#27 - Tried To Dig A Well With A Post Hole Auger!

After the well witcher found where he thought the water was 6 feet deep, I dug and dug and dug. I'm still not sure how I feel about the art of well witching but he was on to something.

Instagram: @redpoppyranch

[Amberthecat]

I did similar many years ago with a post hole digger. I kept adding sections of piping as the hole got deeper.It was so heavy with the long pipe and I had to stand on a step ladder to lift it out easier.I eventually struck water at 30 feet deep after a months labour, doing a few hours after work each day.I dropped a sand filter on a length of PVC piping down the hole and attached a pump. I had sufficient flow to run a couple of lawn sprinklers

[Kodiak]

It is very refreshing to see good people, raising good people.

[mitemluh]

So amazing going back and watching from the beginning! Its incredible what 1 man by himself can do! You truly are an inspiration

[erins.bailey]

You do have a lovely family. Best wishes for your new homestead!

[jasonhildebrand]

This song at 1:00 is very familiar ! Its used by Andrew Camarata in a lot of his videos, as I think its part of some open-source free music library

[countrysoul]

4 days ago I did the same thing. 6 feet down it's where we hit the water. Approximately 3 gallons a minute

[youtempleton]

4:16
"He can work hard, but can he catch?"
tosses water bottle
"...Yep, he can do everything."
These videos sure make it seem like it. Keep on building brother!

[fisherus]

Hope you have better luck than I did. My witcher told me 320 ft. but had to go 600 ft. to get 7gpm. Now pump into a 2500 gal tank during high solar hours to fill the tank and have to use a jet pump from the tank to the spigot. Also had to case the entire depth because of clay soil. Turned a $10K well into $44K really fast setting us back a few years in our home building.

[michaelhorsford]

making me feel like a lazy sac for watching you work so hard on this ... 😁

[warrrenhessler]

How do you prevent the hole from caving in? Do you install pipe?

[robinmyman]

Dig anywhere and you will find the water table...water Witcher? Don’t make me laff. Keep the videos coming...you guys are great.

[gwebocelestron]

For anyone doing this here's a few tips from someone who just dug a well using this same auger in dirt full of river rock. I live next to a river and the geological survey shows I have Deltaic Sand and Gravel. 1) As others mentioned you need an ice breaker/breaker bar to bust up the dirt/rocks. I welded one up that I could add to the end of my 3/4" black pipe handle and extensions. 2) For rocks over about 3 to 4 inches they won't easy slip into this auger bucket. I welded up something that looks like a lacross stick. Just a metal hoop, with nylon netting, welded to a 3/4" coupling that also screws on as an attachment to the 3/4" black pipe. 3) Instead of using just water down the hole make up and use a slurry of cheap unscented kitty litter ( bentonite clay ) and water. It binds the dirt and rocks better than just water and it makes things real slick making turning the auger much easier.

Once you hit water you have to change up technique. 1) The auger is basically useless, except for maybe pulling out some smaller rocks, very small amounts at a time. The water mostly causes everything to flush out of the auger head as you lift it out of the hole. 2) You have to put in an 8" pipe to contain the sides of the hole or the water in the hole keeps caving in the sides. 8" pipe because this 6" auger head is is actually 6 1/4" and won't fit in a 6" i.d. pipe. 3) At this point it's better to use water/air pressure to flush/blow out debris in the hole to dig deeper or suck the debris out using a trash pump. 4) You still have to deal with larger rock so the breaker bar and the lacross stick like thingy will still be used to break loose and pull up the larger rocks.

From my experience a gas powered earth auger and bit was useless. It doesn't take a lot of rock to bind up around the bit to cause it to jam and stop turning. And hitting large rocks causes the auger bit to bounce around making a huge hole. Once the hole is too big the auger bit does nothing to lift rock and dirt out of the hole.

The auger bit used in this video is much better for use in rocky soil, but you need a way to bust large rocks loose and pull them up out of the hole. This auger won't do it by itself.

Don't be fooled by people with their videos easily digging a well with this hand auger in a day or two. They have sand and or clay soil. If you have soil with rock over 2" it is extremely hard digging a well with this hand auger. I'm not kidding about how hard it is. I've dug 7 1/2' and hit water, but water is only about 6" deep after digging on this hole for over a week. I'm thinking of abandoning digging more and pounding in a sand point instead.

[soving]

just discovered your channel from 46deg....subbed and watched a pile already. great stuff. I could see how a fella would need to "unwind" after a day on well diggong detail. cheers from Ottawa, On.

[mikecmw]

I know this is old but where the heck can I buy one of those hole diggers?

[leonardvaivada]

He's a very admirable man. I don't mean to be mean or sarcastic but the last people who dug wells by hand were the Romans. I'd go with dynamite. If Romans used dynamite they still be around today. I just can't imagine anyone doing this. I can't believe I watched the hole thing until the very end. Thanks for the video.

[mmanut]

Looks like you are close to water. I see guys give up when they are just a couple of feet to hitting the jack pot. Good Luck, hope you hit big water soon!!! Vinny

[austinreed.]

Going back in time to watch these all.

[USSBB]

A heavy thump with a rubber mallet on an aluminum plate will send sound waves down to 400 ft. A shotgun blank will thump much deeper. At the interface of water and mineral the sound waves convert to electromagnetic waves that echo back to eletrodes driven in like stakes every 50 ft. or so. With the proper software you can determine start depth and bottom depth of water, flow amount in GPM and soils you have to go throught to get to it. No need to "witch" anymore. Cost me $1500 for two different locations and 5 different spots at each location along with GPM. A small price to pay to find out only 1GPM at 140ft. Not worth it so no well. But boy was 1500 cheaper than $ 30, 000. There are Professionals that do this service.

[vlogmylifetobyrobinson]

Looks like hard work, we have this to look forward to =) can't wait to see how it works out!

[cutweldngrind]

I would need to dig 180ft for a water well. I once made an auger and dug 18 feet and took several hours trying to locate clay for a pond build.