Excavation -plumbing -stones setting

[Al_Smith]

 I didn't want to horn in our host's plumbing deal  here's mine .Yard hydrant went bad ,control rod rusted out after about 8-10 years .This I time I got off my moldy money and bought a good one .Iowa model  of a Woodford ,oldest maker of these things in the USA ,since I think 1929 .Made in the USA ,brass cast iron and stainless steel .It should out last me .I'm getting too old be digging these things up  and this one can be repaired without removing it .A tad pricey but IMO worth it .

 

[Al_Smith]

That thing was 3 feet in the ground that is yellow clay hard enough to use for cannon balls .The stoned in area will be an addition to my patio .Odd place ,could not get a lawnmower in it .One of those "honey do " things .I think I have enough sand stone to do it, around 50 square feet .If not a few pieces of flag stone would be okay because it's Berea white sand stone .More on that when I get it done  

[Tom King]

I'm not brand loyal to many brands, but Woodford is one of them. -hydrants, and freezeless faucets.

We have some Y's, and W's that have been working here, with only packing replacement, since 1980.

The W's are okay, but the Y's (like yours) are the only ones I've bought since those first ones.

[Al_Smith]

Yes that's a Y -34 .Before the old one failed I had never really given it a thought when I installed the first one .After the failure I gave it a lot of thought .Shovel work is not one of my favorite activities .I'm just glad it wasn't a 6 foot bury depth .

[Sedgehammer]

Any hydrants i replace or install only and I mean only get back filled with sand. Been doing that for since ever. I've prolly installed 35+ in all my properties over the years. Only going with woodfords here on out. never had a failure with one of theirs. Putting in 3, 1" later this summer for pasture irrigating purposes

had a cheap one from home depot that needed replacing gave me my heart attack. It was buried in sand, but was wet sand as it was leaking. Can't complain totally though about it, even though i had the heart attack on a tuesday, didn't go to the doctor till friday. Might saved my life some day, as it wasn't a severe one

[Al_Smith]

I dumped a bunch of fine tailings around the leak down vent  .Other than that just shoveled back in and tamped the soil .When I'm done it will be under a sand stone patio .
I've got another faulty one on my other well but for the moment will leave than one be for now . I think those less expensive hydrants were about 45-50 bucks about 10-12 years ago .I had $141 in this new one including an 8 dollar 3/4" brass pipe nipple which I didn't need .
As it is one well runs the geo-thermal which is 180 feet deep, in the limestone ,slight sulfur very soft . .The other is above the rock in a gravel vein 118 feet  iron, hard  which the softener takes care of for the house .--more--

[Al_Smith]

I'm going to disassemble the hydrant I just changed to see how it's made .That might indicate if the faulty one on my other well could be repaired by not needing to dig it out .If I do need to dig it out it would not the big ordeal as what I just did .If I do I'll rent a mini back hoe to unearth it .

[farmfromkansas]

As I also am getting older, have found that my skidsteer, if being careful, can be very handy to unearth outdoor plumbing. Takes a lot of backfilling.  If you watch as you dig, you can see the difference in the color of the dirt in the ditch, so you know you are above your pipe.

[hedgerow]

The Iowa Woodford seems to last the best in my area. I have some we put in thirty plus years ago and there still working. Three foot bury models work good around here never had one freeze up. I like to back fill with sand or 1/4 inch lime stone chips. Had a towable back hoe that worked great for changing out hydrants. I have dug up a number of box store ones that had failed in a few years. I loaned my back hoe to a guy to do some digging out on his acreage and he ended up liking it so well he bought it. Time for me to shop for a mini track hoe. I always kind wanted one. 

[Tom King]

Here, we have red clay subsoil.  I dig a pretty good sized hole, and put a regular 8" cinder block vertically under the hydrant for cavities, filling with round river rock, which we have plenty of to the surface.

I'll drive a 1-1/4" galvanized pipe in the ground, down past the excavation, to strap the hydrant pipe to.

I use stainless clamps used for doing exhaust wraps.

I never use a plastic female threaded adapter for anything, so even if the piping is PVC, there is a metal street elbow at the bottom of the hydrant.

When I was young, and ignorant, I put one in the wash stall in the barn without allowing room to spin the head for future service.  I'll never do that again.

We have a Y1 at the garden.  That thing will supply all the water that a 3/4" hose can move!

[Al_Smith]

This one had a nylon tee with a brass nipple .I had forgotten exactly how I did it and what I had used until I dug it up .I used my pressure washer to unearth the last few inches of soil .Fact I used a pressure washer once to unearth a cable TV wire .Made a muddy mess but didn't harm the cable .Some times you just have to make do with what you have .