Having spent 36 years in the well business I have seen some sight. Old hand dug welsl are full of contaminates. In the decades of working on wells and cisterns I have only seen one that did not have something dead in it. Make it go away. Water would be unfit for human consumption. The open well also contaminates adjoining wells. If you were going to try and save it, Get a Duerr gravel guard screen for the bottom 5 feet and solid pipe to the surface. Place in the well and backfill with 3"+ washed rock to within 5' of the surface, then 6" of bentonite on top of the rock and fill to top with native soil. All this done after all the dead critters are removed.
If the old open well was on my property I'd fill in with riff-raff rock and sand up to within a few feet from the top and then fill it to the top with dirt.
When we lived out in the country the field behind our place had two such old wells. One had a cover of old rotting wood over it, the other was open and had no cover. The open well with no top had slick moss covered cobble stone walls and had been there so long the surrounding dirt at the top had created a sort of funnel about 6' feet across. When crops were planted there was no way to tell exactly where it was.
A big pecan tree grew near it and one day after crops had been harvested my wife, son and I walked back there to pick up pecans. Neighbor's little Beagle was running loose and tagged along behind us. Beagle got too close to slick "funnel" around well and down the hole it went. Luckily we had had a good bit of rain that Fall and the well had filled with water pretty close to the top but still It was all I could do to lay down flat on my stomach, and was just barely able to reach and grab the dog by the scruff of the neck as it whined and swam in circles and sling it up back on top again.
Put a stick of well casing in the middle, fill with several yards of gravel, and dirt the rest of the way. Cap the casing for future use. Plant garden in low area...
God bless Texas----------------------- Old 300 I will remain what i am until the day I die- A HUNTER......Sitting Bull Its not how you pick the booger.. but where you put it !! Roger V Hunter
A well just sitting there.....I'd have to case it and then start pushing it with a dozer. Take about 10 minutes and it's no longer an issue.....and you have a casing to work up some irrigation if you need it.
Originally Posted by BrentD
I would not buy something that runs on any kind of primer given the possibility of primer shortages and even regulations. In fact, why not buy a flintlock? Really. Rocks aren't going away anytime soon.
Additional info: The current cover is 10 feet across. It's a big hole, although I can't say for sure.
Holy Crap. That thing will eat cows and deer.
I would hire or rent a front end loader/excavator and fill that in post haste. I can not imagine the tragedy if a kid or drunk adult stumbled across that and fell through.
People who choose to brew up their own storms bitch loudest about the rain.
I would put in a four foot casing, fill around it, and put on a cover. I have filled in some old cellars and a shallow (part-time) well on our place, just in the interest of safety. We have a campground and can't risk a kid falling in a hole. GD
That was my thought upon seeing shaman's post about using the surrounding clay and using a pipe in the future if he needed it.
Why not dump a truckload of gravel/sand or similar in there around a pipe already to get, then fill with the clay. Of course, it rains back there. No way in hell I'm completely giving up a source of water on my land out here.
Good luck with it shaman, but make that thing safe before you "lose the farm".
The desert is a true treasure for him who seeks refuge from men and the evil of men. In it is contentment In it is death and all you seek (Quoted from "The Bleeding of the Stone" Ibrahim Al-Koni)
Do you want to drink water from a well that animals have been falling in for 80 years?.. fill it in if you need water go a ways off and drill a proper well ,
Can you get a big-ass spool from the power company?
Good idea. That doubles as a 360° sign, can be free, but downside will rot. St least it buys time and should be impossible to move with four mining bolts.
I would start by seeing how big a sheet of galvanized and baked corregated metal roofing is available. I've covered septic tanks with multiple layers, covered with soil and run riding mowers over them for a decade with no problems. Of course, YMMV.
As valuable as wells are, Im going with keeping it and considering it for back up or future off grid option.
