Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Well drillers, I’m in over my head !

Almost embarrassed to show this, but it is what it is.

Guy that owned the house before me, built an addition over the well pit. Concrete lined pit, 7-8 feet below the ground to keep,stuff from freezing back in the day.

Yep pit you read that right this is an old, old house with a few additions over the years.

But he didn’t build just any addition, it has a concrete floor to hold the ginormous redwood hot tub he kept in there. 🤦🏼‍♂️

So can’t get a truck to it.

Me and the two brothers from ice water well drilling pulled it by hand to replace a pump maybe 17-20 years ago. We were younger and stronger then and it was still a good days work pulling all the pipe up 168 ft. Worth of it.

Well now I’m convinced I have a hole in the pipe somewhere, everything else checks out, but pump is running continuously, so most likely it’s a fountain effect, as enough water is flowing out of the pipe to not build enough pressure in the tank

So off we go to start pulling it again, my two sons and one of their friends who’s pretty strong.

Won’t budge, I know we twisted on it hard w pipe wrenches last time, but I’m loathe to employ much twisting action since there’s a weakness in the pipe somewhere.

So put a 1.5 ton chain hoist on it, crank it a bit, maybe get a 1/2 inch travel, drop it and hammer.

Tried that several times, 1/2 is all we ever got.

So here’s the plan, 6 ton chain hoist this weekend.

From my perspective the thing has to come, bust or bleed 🤷🏻‍♂️

Granted we won’t try and reef it straight out of there, but pull, release and hammer until it moves freely. If it ever will

It either comes out, or pipe breaks, if pipe breaks low enough, say right next to pump, perhaps put new pump right on top of old one ?

If pipe breaks up higher try and fashion a ram and beat that pipe and pump down into a cavern if one exists.

If that doesn’t work, buy a water tank and plumb it in to the house and drill a new well. Not a lot of good options where to sink a new well. But that’s a different story.

You guys with experience in this stuff, what am I missing ? Any tips for getting the old pipe and pump up ?

Appreciate any useful input guys

Sure u aint pulling on the well pit adapter? Pin hole in the copper line between galvi/ pit adap and p-tank? 1" galv pipe 1.60 a foot x 168 + pump = good time !

Btw , me an the ice brothers have drank enough beer together, that if we quit... a 3rd shift at the brewery would be sent home ! Lol !

No answer to your question, but last year my well pump had a spot worn in the pump housing, causing pump to spin, but it was just dumping water out of the top of the pump. Pipe was ok. It would simply run and run, just like you say. If you ever get it out, might be something to look at...

Nope not pulling on adapter, don’t think there’s a hole in the copper lines Terry, but worth Tryna take a look at. Lee and Chuck are good people, hope that’s who can/will drill my new well if needed.

Cheesy, good point, but if I can get everything out, all new is going in, plastic pipe, new well pump and fittings etc.

Hindsite sez I should have replaced pipe when we put a new pump in those many years ago. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Smart too late, story of my life.

You might be stuck with drilling a new well.

Don't have an answer for you. I had a well dug at my camp on Bayou Patout in 2006, I called all the well diggers in south Louisiana and only 1 could go past 400 ft deep, it cost me 2200.00 just to drill the well. the driller was a true @zzhole, very rude.

I found that all of the drillers I spoke to seem the same - @zzholes, rude, just plain arrogant!

I pray I never have to deal with any of them again.

Prepared for that, but it’s $60 per foot here. And we may not get so lucky to only go 170 ft this next time 😫

It is what it is, no one wants to spend that kind of money, but just thankful to God we have it if we do indeed have to drill new.

Simoneaud, $2200 sounds like a real bargain especially if you went 400 ft down !

Most of the drillers here are pretty decent guys, but I guess at $60 per foot it’s easier to be happy 🤷🏻‍♂️

Last I knew it was $20 a foot. I haven't kept up with inflation!

I'm sure you've done this, but check the pressure switch. It may be bad and causing the pump to run all the time.

Try pulling on the pipe with the hoist and while you got it in tension, twist the pipe. Always tighten, dont unscrew the pipe. The pulling and letting off is about all you can do. Are you using a chain hoist or a come-a-long? If you had some way to pull tension and then let it off quickly, it works better. Maybe pull tension, grab pipe with wrench and then quickly remove wrench. Make the pipe hammer itself.

