Driving a shallow sandpoint well. It was supposed to be easy. Start in the morning and be pumping water by nightfall.
Well, as usual things didn't go so smoothly at the off grid tiny cabin. I guess I'll have to hold off on calling this the weekend homesteading tip of the week. On second thought, here is a video of some of the things that can go wrong while trying to install your own well. Maybe someone can learn something from the things that went wrong for me.

Here is a summary of things to consider that no one is talking about.

Use slow setting pipe thread compound on all coupling connections. Even the on the coupling used to drive the pipe. I had two couplings that I could not remove when it was time to add more pipe.

Retighten the well pipe every so often. I found that the well pipe can unloosen from the coupling below while driving the next section of pipe. Every so often I would put a wrench on the pipe below the drive pipe and it would need some retighting.

Dig as deep as you can with a post hole digger before trying to drive your sandpoint. This should help get you through the surface rocks that are 2-4 feet below the surface.

If your pipe start to run crooked, put a strap on it and give it some tension while you are driving.

Be CAREFUL if using a DRIVE CAP. They are not as deep as a drive coupler and with fewer threads to absorb the impact, I found it deformed the pipe threads and caused issues when connecting the next section of pipe.

I spent 2.5 days hand pounding with a fence post driver. I could have rented a jack hammer with a well driver for $45 from the rental store and drove it so much quicker and easier.

There is no guarantee you will hit water even if you do everything right.

Good luck!