Opening up a spring with a track-hoe

[bindian]

The bridge is about 200' from the north fence line. In Jim's map if you follow the gully north from the "or this". It's in the trees next to the open field. When the "or this" pond is full water is under the bridge.

Thanks Don,
hugs, Brandi

 

[new jersey mike]

That just makes me want to do into debt and buy one of those toys!!!!!!

Nice to see the water coming out.

Eddie

Rent those toys it's far less expensive..

 

[bindian]

Rent those toys it's far less expensive..

That is no fun.
hugs, Brandi

 

[txdon]

I had nine hours of fun watching! I did think of Eddie and his bulldozer, especially the tread when he was working on the motor. When things break I get stressed.

I think I might go with a wishing well top, with bucket and pulley. I'll evaluate it when the water level stabilizes. Pacerron or Jim can you photoshop one?

Water is still coming out by the base of the culverts, the pond rises about an inch a day. The level of the water in the culvert remains at 3' 3" from the top.

 

[jinman]

I think I might go with a wishing well top, with bucket and pulley. I'll evaluate it when the water level stabilizes. Pacerron or Jim can you photoshop one?

Google Don, G-o-o-g-l-e.:laughing:

Water well photos

 

[txdon]

Ahh.... found them under wishing well, da

 

[jinman]

Ahh.... found them under wishing well, da

The biggest decision will be which style. Lot's of choices. . .

 

[pacerron]

Ahh.... found them under wishing well, da

Don,
We had quite a storm this AM and an earthquake yesterday. Just plugged the sattelite back in about 30 minutes ago.
There are so many designs to consider as well as possibly being able to pull the entire wishing well as a unit in case you need to clean out your culvert or remove it to drill holes etc.
So many of the wishing wells are not in porportion and look goofy or like they are ready to fall over because they are too skinny for the base. But another factor is if you want to get water out of the pit you don't want to be cracking your head into the roof. I remember as a kid doing that on a well of my uncles. A bucket of water is pretty heavy if you have to reach out and duck at the same time while pulling it to the top lip of the well.
I see you found: wishing well photos - Google Search

I kind of like the idea of natrural or artificial stone around the culvert part and a roof with something on it other than cheap looking asphalt shingles, which look too modern for a well cover, in my humble opinion.

Here is a plan that could be modified that I kinda like: Landscape Wishing Well Plans, Woodworking Plans and Patterns by WoodcraftPlans.com

And here is a quick layer of another with a stone base. Excuse the distortion and wrong shadows. I just plopped it on your spot to see. A good fake photoshop would require you taking more pictures from different locations and being more at the base level.

What did you find as far as soil, sand, rock type when you dug down for the 6' culvert? I'm a bit concerned about the water not rising in the culvert.
Ron

 

[txdon]

Ron, I see I'm going to have fun with the top.

The soil going down was clay streaked with sand. The spring flows sideways. The hole was filling in with water from the sides and was caving in in all sides and getting close to curbing. I put a FEL of stone down, threw in the culvert and got another scoop of stone dumped in the culvert and the sides and the continued to fill the hole with stone. The water is seeping through the stone around the culvert. The pond level rose another inch last night and water is still flowing out of the stone base around the culvert.

 

[bindian]

What did you find as far as soil, sand, rock type when you dug down for the 6' culvert? I'm a bit concerned about the water not rising in the culvert.
Ron

I don't see the water in the culvert raising any higher than the pond water level. I thought the whole idea here was to have the culvert and stone keep the spring from silting in. I thought the water overflow level is 6 inches below the lip of the culvert. Won't that look funny with a wishing well top out in the water? Or am I seeing this all wrong?
hugs, Brandi

 

[pacerron]

Ron, I see I'm going to have fun with the top.

