[[Image:Stone_hammer_well_drilling_icon.png|right]]
The previous drilling methods are not suitable for hard soil formations, so ongoing development led to the Stone-hammer. This method consists of a heavy hammer hitting directly on a hollow drill-head. Although it does not penetrate very hard stone such as basalt, it is a tougher option than the Rota-sludge method. This technology is being refined further in India and Nicaragua.
The Stone-hammer method has won a competition for innovative irrigation technologies organized by the World Bank, Winrock and IDE (International Development Enterprises).
[[Image:Stone_hammer_well_drilling.PNG|thumb|right|150px|The Stone-hammer in India, drilling a 20 m deep well in a stony layer ]]
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="center"
|-
! width="50%" style="background:#efefef;" | Advantages
! style="background:#ffdead;" | Disadvantages
|-
| valign="top" | Cheaper and easier to maintain than motorized drilling rigs.<br>
Drill in very hard soil<br>
| valign="top" | Slower than motorized drilling rigs.<br>
|}
== Capacity ==
2-5 inch wells to 40 meter.
== Costs ==
20-60% less then hand dug wells.
== Applying conditions ==
<b>Cost of introduction:</b> Variable US$ 15,000 - 30,000 per project, including: production drill set, drawings, hands-on training, first wells.
== Rope pump building manual ==
PRACTICA foundation and the Technical Training Programme of the ETC Foundation (TTP/ETC) have put together a really [http://www.greenocean.org/akvo/PRACTICA_180306_Rope_pump_manual_Ethiopia_March_2006_complete.pdf excellent manual on how to build rope pumps] (PDF, 2.5 Mbyte). It is an 86 page long document with detailed instructions.
== External links ==
* Evaluations [http://www.irc.nl www.irc.nl ]
* Africa [http://www.pumpaid.org www.pumpaid.org ]
* General info [http://www.ropepump.com www.ropepump.com]
* How to build [http://www.ropepumps.org www.ropepumps.org]
