, does this mean have a 2 foot ring of gravel in the whole around the pipe/culvert? Does that simply allow more area for water to flow into with less resistance than the compacted soil? To feed cattle, that might be a big help to get the volume of water needed. It's amazing how much they drink!

Yep, I've got to move the back hoe up on my list of stuff to save up for!

 

[shvl73]

Yep, I've got to move the back hoe up on my list of stuff to save up for!

I don't think you'll regret it. I'm glad I made the descision and was lucky to sell my house at the right time to free up a little $.

 

[Spiveyman]

I don't think you'll regret it. I'm glad I made the descision and was lucky to sell my house at the right time to free up a little $.

Yep, I've started thinking of stuff I could sell to move that along. I'm trying to decide if I really need all those knives and guns, or if I'd rather get a back hoe! I think it's going to be ebay time for me!

OK, so I was thinking about insulation. Have you ever seen that expandable foam that comes in a can with a straw kind of applicator? It's designed to spray around window and door frames to seal it up and insulate. The stuff expands and hardens very nicely. So, it might work well to get a couple cans of that stuff, spray it around the outside of that culvert and maybe whatever lid you wind up going with. It should foam up fairly thick, harden, and there go. An insulated well. Not sure how aesthetically pleasing it would be unless you could get it on there very evenly, but you could always cover that up with something else. Point is, for above ground it would insulate better than rock or concrete. Just a thought.