Don,
I would suggest building the wishing well in a barn or garage where there is power if you have either available on your property.
Since your culvert is 32" you might use a piece of 48" as the main frame. You could lag or bolt 6 x 6 vertical posts for your roof to the inside of the 48" culvert and
still have plenty of room to slip it down over the 32". You could weld pins to the outside of the culvert for hanging cover material like you did on the bridge. Might need to use artificial stone for weight control. Be careful if you weld on galvanized to have plenty of air as the fumes could make you sick. You could probably just use bolts stuck out with the heads on the inside and have the nuts down in the low ribs of the culvert rather than weld, if you enjoy drilling holes in culvert steel. Having the outside diameter of the well being 4' plus whatever facing material you use, stone or wood, gives the opportunity for a higher roof to be in correct proportion. You could also hinge one side of the roof or both at the peak and use a couple of the little captive gas cylinders like they use on car hoods and lift gates, ( even on CNH tractor hoods ) so the roof would be out of the way if you wanted to get a bucket of water.
Sound like a winter project.
Ron

 

[txdon]

Good ideas Ron! I just might use a few of them.:thumbsup:

 

[txdon]

Won't that look funny with a wishing well top out in the water? Or am I seeing this all wrong?
hugs, Brandi

You are seeing it right Brandi. An overlapping culvert, or an extension, or pull the culvert up 2' is the only way it would work. I'm waiting for the water level to stabilize before I decide which way to go. I will also have to take in to account the added weight and if that will push the inside culvert further down. However, the second culvert is 42" so a 48" would rest on the rock. But if the water is overflowing out of the inner culvert, I'll want to utilize it for a feature. Hmmmmm..... I'll have to take phase II slowly.

 

[pacerron]

You are seeing it right Brandi. An overlapping culvert, or an extension, or pull the culvert up 2' is the only way it would work. I'm waiting for the water level to stabilize before I decide which way to go. I will also have to take in to account the added weight and if that will push the inside culvert further down. However, the second culvert is 42" so a 48" would rest on the rock. But if the water is overflowing out of the inner culvert, I'll want to utilize it for a feature. Hmmmmm..... I'll have to take phase II slowly.

Don,
I just saw your record report on the heat. That is not a record anyone would like to have.
Did you punch any holes in the sides of the 6' culvert before putting it in the hole? Waiting for the water level to stabilize and the disturbed ground to settle down is the smart way to go. You might have to do things over if you
get too anxious.
Ron

 

[bindian]

You are seeing it right Brandi. An overlapping culvert, or an extension, or pull the culvert up 2' is the only way it would work. I'm waiting for the water level to stabilize before I decide which way to go. I will also have to take in to account the added weight and if that will push the inside culvert further down. However, the second culvert is 42" so a 48" would rest on the rock. But if the water is overflowing out of the inner culvert, I'll want to utilize it for a feature. Hmmmmm..... I'll have to take phase II slowly.

Don,
Okay, let's up the ante. Wishing well theme with solar panel in the roof powering a pump that flows water out an old fashion hand pump.:licking:
hugs, Brandi

 

[txdon]

I actually removed the solar panel hours before the backhoe came and was thinking how I could use it on the wishing well roof facing south. I have a new pump that connects to the solar panel and it can pump the water to a raised tank and then It would be downhill to the field garden about 300 ft away......

I do like the projects to be functional, not just decorative.

So many projects so little time.........

 

[bindian]

So many projects so little time.........

Yep.
hugs, Brandi

 

[pacerron]

Neither Jim.
You see that square pond bottom center. Thats not it either but the berms divert surface water to that pond and it's about 1/2 inch northwest of it. There is a triangle (white) angling to the fence line that is the berm. All the ponds are down to the last 2-4 feet of water and drying fast. All the ponds were here during the bridge project. The big pond dam in the back is the one Eddiewalker took a group on a trailer ride. The "here" is a small "frog" pond that has dried up a month ago.

edit: The red square is the spring pond.

Is this the "ORTHIS" pond?
Now that's a pond!

Ron

 

[txdon]

I don't recognize that pond. However, if there is a grappling hook on the end of that rope then it has to be.

 

[pacerron]

I don't recognize that pond. However, if there is a grappling hook on the end of that rope then it has to be.

It is in a thread about welding that I came across. As I recall the text, you had made the hook in a hurry during a short last day of class. This site still has me confused about getting positive search results, or finding a thread I have been to before unless I keep a log of the exact thread name and page # of interest, which so far I have not done.
Is there a way to "bookmark" the threads within the TBN storage system?
There are many interesting and educational threads on TBN, even for an old duffer like me that knows it all, or used to think so anyway, but finding them without a lot of time consuming unrelated browsing is difficult. A lot is probably caused by the folks trying to give their threads a unique catchy name I suppose.
Ron