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Introduction and Question on Well in Remote Pasture

R

Rancher Keith

Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2014
Messages
6
Location
Central CA
I wanted to take a minute to introduce myself and get some advice on a well in a remote pasture. I have helped my father raise cattle growing up and recently I have started the path to getting my own. I recently purchased 20 head, since my father has agreed to let me use a remote pasture he owns. Only issue is water. I need to referb the water source before I can move my cattle onto the property. Part of the deal to letting me use the land, is to setup a good water system he can use in the future.

I am looking for input on my options? There is an abandoned well on the property but no power. I dropped a rope down it and water seems to be around 70 feet. Does anyone have any suggestions? I have worked on a few windmills in the past and found sites selling parts. Do these get sold new anymore?
 
You may need to check the depth of the water. (From the top of the water to the bottom of the well.) The more the merrier.

But if the water in the well is shallow you may need to drill a new one to supply you with enough to meet your needs.

I have seen some wells with too much pump, and it pumps the well dry before it has time to refill with water. Short pump life.

Those solar pumps work great in remote areas but I have never bought nor installed one.
 
Welcome to this site. Seems to be quite a few experienced ranchers from a wide area of the USA and Canada on this site who are willing to share their experiences. As with all such information: buyer beware! Not that any would intentionally steer you wrong, but we do have our biases and there are so many variables even to ranching within a similar area (micro-climates, soil types, personal preferences in management styles....and so much more!).

My first suggestion would be to check with local 'authorities' to see if there are regulations you need to follow re. taking the water, even if it is on your own land, or your parents'. Next would be to have it tested for quality, amount you can expect to be able to use in a given time, and if it is likely to hold up the production over the time frame you need it. THEN figure out what the best system for getting it where you need it will be.

We are pretty arid here in south west central SD, little ground water, of variable, and dubious quality (mostly very alkaline, in our experience with shallow wells less than 100 feet. Our one deep well is about 2000 feet, and we have to pump the last 90 feet or so.

We do have rural water available, and it is reliable, so far, and less costly and better quality than our artesian well, so mostly use it and stock dams for our cattle. I doubt we will ever again use anything other than tanks made from used heavy equipment tires. They are more durable, somewhat freeze proof, and bulls can't ruin them. I realize I'm relating to a large herd of cattle, personally, since there are five families on this ranch, but some basics apply similarly to your beginning herd, where water is concerned.

Best of luck with your adventure into raising cattle. It can be rewarding, with lots of hard work, some common sense decisions, and realistic expectations.

mrj
 
PureCountry thanks for the suggestions on the solar pump. I found them in my searching last night and listed them as a possibility. Do you have any experience with having to replace the diaphragms? I also came across another that looks promising, as they offer a kit with the pump and panels.
http://www.ruralpowersystems.com/solar-well-pump-complete-systems-c-2/

Does anyone have any experience with their pumps? The 1.3-50 looks like it would fit my needs and provide at least 3gpm which should be plenty. I will probably give both companies a call and make a decision after talking to them.

Also, mrj do you have any information on making tanks out of old tires? I will need a tank to pump into and was planning on a standard metal stock tank. Something more durable may be good.
 
I called Rural Power Systems yesterday and decided to go with one of their systems. Mainly went with them due to the 2 year warranty and price of the system. Got the shipping confirmation today and it should be here by Monday, but hopefully Friday so I can work on it over the weekend.


I can continue to provide updates if anyone is interested on the well pump kit and installation? Thanks for the help and suggestion to go the solar route.
 
Thought I would provide an update. Sorry no pictures yet. Received the solar pump on Friday. Rather fast shipping considering the size of the solar panel boxes. I will take some pictures tomorrow and post them.

I didn't get to install the system this weekend as I am still gathering parts. I am probably going to use black poly pipe to run from the surface to the pump. Seems much easier to work with and is also available at my local farm supply. Anyone have any reasons not to use the poly pipe?
 
We've successfully used solar pumps with a well and dam as the water source. The setups are motion censored with a drain back bowl over the well casing or float valves on tanks. You mentioned this will be setup in a remote pasture ... can you set up a reserve - connecting overflow tanks - in between your checks in case it stops working for whatever reason? At one time or another all of our combinations have failed for whatever minor reason. The well setup is only a couple miles away and is checked almost daily as it is the only water source. The ones on dammed water, [ float valves/tank(s) ], we will fence off initially, then drop the fence so we can get by with checking it less often.
 
If you are talking about the black poly pipe, use the thick wall as the thin wall will eventually twist with the torque of the motor kinking it where you won't get any water.
That is my experience in the past on a 3/4 hp sub pump.
 
Never used poly pipe on a submersible pump. Only the jet pumps.

On a deep (100ft+) well I use schedule 80 PVC. Reason is,,,, the pump and the water in the pipe can get pretty heavy and I wouldn't want to lose it in the well.
 
Thanks for the feedback everyone. Sorry for the delay in posting. I received everything and am about ready to start the install. Decided to go with 6 feet of PVC pipe from the pump and then 3/4 inch black poly pipe up to the surface and into the trough. Gave rural power systems a call and this was their recommendation. The PVC should help prevent kinking of the poly pipe.

For now I will be pumping into a trough. In the future I would like to add a storage tank as well for reserve for water. Currently looking for a free tank on craigslist, so will have to see how it goes. Can't spend much more in the meantime. I will just have to check the water more often in the meantime.

I ended up going with the RPS1.3-50. It came with two 100 watt solar panels. I was surprised at the size and weight of the solar panels. One of the boxes was pretty beat up, but there were foam sheets all around the solar panel and corner protectors, so no damage to the solar panel!

As requested below are some pictures of the well pump and panels. So far I am happy with what was provided, but proof will be once I get it setup and start pumping water. I will let everyone know how it goes.

20141207_002025063_iOS_zps8c7ef230.jpg

Picture of the solar well pump. Looks good to me.

20141207_002250089_iOS_zps4929a527.jpg

Controller and accessories such as solar panel cable and float valve to shut off the pump when the trough is full.

20141207_002102183_iOS_zpsa20783a8.jpg

One of the 100 watt solar panels which came with the system. This one came in the beat up box and as you can see it survived the UPS trip, despite their efforts in trying to destroy the box.

20141207_002117318_iOS_zpsf349c955.jpg

Backside of the solar panel. Not much to see here besides some connectors.

Let me know if anyone has any questions and Ill try to get another update soon. I think I will have some time to work on it tomorrow and at the worst next weekend.
 

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