Need to dig a small diameter well...

[Egon]

Truck mounted drilling rigs that are used for some types of soil testing operate in just that fashion. I've watched a rig go down 50 feet of clay in about half an hour doing it that way

Egon

 

[htiek126]

What is a good source for a hand auger post hole digger? I have never seen one before...

 

[missourihick]

Both of our farm and homes have small gas powered augers. Norhtern hydraulics has them too,and I believe harbor freight might too.

 

[frank_f15]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( You know those 6 or 8 foot ground rods that you are supposed to drive into the ground? Around here, its like driving a noodle into concrete )</font>
around here it ain't much better, 1st foot is ok then u hit the clay. go just 3 miles and they have th nicest sofest , sandy loam u can get. go figure

 

[htiek126]

For 20', I would get a manual post hole digger. The auger type, not the clamshell. They come with a pipe handle. Buy 3 more sections of 6' pipe same size. Start augering. You might work up a few blisters, but it will be less work than trying to make a tractor auger go that deep & clean the hole, esp. in gravel.

I got the impression that Rambler used a hand powered auger. Where would I find one of those?

 

[rambler]

Well, I find them all the time at farm auctions, but that probably doesn't help you. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

The clamshell-type have the 2 wooden handles, and do not work for more than 4' depth or so.

I just breifly searched Google, and saw some that were true augers - like a very short tractor-mounted post hole auger. Never saw one like that, might work, but it will be easy to dig too deep & have to back it out.

The type I have, if you cup your hands next to each other, that is what the digger looks like. they auger into the ground, filling the chamber between them, and you pull it out & tap off the dirt.

Really only see the clam-shells in the stores, guess folks go to tractor ones these days for real post holes?

--->Paul

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Foundation repair guys use the auger buckets you're talking about. That would be a source. They use hydraulic Little Beavers (I've got a picture of one on the current fence project thread). The length is determined by the length of the pipe used for a handle. You start off with a four foot piece of one inch pipe threaded at both ends. On one end you have the bucket, the other has either a wooden handle or an adapter for a power source like the Little Beaver.

When that no longer is long enough you change out the pipe, dig deeper. You keep doing that until you've got the hole at the depth you want.

I was talking about doing a small well for a friend. It's very similar to the ideas discussed here.

What I was going to do was use the four foot auger attachments and my tractor. A friend has a foundation repair business and I have an adaptor I made so I can use his bits on my Lowe hydraulic auger motor. I figured with eight inch diameter bits I could do a twenty foot hole in an hour or less.

Then we'd put in a section of six inch perforated plastic pipe covered with the sock they use on french drain pipes. Fill the void between the pipe and the hole with pea gravel. My friend would now have a six inch well he could drop either a sand spike in or even an emersible pump.

 

[DaveInColorado]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Then we'd put in a section of six inch perforated plastic pipe covered with the sock they use on french drain pipes. Fill the void between the pipe and the hole with pea gravel. My friend would now have a six inch well he could drop either a sand spike in or even an emersible pump. )</font>

I would like to know how this works, especially the digging of a 20 foot hole with the posthole digger. That is exactly what I want to do - next Spring when the ground thaws.

 

[mrbill]

been there done that!! i know this thread is ancient but i figger ill get my feet wet. i have in fact bored a well to about 33' by this method.

1) post hole augers are fairly common a the hard ware stores around here, i have found them for 2", 4",6" bores, and an adjustable unit. as others have mentioned, the shaft is a 3/4" iron pipe. the augers were about $40 - $70.

i can give the whole story if anyone is still watching this thread.

 

[mrcaptainbob]

We're watching...start sharing! My neighbor needs one out by his pole barn....Thanks for all the suggestions so far!