Yard Hydrant Removal/Water Line Question

[teacherguy]

I purchased a house with a freeze proof yard hydrant in the yard..right next to the driveway. Apparently the previous owners had a mobile home before they constructed their new home (the one I just purchased) and the yard hydrant was used for that. Now it is simply in the way and I'm afraid of running it over. I'd like to remove it, but am not sure of the best way to go about doing so. I dug down 3 feet and found the base of the yard hydrant. From there the pipe runs over to the well pump (about 15 yards away...I'm not sure if it "tees" into the main line or directly to well pump (the well pump supplies the house as well). Can I just unscrew the yard hydrant and cap the pipe off...or put a shut-off valve in)? Or is it best to trace the line back to the well or the tee and cut and cap off there?
I live in NW Ohio with plenty of cold weather...I'm worried that if I just cap it off where its at it might burst later (although it is 3 feet down). Or, if I trace the line back to the well/main line and cap off there or replace tee with a union that my repair might be a weak area and leak in the future.
i will not likely build anything over this spot in the future...at worst I might move the driveway over it (and put a cement pad there when we add a garage).
I'm doing the digging by hand and can't afford a backhoe rental or a plumber so any help/advice would be greatly appreciated. I would rather take the time to do this right the first time. Thank you.

[HayZee518]

seems to me that 3 feet is close to the frost line [in the winter] so plugging it or capping it would solve your problem. if it is in the plastic well line then perhaps removing the TEE and using the coupler for plastic would be better. after you install the coupler wraps some turns of rubber insulating tape (electrical rubber tape) around the coupler once you know there are no leaks there and you should be good.

[LazyPup]

Simply removing the hydrant and capping the line at that location would be code prohibited.

There is a health concern that the standing water in a dead end line will become stagnant and could result in harmful bacteria growth. For that reason the codes state that we may not have any dead end lines longer than 18". The proper solution would be to locate where this line ties into the line from the well and cut and cap the line within 18' of the tie in point, or if it is threaded into a fitting you could unscrew the pipe and install a plug.