The two 18” extensions for the auger drill arrived today, so the drilling operation is continuing.The pin that came with the extensions (actually just a plain bolt and nut! Not hardened steel like the pin that came with the auger) is too big to fit the auger drill, so I had to use a smaller bolt. After about 10 minutes of drilling with the first extension installed, the smaller bolt is showing signs of shearing stress, so I decided to stop drilling until I can get a better pin.
As it is, I was already worried for a while that I wouldn’t be able to get the auger back out of the ground because it was getting stuck on the way up, and the gas-powered auger has no reverse (I don't know if more expensive auger drills do, but this is the $139 version from Harbor Freight; pretty sweet for the price). If I sheer off a pin or break an extension, I’ll be digging a ditch by hand to get my parts back out of the well!
By the time I discovered the damaged bolt I had already bottomed out the drill with one extension, so there was definitely some progress. We expect to reach the deep horizon well by tomorrow… wait, that’s a different drilling project.
Since the extensions don’t have flighting (the blade that augers the soil upwards), the extended bit can’t carry the soil out of the hole. But the shop-vac does a great job sucking dirt and rocks out of the hole between drilling sessions, so I don’t think that will be a problem. I just need to be able to get the auger in and out of the hole without getting stuck. And I might need an extension for the shop-vac.
We are at about 53” now.
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