Pulling a well point?

[ayelvington]

I'm attempting to drive a well through heavy clay and shale to the water table about 25 feet down. The point is currently at 15 feet and refusing to move any more. My attempt to use a post pounder just buckled the top coupling

All that said, does anyone have experience with pulling and reusing a well point? I have access to more than one large ag tractors, and there's plenty of lift on their 3-pt hitches. My only concern is that the tension on a coupling would cause the threads to fail and shear.

All in all, I'm thinking it's worth a try since the point would be lost to me anyway.

Any stories to share??

 

[Western]

I have never done that before, but maybe if you can get some water pressure down there as you lift, maybe that would help get her out??

 

[bp fick]

Yes, I've pulled up over 60 ft of pipe, using a tri-pod and come along. That was awhile ago.

Each situation is different. I've got one now to pull up myself and intend to try the 3 pt hitch. We shall see. Nothing much to lose.

 

[dieselbeef]

send water down the hole and itll come out once you see water flowing out the top pretty easy

 

[ayelvington]

I'll try it with my BX-24 for starters... I've shot water down a few times while driving the pipe, so I know that there is some gap on the pipe...

 

[kc5dlo]

High lift jack, three rounds of chain around the pipe.

 

[foggy1111]

I lifted 25 feet of 1 1/4" sand-point pipe with my front end loader. :thumbsup:

 

[Stimw]

I was washing down 2" PVC with garden hose attached to it (we wash down shallow wells here) and hit an area where water stopped coming out around the pipe and the pipe stuck at 18'. I hooked a rope to the pipe and used my engine hoist to pull it. Once it started coming I could pull it by hand.
I ended up hooking up a 2" water pump and washing it down to 30'. The high volume kept the pipe free and let it go down.
We then drop 1 1/4" with well point down in the 2" and remove the 2", pump it out until no sand comes out and have a good irigation well.
I also just removed a well that I was using for a geothermal heatpump. It was also 30' down 1 1/4" PVC. I hooked a rope to the pipe and pulled it with my FEL. It came right out.

 

[ayelvington]

I was washing down 2" PVC with garden hose attached to it (we wash down shallow wells here) and hit an area where water stopped coming out around the pipe and the pipe stuck at 18'. I hooked a rope to the pipe and used my engine hoist to pull it. Once it started coming I could pull it by hand.
I ended up hooking up a 2" water pump and washing it down to 30'. The high volume kept the pipe free and let it go down.
We then drop 1 1/4" with well point down in the 2" and remove the 2", pump it out until no sand comes out and have a good irigation well.
I also just removed a well that I was using for a geothermal heatpump. It was also 30' down 1 1/4" PVC. I hooked a rope to the pipe and pulled it with my FEL. It came right out.

We have to use schedule 40 iron pipe as a minimum, and it's looking like I'll have to use schedule 80 because of the density of the clay and shale. I can push water down the hole to let it come around the pipe, but it only comes out a small area.

Friends, this isn't sand, it's the nastiest clay you can imagine. (Brown and blue clay for folks in the know.) We also grow stones in our fields around here like they grow potatoes in Idaho... I nearly put my front tires to the rims with an FEL load of stones today when I was discing an area. It's pure luck if you don't hit something hard before you hit the water.

I'm thinking I'll try and pluck the pipe tomorrow with my 600lb capacity 3 pt hitch. We'll see...

 

[Stimw]

I think you might be able to wash down 3/4" PVC if you all ready have water and you will have a starter hole and know if you hit rocks. ?????
I saw a guy using a pounder rig once and all he really had was a driven spool to wrap a rope around, a tripod for a pulley and a weight to raise and drop on the pipe cap. A loop around the spool and when he pulled on the rope it raised the weight, when he let slack in the rope it dropped. I've though about mounting a car rim on my PTO to do the same thing.

 

[foggy1111]

If your 3 point doesnt lift it......try a handy-man jack. Those will lift a few tons....and are a good thing to own anyway.

As an alternative to a pipe driver (above) I rented an electric jack-hammer at our local rental yard. They also had fittings for driving sand-point pipes. That was the best money I've spent at a rental yard. Even my wife took a turn running the jack hammer as she stood on the picnic table. :thumbsup:

If I ever drive another sand point.....it WILL include the use of an electric jack hammer!! :thumbsup:

 

[ayelvington]

My small 3-point didn't pull it, so I'm going to try a bigger tractor.

I can't really impress on all of you the nature of our "soil" here in Warren County PA. This clay is like wet brick and doesn't cut you any slack. Even the 3-point post-pounder only got maybe 6" before the pipe failed at a coupling.

If the bigger tractor doesn't work I'll just cut the pipe off about 2' down and try again somewhere else.

 

[bp fick]

If the bigger tractor doesn't work I'll just cut the pipe off about 2' down and try again somewhere else.

To decrease the chance of deep infiltration of surface pollutants, you might consider digging down to your first joint and put a cap on it. Or, stuff a rag down the pipe a few inches to act as a block, and top it off with some redi-mortar. Just sayin'.

 

[ayelvington]

Excellent suggestion, and I thank you! I'll blow foam down the pipe and then JB Weld a cap onto it...

 

[schmism]

25' shallow well through clay and shale....

sounds like perfect excavator job and a section of 3' plastic culvert with holes drilled in it.

$300 and an hr later your done.

 

[ayelvington]

25' shallow well through clay and shale....

sounds like perfect excavator job and a section of 3' plastic culvert with holes drilled in it.

$300 and an hr later your done.

Not sure how that's supposed to provide 150+ gallons of clear water a day during a dry spell when the cracks in the ground are going down 18"...

Sounds like it might be a good idea for somewhere else though!

 

[kc5dlo]

My small 3-point didn't pull it, so I'm going to try a bigger tractor.

I can't really impress on all of you the nature of our "soil" here in Warren County PA. This clay is like wet brick and doesn't cut you any slack. Even the 3-point post-pounder only got maybe 6" before the pipe failed at a coupling.

If the bigger tractor doesn't work I'll just cut the pipe off about 2' down and try again somewhere else.

Thats why I recomended the hi lift jack. My jack is rated at 5000 lbs. Like someone else mentioned, the jack is very handy to have.

 

[ayelvington]

Thats why I recomended the hi lift jack. My jack is rated at 5000 lbs. Like someone else mentioned, the jack is very handy to have.

I'd go for the jack for this job, but I dug a pit before I started the drive pipe, so there's no where to foot a jack this time. I'll definitely keep my eyes out for one at the auction!:thumbsup:

 

[Pete Judd]

I drove my ground rods into the clay around here just by having a few glasses of water and pouring water down the sides of the ground rods. 8 ft rods and just pumped them up and down, next time you may want to lube the outside of the pipe with water.

 

[schmism]

Not sure how that's supposed to provide 150+ gallons of clear water a day during a dry spell when the cracks in the ground are going down 18"...

your hand driven "sand point" isnt going to provide that kind of water either so....