Driving standpoint well with a jackhammer - I hit pressurized groundwater

Helpful tip: Dig down as far as you can with a hand auger before using jackhammer. This saves wear and tear on pipe assembly. Also, After 3 shallow wells with 1 1/4" pipe and sand point, I switched to a 3" pipe and sand point. Result is greatly increased flow and quicker charging of pressure tank.

#1 Get rid of the stupid drive cap!! That's for using a sledge hammer and it will probably still bugger up the threads! Just cut the threads off of the sacrificial nipple and put the bit right over that. If it's really hard ground, might have a spare nipple handy. #2 use teflon thread paste. Better than the tape. #3 make sure you use "drive couplings" not standard ones and tighten with a pipe wrench. Every few feet, tighten again to make sure the threads are seating correctly. Tighten as you go. #4 It's easier to work off the bed of a pick up truck. And safer than balancing on the ladders. #5 Back flush the well with a garden hose if at all possible. You want to try to drive the fines away from the point. Usually, there's a clay layer above the water bearing sands. If you try to pump out of that, your point will get plugged. You can kinda feel the difference as punching through the clay layer will be a bit harder and get a little easier when you get through it. Note that as long as you are below the water table, you can put the point lower to get in the sand. The water will come up in the pipe. Do check water level with a weighted string or even a tape measure. #6 You really want to back flush the well for best production. A garden hose works best, but you can make a "plunger stick" with a good rag wired to the stick. Drill a hole through the stick and wire through the rag and the hole. You want to avoid losing the rag down the pipe although you can probably fish it out with stiff wire. Fill the pipe and use a plunging action to try to force water backwards through the point. My guess is that the point is in the clay layer and not sand and the point got plugged with fines. You might be able ta add a section and back flush it clean. When you buy the point, they come in different mesh sizes. If you get a fine mesh, it will tend to plug easier. I advise talking to neighbors with shallow wells and try to get a good idea of what the ground and water table look like in the area, A local hardware store might know the area too and have the best advice. The people at the big box stores won't have a clue! Really best to research it before you start. As for clearing out the plugged point, there are various methods. A power washer adapted to the pipe or with a hose down in the pipe can sometimes work. If you get it below the water table, the pulses can sometimes blast it clear. There's an old time trick called "shooting a well" It involves firing a shotgun shell down the pipe. Just be careful trying it, and ideally, cut the end off the shell and remove the shot and plastic shot cup. You then replace the plastic wad with cardboard or paper packed tightly. The old timers would just put the barrel down the pipe and let it rip!! But if you are creative, you can make an "adapter". I've seen one that an old timer made that screwed right on the pipe and did the job nicely!! I will avoid too much detail and point out that you should only try this at your own risk!! But I've seen it work! You might also try citric acid. It works good against a lot of iron. You can buy it in granular for, food grade. It's pretty safe to use. Pour some in and let it sit a few days. A small amount of muriatic acid can work too, but use with caution!! No matter what you try, flush it adequately afterwards!! and use common sense caution!! First thing to try are the garden hose or plunging. But if indeed you are in a clay layer, you need to get past that. You can always try pulling it up too. Some chain wrapped around the pipe and a mechanical "farm jack" can work. You need a good stable base like heavy plywood Putting in a shallow well sand point sounds easy, but there can be more to it than meets the eye. You've made a great move though by using the jack hammer! Easiest method by far to drive one!! Good luck!!

Turn the ladders opposite of the way you have them and put a 2x10 in between at the desired height on ladder rungs/ steps or just back a truck up with the tailgate down.. other than that good job 👍

That was hard to watch. With some simple changes that method is amazing for driving pipe. 😊

use a spare coupler for the driver cap instead of that driver cap. your post driver and jackhammer wouldve slide over it perfectly. also after that well cleared up you shouldve done one more 5ft pipe to get it seated in the vein.

For drinking water I’m not sure the weld flag would be an issue because a filter should catch it. But defiantly great advice to clean it all because I never thought of the mfg oils and such.

Did you need a Check Valve to keep water primed?

I have driven about 50 of these wells in my life down Harrison Ohio and 1 key critical step you're leaving out of your process (you cannot do this with a single man and a jackhammer method , but if you listen you will understand why ) is when you connect your pipe to the last piece of pipe that was driven that you take your drive cap off , YOU WANT TO MAKE SURE that you have a man turning that pipe with a pipe wrench in the direction so which continually TIGHTENING that pipe... I don't know how many Wells I seen guys drive , that did not have a man down there continually tightening that pipe as another man was striking it and the well fails... It's because when you are continually beating that pipe from the top , you are crushing in the threads of all those couplers underneath the ground because they are not tight enough to hold... I do not care what kind of cheater bar you put on your pipe or how big a pipe wrench you have , it will not tighten them couplers up like when you are continuously turning that when someone is hitting it! But you have a great post with that jackhammer trick , I never thought of that, just make sure next time you got a volunteer that'll turn that pipe for you... it's not hard to turn it , but it makes all the difference in the world , and you're well will not fail !!!

DUDE! That is NOT a well. It is an Artisan Well. Relatively rare, super cool

should of set the pipe deeper.

Why steel pipe and jackhammer? We used to do them with PVC by water-jetting: Connect a hose, using a sandpoint designed for that purpose, watch it sink. Isn't that cheaper and easier for such a shallow well?

If you take off that drive cap would the jack hammer fit over the "sacrificial nipple"? I've been thinking about putting one of these in on my hilltop but I'm worried it might be a waste of time. I have a spring that flows 24/7/365 but it's probably 100 lower in elevation so what are the odds I hit water before that? That's alot of hammering lol.

You might want to put an expander on the top of your rig so to accept the end of the jackhammer

I’ve been looking into options for an irrigation well, would something like this supply enough water to fill a huge tank?

Slide a section of 2 3/8 galvanized over the bit and it should keep the driving head from sliding out from under it?

I invented & sell a portable drill rig that you can use a hand drill & drill the hole & use pvc for the casing . A lot less work involved in it . I attempted to drive mine We have clay. Did not work .

Great video - I am 71 years old and can't beat 20ft of pipe into the ground. So your jack hammer sounds great. What bit did you find to drive the pipe with the jack? Did it come with it?

1 yr later and still now follow up or new well? Found the problem, THIS one is "sTand" point, the other one is a "sand" point

Where did you purchase the pump?

I’ve wanted to do this for awhile, we have clay/rocky soil…guessing this wld not be an option for us.