<div class="serendipity_imageComment_left" style="width: 167px"><div class="serendipity_imageComment_img"><a href='http://www.sarpysam.net/gallery/misc/drill05252006?full=1'><img width='167' height='250' border='0' hspace='5' align='left' src='http://www.sarpysam.net/gallery/albums/misc/drill05252006.thumb.jpg' alt='' /></a></div><div class="serendipity_imageComment_txt">Drilling a new well to replace a well that isn't pumping very much any more. Taken 5/25/2006.</div></div>One of the biggest Gambles out there is farming and ranching. Gambling on the weather, markets, nature and whatever else comes your way. I call drilling a well a gamble too. In my country you are almost guaranteed to hit water, but the gamble is, whether it is a useful amount of water and whether it is at a depth you can easily pump.<br />n<br />nThe well at what I call the windmill has been there at least 85 years that I can document and knowing the local history I believe it to be over 100 years old. I am still pumping water from it but I am not getting what I would call a useful amount any more out of it. Is it going dry? I don't think so. I think the veins in the well are just getting plugged up with minerals and such and it's just not flowing very much anymore. Our water around here is known for doing that so that the well has lasted as long as it has is amazing in my opinion.<br />n<br />nI had been wanting to get a well driller in for a while to drill a new well in the area and finally got it accomplished yesterday. The old windmill, which is about 50 yards away, was about 300 feet deep. Only about 180 feet were useful do to an old sucker rod being dropped in the well over 30 years ago. We hit water in the new hole at 115 feet and drilled it out to 140 feet. Ten gallons a minute of flow in the new well. This is a useful amount at a useful depth. I will drop a 1/2 horse submersible down the hole and will just be able to pump all the available water with it. It works good for me. Last time I had a well drilled it cost around $20 a foot. This time it cost around $25 a foot. Either let the cattle go thirsty or spend the money to fix the water up right. Pretty easy calculation in my book.<div class="serendipity_imageComment_right" style="width: 250px"><div class="serendipity_imageComment_img"><a href='http://www.sarpysam.net/gallery/misc/water05252006?full=1'><img width='250' height='188' border='0' hspace='5' align='right' src='http://www.sarpysam.net/gallery/albums/misc/water05252006.thumb.jpg' alt='' /></a></div><div class="serendipity_imageComment_txt">We struck water at the new well. Ten gallons per minute. I was hoping for that much. Taken 5/25/2006.</div></div> <br />n<br />nI am trying something else new at this well too. I am going to put a 25 foot metal tank with a concrete bottom in to hold water for the cattle. This way there will be enough water there for the cattle when they come in to drink and they won't have to stand around and wait for water to be pumped into the tank. The tank manufacturer will have the tank built in 2 weeks and I have all ready made arrangements for the concrete company to prepare the site, set the forms and pour the concrete. Full steam ahead to fix the water up. Spend that money, go in debt further while interest rates are going up, there's the real gamble.<br />n<br />n<b>There are two great pleasures in gambling: that of winning and that of losing. French proverb.</b>