Can I pound through Hardpan?

chadfetter · Aug 9, 2007

Ok, it has been suggested that I may have hit hardpan with my well. I am driving a 1 1/4" sandpoint using a post driver. I am currently about 17' down, and I have run into something hard, and when I try to put water down the pipe now, it doesn't go anywhere, just sits in the pipe.

Question is...Is it possible to drive through the hardpan? Typically, is this hardpan thick/thin? Any suggestions??????

Speedbump · Aug 9, 2007

It can be lots of things. 2" maybe 2'. All you can do is try. Keep tightening the joints by turning the pipe clockwise a lot.

bob...

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chadfetter · Aug 9, 2007

Let me ask you this. Would 2" of hardpan, or clay for that matter really stop all the water from going down the well pipe? It seems that with a 3' sand point, that if I had just gotten into the hardpan or clay, that there would still be 2.5' of sandpoint to drain out the water in the well pipe.

Does that make sense?

Speedbump · Aug 9, 2007

It would depend on what kind of material the point is in. If it's in clay, it won't drain at all.

bob...

chadfetter · Aug 9, 2007

If it is clay or hardpan, what is the likelyhood of pounding through it?

Mr_Pike · Aug 9, 2007

Aren't sand points awsome!

Keep pounding, you will find out soon enough. You might try adding some more weight to your pounder, the one I am way too familiar with takes two men and a boy to lift out of the truck (well not quite)

Wet_Boots · Aug 9, 2007

A takes-two-to-lift-it weight for an inch-and-a-quarter point? Or a two inch point?

chadfetter · Aug 10, 2007

Ok, Well I am convinced that it is clay. The water is still sitting in the well pipe, and I have pounded it down through the clay about 2 1/2 feet. How thick can this clay layer be???? This is really starting to suck!

Speedbump · Aug 10, 2007

I have seen blue clay as thick as 100 or so in Michigan. Don't let that discourage you though. Maybe you should pull back first and try the pump. If it works, it would save you a lot of pounding and loosening of joints.

bob...

chadfetter · Aug 10, 2007

What do you mean? Pull the well pipe up a little bit? (How far is a little bit?) Hook up a pump and see if I get any water?

Speedbump · Aug 10, 2007

Right, after the screen and a five foot joint and thereafter I check with a pitcher pump every 5 feet thereafter. You may have gone through the water vein already, so coming back 5 feet may tell you something.

bob...

chadfetter · Aug 10, 2007

I had been checking for water with string and weight, with no luck. When you say pull back, you mean out of the clay though right? I can not just try to pull it up a little bit but leave it in the clay, right?

Mr_Pike · Aug 10, 2007

Wet_Boots said:
A takes-two-to-lift-it weight for an inch-and-a-quarter point? Or a two inch point?

If I recall (it has been a while since I have volunteered to help with one of these) It could be used with both, It was a piece of 3 or 4 inch steel pipe, with a lead filled end, and a center pin of solid steel rod that went inside the drive pipe to keep the unit centered. It has 2 large d shaped handles on either side, and a ring on top. You can lift and pound with it by yourself, but it was better to use a pulley on the rig, and then use a rope looped around the sand line to lift it.

Sandpoints aren't a legal source of drinking water in these parts, and getting caught putting one in would threaten your drillers license, so they are pretty much limited to replacing something that was already there, or for a cabin etc. Not something that was ever charged for, mostly helped out as a favor to someone we knew.

Mr_Pike · Aug 10, 2007

As for the problem here in the post, I would keep going to 25' you are already almost there, and aren't really going to lose much but time and arm pain by continuing. If you think you can pull the point out now, it might be worth relocating your next try.

Speedbump is using the procedure we did, point plus 5 foot You attatch the pump, prime, by filling the pipe, and see if you can pull any water. If Not, move another 5 foot (sometimes less) and repeat.

Can I pound through Hardpan?

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