Two concrete rings in

Last Saturday, after Wyatt welded the casing pipe, we used his tractor to lower two of the concrete rings into the hole.

I had dug the hole to a depth of 8 1/2 ft on the sides.  The center was dug to a depth of 10 ft.  The water level is 8 1/2 ft.

The three rings are 9 ft total.  I want the rings to stick out of the ground one foot.  Also, the hole's diameter was about 43 inches and the concrete rings are 42 inches.  So I dug the hole four inches wider to give me room to remove the chain from the ring once it was lowered.  Of the four inches, the top five to six feet of dirt I dug out of the hole.  Some of the bottom two to three feet of gravel I dropped to the bottom of the hole as I needed to raise the bottom's sides up to be only 8 ft deep.

Before enlarging the hole

After enlarging the hole

Due to the depth we were lowering the ring into the hole, and the height we could lift the ring off the ground, we had a small area to hook the chain.  If the hole was a few inches deeper we would have been unable to lower the ring to the bottom.

When the ring was at the bottom we had to work at getting it level.  I went into the hole and Wyatt would raise a side and I would adjust a concrete block under the ring.  Finally we got the ring level.

Note the PVC pipe I set there as a placeholder for the well casing pipe.  All this maneuvering caused gravel to fill in the center of the hole.

Once the ring was level we filled in gravel around the ring to hold it in place.

Then the second ring was lowered.

I ran some water on the dirt to settle and pack it.

Then I filled in dirt around the second ring.

And ran water on the dirt to settle and pack it.

The old concrete rings were 30 inches wide. The new rings are 42 inches wide.  I planned on moving the rings out away from the corral fence a little bit.  Once I was done I realized I could have moved the rings further out as both the old and new rings started in the same place near the fence.  Oh well, not much I can do about it now.

Now to drive the well casing pipe into the ground.  I plan to do that this coming Saturday.

Also, people can take a breath now that the hole can't cave in on me when I am down there.  That made a number of people nervous.