Digging A Well

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Am considering drilling a well for the beef cows. I would like to leave them in the larger area away from the barn if I can this winter. (The cow is so large, she busted the beam holding up the roof of my barn last year). Problem is, we live in Wisconsin and the well will only be about 30'deep. How can I prevent the hand pump or whatever else I decide to use (if I drill) from freezing up this winter? There is no other way to get water to them because they will be about 1/4 mile away from us. Hauling it would probably be too hard for me to do on a daily basis. I hope I can just pump them water daily at the same time I throw them hay. Has anyone tried this before with winter conditions Wisconsin has? Thanks!!!! (am considering selling the beef just to avoid this problem)

-- Pat (mikulptrc@aol.com), September 22, 2001

Answers

It might be easier and cheaper to creat an alley way for your cows to get to existing water, plus how will you keep it from freezing soon after you haul it?

-- mitch hearn (moopups@citlink.net), September 22, 2001.

There is an electric pole within reach that I could put a heater on but what expense will that create? Will the electric company provide all the necessary meters or do I have to buy them? If it's gonna end up to be an arm & a leg, the cows will be sold.

-- Pat (mikulptrc@aol.com), September 22, 2001.

saw something like this in countryside, not too long ago. Can you improvise some type of "greenhouse" around the well,, along with a tank,, windows facing south. INsulated on the other walla,, with a way for the cows to get into. should keep it from freezing

-- stan (sopal@net-port.com), September 22, 2001.

That might work but what type of material could I use besides a window? I tried the thick plexiglass (sp) for my own greenhouse but it cracked in the dead of winter from the cold & wind. Also, do I have to have some type of air pressure tank at the bottom of the pump? This is sounding like an awful lot of work and expense. Can you tell I've never done this one before? HA!! What kind of $ am I looking at?

-- Pat (mikulptrc@aol.com), September 22, 2001.

Pat, isn't an old fashioned hand pump by definition a frost proof hydrant? I don't use one anymore, but they were around when I was a kid on our farms and no one ever did anything with them in the winter. You pump them and they prime themselves and you fill your tank, then when you stop pumping, the water in the pump drains back into the well. I know the old farms had them all over for water, and they sure didn't run around protecting them in the wintertime.

-- Jennifer L. (Northern NYS) (jlance@nospammail.com), September 23, 2001.


Jennifer is right.

I sunk a hand dug well a few years ago and put an old fashioned hand pump on it. I had the help of a professional driller in the last 10' of the 30 ft. depth and they routinely drill a small hole about 10' down in the pipe so the water drains back down to prevent freezing. The area around the hole is covered with small rocks so it doesn't plug up with soil. The pump will work thru the winter that way.

-- Bruce (rural@inebraska.com), September 23, 2001.


If you put in a hand pump, leave the handle of the pump up...after pumping, this prevents it from freezing also...

-- Barbara (vozarbi@sensible-net.com), September 23, 2001.

You can tell my age - I said I was wanting to "drill a well" when in reality my brain was thinking driving a point. The water site isn't far from a swampy area and a trailer across the road only has the well depth of 26'. It should be fairly easy to do but am concerned about it freezing up. I never knew some of the suggestions people are responding with - and for that - I'm thankful!!

-- Pat (mikulptrc@aol.com), September 23, 2001.

You'll have to talk to a well driller or JOJ or someone who knows more, but my understanding is that if you install a hand pump it will deliver you water from below the frost line when you pump. (I would carry a pail of water down each time in case it needs to be primed.

-- rick K (rick_122@hotmail.com), September 28, 2001.

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