Do-it-yourself drilling rig: shock-rope, rotary, auger

Drilling wells is most often required when arranging a well for water, but in addition, periodically such work is needed: install metal poles under the fence (arbor, pergola), create a field for collecting heat from the ground when installing a ground-to-air heat pump, when installing a columnar foundation and many other construction works. A small-sized drilling rig will facilitate and significantly speed up the processes. With some welding skill, you can do it yourself. 

Types of homemade drilling rigs

For self-drilling of wells (for water and not only), at least a small drilling rig is required. The depth of wells is rarely less than 20 meters, and it is very difficult to do without the use of even the simplest mechanisms. If we talk about drilling techniques and types of quarry rigs, then you can make the following drilling rigs with your own hands:

• Shock-rope installation. The principle of operation of this type of equipment is based on gravity. At some height, a heavy drilling projectile is fixed with sharpened edges – a glass or a bailer. It is “dropped” several dozen times. Each time the projectile cuts through a certain part of the soil, and the rock gets stuck inside the hollow projectile (for loose soils, they are equipped with valves). The glass is removed from the well, the soil is removed. Further, the process continues until the well reaches the required depth. For independent execution, such devices are the simplest. In the most budgetary version, this is a kind of frame that allows you to fix the block above the well. A long cable with a tied bailer is thrown over the block. You can pull the cable “manually”, or you can install a gear motor with a drum.
  

• Screw drilling rig. Deepening into the ground occurs with the help of an auger – a rod with blades welded on by a screw. With an auger, you can manually drill wells of a couple of meters – under a pile foundation, for example. To pass through dense layers such as clay or dense sands, a solid force is required. Therefore, an engine with a large torque is required, and they operate from 380 V. And then, screw installations are practically useless on stony soils. And anyway – it’s just a small stone like rubble or rocks – the auger will not pass them.
  

• Rotary drilling. The principle of rotation is also used, but drilling fluid (water) is fed into the drill. This is an effective way – water brings sludge (crushed rock) to the surface, and the drill is very rarely taken to the surface. It is only constantly increased from above by installing additional rods. There are rotary rigs for “dry” drilling – without solutions, but they require a lot of effort, the drilling speed is much lower. Therefore, such installations are rarely made and used.

The choice of the type of drilling rig for making it yourself depends on the geology of the area where they will be drilling, and the depth of the aquifers also affects. The most universal method is the shock-rope method. Different soils pass well with the help of rotary equipment using water (this method is also called hydrodrilling). For different types of soils, different shapes of chisels are used, and the crushed soil is washed out to the surface with water.

The most “capricious” auger drill in terms of soils, but it copes well with viscous soils – clays, loams, but it gets stuck with boulders and rocky soil.

Methods for purifying water from a well or well are described here.

Types of home-made cable-percussion drilling rigs

In the manufacture of a drilling rig for cable-percussion drilling, there are two important elements: a frame and a glass (cartridge, bailer). For the simplest option, you can make a bed of three or four pipes that connect over the place where the drilling will take place. A block is fixed there, a flexible steel cable is thrown through it. A drilling projectile is tied to the end of the cable. That’s the whole structure. This “installation” is put into action by muscular force – the cable is pulled, then sharply lowered. The projectile is gradually deepening.

To reduce physical stress, a winch is installed, for even greater automation, a motor with a gearbox that rotates the winch shaft. At the same time, it is important to come up with a system that will allow you to release the winch shaft and reset the bailer.

The tripod frame is not always convenient – it requires a large area. Moreover, for stability, the “legs” should be at an equal distance from the center. Jumpers between all supports will also not interfere. In this case, the drilling rig will stand securely. There is another version of the frame – in the form of the letter “H” with telescopic rods (pictured below).

The vertical stand is also telescopic. It allows you to change the height from which the projectile is dropped. The rest of the equipment is the same.

How a percussion-rope drilling rig, made by hand from improvised materials, works, see the video. It is not difficult to repeat such a design exactly.

Read more about how to break through and equip a well for water is described here.

How to make a rotary drilling rig

The hydraulic drilling rig must have a frame that allows you to move up / down the motor, to which the drill is connected through a swivel. Water is also supplied through the swivel into the column.

When making a drilling rig with your own hands, the following procedure is recommended:

• First there must be a swivel and rods. If you are not a qualified turner or you do not have one in mind, then these parts are better to buy. In their manufacture, high precision is required, which can be achieved with high qualifications. Moreover, the threads on the swivel and rods must be the same, or an adapter will be required. The thread on the rods is better – a trapezoid, since then few of the turners can make a conical one.
• Buy motor reducer. If the power is from 220 V, then its characteristics are as follows: power 2,2 kW, revolutions – 60-70 per minute (the best: 3MP 31,5 or 3MP 40 or 3MP 50). More powerful ones can only be supplied if there is a power supply of 380 V, and more powerful ones are rarely needed.
• Buy a winch, it can be manual or electric. The carrying capacity is preferably at least 1 ton (if possible, more is better).
• When all these components are on hand, you can cook the frame and make a drill. After all, all this equipment is attached to it, and the types of attachment can be different, it is impossible to guess.
  

The frame of the mini drilling rig consists of three parts:

• horizontal platform;
• vertical frame;
• movable frame (carriage) on which the motor is fixed.

The base is cooked from a thick-walled pipe – wall thickness 4 mm, minimum – 3,5 mm. Better – from a profiled section of 40 * 40 mm, 50 * 50 mm or so, but a round one is also suitable. In the manufacture of the frame of a small drilling rig, accuracy is not important. It is important to observe the geometry: verticality and horizontality, the same angles of inclination, if necessary. And the dimensions are “customized” in fact. First, the lower frame is cooked, measured. Under the available dimensions, a vertical frame is made, and according to its dimensions – a carriage.

You can make a simple drill fort yourself – they are made from ordinary steel (drawing in the photo below). If you take high-alloy steel, it is difficult to weld it to the rods. For complex and rocky soils, it is better to buy a drill in a specialized campaign – they have a complex shape, there are many different types.

To make it easier to work, connect two remote controls with the possibility of reverse running. One is put on the motor, the second on the winch. That, in fact, is all.

In the design of a drilling rig for rotary or auger drilling, the main thing is a swivel, but it is unrealistic to manufacture it without experience. For those who want to make it themselves, we will post a photo and its drawing.

How to conduct water from the well to the house, read here. 

The simplest auger drilling rig

If the aquifers are shallow, the soils are soft, you can get by with a mechanical drilling rig with an auger. This is the same tripod or any other frame with a block through which the cable is thrown. Only instead of a bailer or a drill glass, an auger is attached to the cable. In its upper part there is a crossbar with which it is turned.

To facilitate the process, it is desirable to have a winch or at least a gate (like a well). But you can make a rotary drill similar to the one described above. Only the structure of the swivel will change – it is needed without a drain for the water supply. The work of one of the drilling rigs, assembled by a craftsman with his own hands, from improvised materials – in the next video. You can also consider the design features.

And the last moment – a video on how to make an auger for a drilling rig with your own hands.