Digging a shallow well using a hand auger - GIF

[Altair]

Digging a shallow well using a hand auger.




Previously:

Utility cables hit by auger - photo
Skid-steer auger - GIF
Motorized ice auger spins out of control - GIF
Manufacturing augers in the 1990s - video
Auger forming machine - GIF

[Gadgeteer]

Been there... done that... twice. First was in Oregon. Helped an old neighbor turn the auger, but we didn't lift the dirt. We hooked a garden hose fitting on the upside of the T handle that had plugged ends. Hydraulics washed all of the loosened dirt up and out of the hole. Sure, it was a bit sloppy around the hole, but we were successful... we had our boots on. Hit water at 22', and went 3' more. Had a professional well crew come in to pump for reservoir. Neighbor watered a huge garden... never running out of water.

Second time was at the end of my backyard, a couple decades ago, four feet from the tiny creek that flows year-round. Stopped at 28'... never hit water or oil... damn! Clay all the way with a few rocks the size of a thumbnail, every now and then.

[baja]

My wife has property with a well that is 753' deep after hitting water at about 650. Obviously not something that can be drilled by hand.

[mwmkravchenko]

The video is as much geology as it is practical hard work. Sand is great for being able to find water. Even in deserts!

[hemmjo]

But it can sure be frustrating to dig a well, or anything of any depth in sand!!!.

I want to know how he turned the handle when he first started, and when he added the sections. He said the sections are 10 feet, that is a long way to reach up and be able to turn the auger.

[mwmkravchenko]

But it can sure be frustrating to dig a well, or anything of any depth in sand!!!.

I want to know how he turned the handle when he first started, and when he added the sections. He said the sections are 10 feet, that is a long way to reach up and be able to turn the auger.

I remember building a large deck for a client that was on a gravel area. Drilling for piers was a nightmare. In this area you need to go down 5 feet, It tool over an hour per pier with a powered one man auger. The kind you can rent on tow behind your vehicle wheels and is balanced from the big box stores.

So yes it is a terrible pain to try and get this done. I was close to using a larger sonotube ( concrete pier cardboard tube ) to act as a caisson. Just didn't have a larger one on hand that would have worked.

[nova_robotics]

My wife has property with a well that is 753' deep after hitting water at about 650. Obviously not something that can be drilled by hand.

Well not with that attitude.

(that was a joke, just in case the sarcasm didn't transmit properly through the internet)

[hemmjo]

My wife has property with a well that is 753' deep after hitting water at about 650. Obviously not something that can be drilled by hand.

Maybe not drilled by hand, but the record for a hand dug hole stands at 240 meters, (790 feet).

At least that is what it says on the internet, so it must be true!!

[baja]

Well not with that attitude.

(that was a joke, just in case the sarcasm didn't transmit properly through the internet)

Let me rephrase that...not something I would do by hand