I have an 'extra' well on my rural property. I use it for watering plants. The primary well has an electric pump and pressure system, but the second well just has a wooden cover, and I draw the water with a bucket and a rope. I want to build a roof over it, and have a rotating drum with a handle, and a chain attached to a bucket to draw up the water. So far all I have completed is the stone surround and 2 sturdy posts bedded in concrete. Framing and roofing is simple, but I need suggestions for the mechanism itself for drawing up the water.

I hate to answer a question with a question, but... do you want to stick with the bucket method or are you looking for a pump system?

I found the www.krupps.com had some neat looking wishing wells, but they all used the bucket on a spindle with crank method. At the very least this would allow you to crank the bucket up at a more ergonomic height and it is simple to install.

If you are looking for a pump system then I will need to do a little more looking.

FYI- I found a really neat site that may interest you, living in Canada and all Rural Living Canada

What a great site! I've decided to make the roof hexagonal, to match the gazebo we built last year, but the details in the photos will be very helpful in making the hauling mechanism.

Bab: Your hauling mechanism could be done a couple of different ways. If you want it to look (and act) like the original wells that were used then you can just use a stout oak stick run through a hole in each one of you uprights next to the well. However, I suspect you want something a little more sophisticated. I would suggest getting some oillite bearing material, which is a porous bronze, and use an appropriate sized iron bar to run between the two uprights. By appropriate size I mean that the outside diameter of the iron bar should be a couple of thousandths smaller than the inside diameter of the bearing, allowing a slip fit. The crossbar being iron would allow it to rust but it's continued use would give it a nice rustic patina. Use a hemp rope to haul the bucket. Now, granted the rope will rot over time but replacing it would not be expensive or difficult and it would look neater. In fact, if you want to be really trick, buy the iron bar with some extra length and have a local machine shop bend a crank into it.

I'm off to my trusty local machine shop to see what they can do for me.