Purpose and principle of operation of the bailer. The design of the device and its modifications. DIY tool making. Recommendations for use in cleaning and drilling mines. The bailer is a special device for manual drilling and cleaning a well from loose soil. The tool has a simple design and you can make it yourself. You can familiarize yourself with its device and technology of soil excavation in this article.
Features of the design of the bailer
A well bailer is a tool in the form of a heavy cylindrical shell with a valve through which the soil enters and then rises to the surface with it. It is made from a piece of pipe of a sufficiently large mass. The lower end must be sharpened from the inside, and it must be hardened to increase strength. The upper part is covered with a thick wire mesh.
A valve is built into the bottom of the device, which keeps the soil inside the projectile when lifting. There are many locking systems, but only a few are popular:
- Petal valve … Made of polymer material or spring steel. It operates on the principle of "shutters", in which dirt enters the projectile after deformation of the plate. The product is very simple to manufacture and efficient to use, but, unfortunately, short-lived. When the plate is lifted, almost the entire opening of the cylinder opens, through which a large amount of soil passes. A petal-valve bailer is commonly used for drilling wells.
- Ball valve … When using it, the earth pushes the round element into the inner cavity and fills all the free space, and when the device is lifted, the ball drops and closes the inlet. The manufacture of valve elements of such a design requires special precision equipment and skills to work with them, therefore, only a qualified worker can make it with high quality.
- Flap valve … It is a fairly simple device that opens and closes with a hinge. Under the action of the soil, it rises up, and when pulling out the tool, it falls under the weight of the soil.
- Valve with spring … This is a variant of the flap valve, the spring holds the movable plate in the closed position. The soil presses on the valve and lifts it. When the tool is removed, the spring returns the insert to its original position.
Due to the special design, the bailer is used when drilling a well with a percussion-rope method in loose or sandy soils, for passing quicksands or when cleaning heavily clogged wells. For lifting and lowering, an eyelet is welded to the tool, to which a rope or thin cable is tied. Depending on the weight of the device, lifting mechanisms are selected or manufactured - a winch, a gate, a tripod, etc. For long and very heavy borehole bailers, heavy lifting structures are made from thick logs or pipes. Small projectiles can be lifted by hand.
The bailer has several advantages over other cleaning and drilling attachments, but users should be aware of the disadvantages of this method as well. The pros and cons of the product are shown in the table:
| Advantages | disadvantages |
| Well drilling and cleaning is performed independently | The process is laborious and can take a long time. |
| The cost of work is minimal | There is a risk of destruction of the casing made of plastic or thin metal |
| You can work in hard-to-reach places | Inconvenient to remove soil from a long narrow bailer |
How to make a bailer for a well
The device has a simple design, so you can make it yourself. Before making a bailer for a well, decide on its dimensions, on which the dimensions of the workpiece and the design of the valve depend. All nuances are given below.
Sizing the bailer
The size of the fixture determines its weight, which affects the penetration force of the tool and the efficiency of the process. When determining the dimensions, consider the following points:
- The dimensions of the tool should correspond to the depth and diameter of the borehole. The length of the bailer is within 0.8-3 m.
- For drilling, a larger and therefore heavy tool is used, however, a large product makes the structure heavier, which can cause it to jam.
- Too short can be skewed and, when moved, will touch the walls.
- Use small bailers to clean the well.
- To determine the diameter of the projectile, measure the borehole diameter and decrease it by 40 mm (it should enter the pipe with a gap of 2 cm per side).
- The size of the gap can be changed, but only slightly. An increased clearance reduces digging efficiency, and too small can damage the shaft walls or jam the tool. Removing a stuck cylinder is not easy.
- The recommended wall thickness of the product is 2-4 mm, but you can choose pipes with 10 mm walls if you need to increase its weight.
Instructions for making a bailer
Consider the sequence of making a do-it-yourself thief for a well 80 cm long with a diameter of 60 mm with a ball valve.
Perform the following operations:
- Cut a piece of pipe of the required length from the workpiece. Sharpen the bottom of the cylinder from the inside so that the tool will enter the ground well. Quench the pointed portion to harden it.
- Before making a bailer for the well, find a 40 mm metal ball (its dimensions should cover 65-75 percent of the internal diameter of the fixture). This valve element can be machined, cast from lead, or removed from an old bearing. It is not difficult to make it yourself from a rubber or plastic ball. To do this, cut the ball in half and fill the halves with shot mixed with any waterproof glue. Once dry, glue both parts together and sand the joints.
- Make a 40 mm plug from a thick sheet of metal. Cut a funnel-shaped hole in it with an outer diameter of 40 mm and an inner diameter of 30 mm. The size of the inner hole can be increased if the projectile is poorly filled.
- Check the adherence of the ball to the seat. The better both surfaces, the less soil will be lost when lifting the bailer.
- Leave the other side of the washer flat, but often it is also made funnel-shaped with a slight slope into the cylinder.
