Using a post-hole digger just like in the picture jim forster posted at the top of this thread (I bought the adjustable one, I think it will make holes from about ab 5 to 8 inches in diameter), I made 5-foot extensions out of EMT (light-weight metal electrical conduit - it comes with one end swaged already, very handy), just drilled a hole thru and attached each section with a 1/4 inch bolt thru the joint. I dug a hole 16 feet into northern Idaho ash and sand in about 2 hours, not working too hard. Ran out of pipe at that point, I'll have to make another extension or 2 to reach water. In my area, I'll probably hit water at 18 or 20 feet, the sand was getting coarse and very wet at 16'. Will probably hit gravel at about 18 feet. I plan to put some plastic pipe down as far as I can dig as "well casing", big enough around so I can get a relatively inexpensive dc pump down the hole close enough to the water table to reliably self-prime. After the casing, I'll try driving a well point down further if needed to get into the water table, but I'm hoping the post hole digger will go the distance for me. If I use a driven well point past the bottom of the casing, I'd have to drop the suction nose from the pump down inside the well point pipe to reach the water. I'm real fortunate for the soil and water table in my area, and suspect I can "drill" and install a 25 foot well start to finish (including pump, piping, and solar panel) in 2 days using this method.
