Hi All,
I have been working on a DIY well drilling rig for the last month or so and have finally put it into action. So far so good, we have drilled to about 60' and are getting about 1gpm. We have hit some harder material and the weather has turned rainy (thank goodness, I'm in CA!!) so we are taking a break and making a couple of new bits to try to do better in the harder stuff.
So far we have about $600US into the rig. The base and tower are built out of angle iron and 1-1/4†pipe. Everything is available at the hardware store, although we got some things like the valves online to save a few bucks. Quite a bit was scrounged. For example, we got a bunch of used 1†pipe for free, then cut it into 5' lengths and had it threaded at the ends at a local plumbing shop. Right now we have the pipe to go 90'. If we get there and need to go deeper we can just get more pipe and valves.
The drill itself is a little unusual. It uses a pneumatic drill motor from Harbor Freight and is down at the bottom of the hole. We got the idea and first drill from
http://howtodrillawell.com/ We used his motor and setup last time we drilled a well (63', 2.5 gpm) but the bore was very crooked. He uses all PVC pipe and we switched to iron. So far, as deep as we could see before we hit water (about 30') the bore is nice and straight. I'm planning to mount an old F&W windmill pumper on this well, so I needed the bore to be straight.
Here is a pic of the drill head, sporting the new untested drag bit.
![My DIY well drilling rig. 60' deep and counting! 8118-0](https://www.fieldlines.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=b26a698b0456d766b622ffa364ee5774&action=dlattach;topic=148195.0;attach=8118;image)
Another unusual aspect of this rig is that the air exhaust from the pneumatic motor is ported up the 1†pipe. When submerged the exhaust air creates a venturi pump and lifts the tailings up. Most rigs bring the tailings up the bore. We made a settling pond with cinder blocks and a tarp which catches the tailings and sends the water back to the bore. So you need a supply of water in order to use this type of rig, a disadvantage for sure. When drilling my first well, I used an above ground pool that I filled with a water tender. This time I had my 2500 gallon tank and also filled a 300 gallon tank. I'd say we have used 500 gallons or so.
Operation is simple. As we reach the end of one pipe, we close the valve and disconnect the top from the traveler. Lift the traveler back up, connect the new piece of pipe, connect to the traveler, then get back to drilling. The traveler rides up and down the tower and holds the top of the pipe and has the sweep that the poly pipe connects to. The poly pipe loops around to the settling pond. A 4:1 pulley system is used to lower the rig. One good thing about using a pneumatic motor is that ity is self clutching, so if you stall the blade it's no problem. Back off, it starts back up and on you go. The downside is if the air supply quits with the drill head at any depth under water the motor sucks up a bunch of tailings and has to be removed and cleaned. Sucks, but no a killer.
Here is a pic of the rig, that's my bro in law operating the rig. You can see the traveler and poly pipe sending tailings and water to the pond and the 1†drill pipe going down.
![My DIY well drilling rig. 60' deep and counting!](https://www.fieldlines.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=b26a698b0456d766b622ffa364ee5774&action=dlattach;topic=148195.0;attach=8119;image)
Here is a shot of the settling pond.
![My DIY well drilling rig. 60' deep and counting! 8120-2](https://www.fieldlines.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=b26a698b0456d766b622ffa364ee5774&action=dlattach;topic=148195.0;attach=8120;image)
To run the drill motor you need a pretty beefy compressor. I am using a Speedaire 12.5 hp, 20cfm compressor. I got the compressor on the cheap because it had bad rings in the motor. A few bucks in parts and a little work and it runs great. It can't quite keep up, the max pressure I can maintain is 70 PSI and the poor thing is running flat out all the time. It's a stud though, this is its second well and it runs for hours at a time. I'd like to try renting a big one, crank it to 100 PSI and see how it does but it works pretty well the way it is.
We are still learning the art of designing and making bits. We have tried quite a few designs, between the two wells we have dug. We use old leaf springs for teeth, pretty hard and easy enough to cut and weld. And did I say cheap?
![My DIY well drilling rig. 60' deep and counting! 8121-3](https://www.fieldlines.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=b26a698b0456d766b622ffa364ee5774&action=dlattach;topic=148195.0;attach=8121;image)
This is our latest bit, a drag bit. We plan on testing it against the harder layer later this week if we get a good day of weather. At 60' it takes 20 minutes or so to assemble and lower the rig so you want to be prepared to drill for a while to make it worth it. Plus we have to drag the compressor over from the shop.
![My DIY well drilling rig. 60' deep and counting! 8122-4](https://www.fieldlines.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=b26a698b0456d766b622ffa364ee5774&action=dlattach;topic=148195.0;attach=8122;image)
Overall, I'm quite happy with the rig. Dirt cheap, safe and easy to operate, good for clay and soft rocks. With the right bit I bet you could get through a lot of different materials. I'm looking into a bigger motor and harder teeth for the bits.