- Weld the washer to the bottom of the pipe, leading it inward by 10-20 mm. Place the ball in the cavity. So that it does not rise too high, make a stop inside the cylinder, for example, drill a hole in the wall, install a bolt in it, and grip the head with welding. Otherwise, dirt will fall out before the valve closes.
- At the top of the projectile, secure several rows of wire or a fine mesh.
- To improve loosening of sand and soil, weld three fangs to the thief skirt, projecting a few centimeters down.
- Weld a thick rod to the top of the tool, to which tie a strong cord or attach a thin cable to lift it. Lift the product by the cord and make sure it hangs vertically. Skewing of the thief is not allowed.
- Cut out special windows at the top of the cylinder to help shake the soil out of it.
A petal-valve thief is manufactured as follows:
- Cut a piece of pipe with a length of 800 mm from a workpiece with a diameter of 70 mm. On one side, at a distance of 10 mm from the end, drill a through hole with a diameter of 6-8 mm through the cylinder.
- Find a bolt that is long enough to slide through the holes and attach the nut. It should not touch the borehole wall.
- Cut an oval valve out of a regular 2 liter bottle. The smaller element diameter should be 70 mm, the larger one - 20 mm larger.
- Insert a bolt into the holes of the cylinder and screw the valve to it in two places with a wire with a diameter of 2-3 mm in four places. The hinges can be made in advance and a bolt can be installed in them when assembling the structure.
- Bend the plate slightly and install it in the pipe.
During the lowering of the bailer, water and sand are bent up the valve and get inside. When the tool is lifted, the element will return to its original state and will not let the dirt fall out. This design has a significant drawback: the valve does not fit tightly to the walls and does not hold fine sand, silt and other small particles, which impairs the quality of cleaning.
How to use the bailer correctly
Before starting work, assemble a tripod to lift the heavy, mud-filled thief to the surface.
When assembling the lifting device, ensure that the following requirements are met:
- The height of the device after installation in the nominal position should be 1.5-2 m more than the length of the projectile.
- Secure the device securely against horizontal movement. It is recommended to dig your feet into the ground to a depth of 0.5-0.8 m. Do not fix the device on the surface with crowbars, which are hammered near the feet.
- The product supports must withstand heavy loads. Therefore, make them from logs with a thickness of 150-200 mm or from metal pipes.
- After installing the tripod, make sure that the thief is positioned exactly in the shaft axis. Move the structure in the desired direction if necessary.
- A hoist can be used as a lifting device, which is attached to the top of the tripod.
- You can also attach a block to a tripod and stretch a cable through it. Attach one end of the cable to the thief, the other to a lifting mechanism, for example, a gate.
Then perform the following operations:
- Check the condition of the walls of the shaft, there are no protrusions on them that can lead to jamming of the tool.
- Install the bailer with a lifting device into the well and release.
- After hitting the bottom, the projectile will plunge into the mud, the valve will open and the soil will enter the cavity of the product. Raise the tool 1 m. During the movement, the valve will return to its original state and close the hole, the dirt will remain inside.
- Again, sharply lower the thief and raise it. Repeat the operation several times.
- Pull the tool to the surface and pour out the contents. After each lift, the shaft will deepen a few centimeters.
- Repeat the process until the aquifer is reached.
During work, a lot of time is spent lifting the tool and cleaning it. The fixture can be upgraded to optimize performance. To do this, weld the upper part of the bailer tightly. Drill a hole in the plug, insert a tube into it and also weld it. Attach a hose to the tube, which is connected to a pump for pumping thick liquid. Now there is no need to lift the device every time to clean it - the pump will pump out the dirt to the surface. You can drill a well with a bailer with the help of blows. The instrument is struck from above with wooden rods carved from oak, ash, larch, with a metal tip at the end.
When drilling, pay attention to the following points:
- On sandy soils, the thief should not be more than 10 cm ahead of the casing.
- When working on sandy or dry ground, pour plenty of water into the hole to strengthen the walls. In soft, moist soils, water can not be poured, the earth will remain inside the projectile.
- If the wet sand is too dense, first loosen it with a chisel, and then remove the softened soil with a thief.
- For quicksand passage, use a device 2 m long, with a flat valve sealed with a leather gasket. Rotate the casing while drilling.
- If there is a layer of gravel and gravel below, then use a chisel to break up large elements.
- To go through dense layers, raise the bailer by 10-15 cm, and make the movement often.
- If using a very long tool, clean it after 0.5-0.7 m. Excessive dirt in the thief may cause the rope to break or be damaged by the lifting mechanism.
- If the source is heavily silted to fill the projectile, raise it by 50-60 cm.
- During work, it may turn out that the tool is very light. To increase the weight in the upper part of the cylinder, weld the baffle, and fill the resulting cavity with concrete.
How to make a bailer for a well - watch the video:
A self-made well-cleaning thief is in no way inferior to factory models in terms of functionality. The device will allow you to clean or drill a mine without the use of special equipment and save a lot of money.