Is there room to work another smaller pvc pipe down the hole and use water pressure to wash the pipe loose? Takes some doing, but it might work. Gotta be careful and not get it stuck, too.

Wash over pipe is not really an option, but that's the best solution.

would a waterlogged pressure tank cause the continuous running? perhaps you've checked that.

Had a similar situation when I lived in NE PA. 420 ft of well pipe down to the pump. Hooked up to a fitting like the link below. I tried to jack it out by hand. No Go. Fortunately, neighbor was a professional well digger. Brought over a 1 ton wrecker with Loonngg boom. Set the jack stands on both rear corners. Squatted it to the ground before finally broke loose.

What I did not think about nor comprehend before hand were the tools that the well driller had on hand to keep the pipe in place without dropping while taking each section apart. Nothing fancy nor magical. Just had not thought that far through the process. 20 sections of 21 ft steel pipe. It was all I could do to pack two away at a time behind the garage. If I had managed to break it loose from the fitting, I would have been screwed, royally... IIRC, my new pump went back in the ground on 420 ft of heavy wall plastic pipe.

Hopefully the 6 ton chain fall will get the job done and the driller brothers will have everything needed to minimize the excitements... Good Luck !


Bronze Pitless Adapter

What diameter is your casing?

More than likely there is sand, rocks or other debris that has wedged between the pump and well casing. It's not all that uncommon. Brute force might work but there is a good chance you will loose. The best way to clear the obstruction is a large air compressor and enough hose to reach the bottom. By large I mean more than anything you can buy at Home Depot. Most drillers have a large diesel compressor that will put out the required volume. Slide a 3/4"-1" hose to the blockage and let er rip. Keep lifting and dropping the pump while the air is agitating the water and debris at the bottom or twisting will also help since you must have a solid pipe from the top to the pump. That has been the most successful solution I've used while trying to extract a stuck pump. We usually use black plastic pipe from the pump and up so a little more care is needed.

I would rent a camera , I used my fish camera, a Cabelas model and drop it down the hole and get a good look at your problem, then solve accordingly.

Got no help for you, Randy, but wish you luck. As you know, winter is acomin!

A waterlogged tank would likely telegraph, kick on, and off.

Water logged pressure tank would be hammering on and off continuously. Turning on and immediately shutting off. It sounds like a hole in the pipe, probably in the threads where the pump pipe joins the the pump. Not an uncommon occurrence and the pump would run continuously.

The best thing you could do for yourself and future owners is to remodel the pump pit/house so a pump rig can back up and work over the hole unimpeded. That was one of greatest pet peeves of my boss when I worked for a well and pump outfit. Folks would build structures around the well or plant big flower gardens to camouflage the well and then be upset with us when we tore up the flowers because had to put equipment over the well to fix their problem. One guy even built a barn around his well, claiming he didn't want it to freeze up. The well had a jack pump and was 900 feet deep. I don't think freezing was going to be and issue. We had to remove several sections of roofing metal and take the rods up between the rafters.

Do you have the pump pipe pulled up off the pitless adapter? It doesn't sound like it. You may have to find someone with a tall enough boom to reach over the building and pull the pump, even if you have to remove some roof to do it. . Like was mentioned, it may be trapped with sediment or rocks. You aren't likely to make much headway with a chain hoist.

If you go back in with steel pipe, put a one foot schedule 80 PVC threaded nipple between the pump and the steel pipe. That will separate the steel and the the bronze/brass that the pipe threads into and will protect it from getting a hole in the threads again. There's a reaction when two dissimilar are screwed together. Over time it will cause the steel to corrode and will get a pin hole. Usually in the threads as that is the weakest point.

Good luck.

Pitless adaptor was my first guess but he said it wasn't there any and, even a rookie well driller would know to release that. That being said, are you sure the pitless is disengaged? After you have confirmed that, either blow it out or proceed in destroying your well using a 6 ton hoist. Shoot, rent a big crane. Maybe a 1/4 stick of dynamite down the hole is an option??? I've seen that before to. It didn't work.

Renting a big compressor for an afternoon is way cheaper than a new well. I've said my peace and you can proceed accordingly. I'll stop by here in a few days to catch up on the mayhem.

Sounds like it’s time to drill a new one and stop spending money on the old one under the house.