Breaking up Septic Tank Lids (Concrete)

[John K Jordan]

...drill holes in it and use a bentonite clay product....

Well, I've never heard of that!! Makes sense, though - the stuff swells up nicely. BTW, it's available at farm stores - I bought some at the local farmers co-op to fix a pond leak.

About the SDS drill/rotary hammer - I bought a Bosch about 25 years ago and don't know what I'd do without it. Drilling a 1" holes in concrete is nothing. Switch it to the chisel mode and carve out concrete like it is wood. Remodeling a basement bathroom I drilled the edges then chiseled out a channel big enough to run a shower drain maybe 4' in length. The hardest thing about the job was getting these old bones back up off the floor when done.

As for the concrete rounds in this thread, I started thinking - they could be very handy around the farm as is.

JKJ

[John Lanciani]

Seriously, it took longer to read this thread than its going to take to break the hatch covers up folks. He's just talking about the covers, not the whole tank. two minutes each with a 10lb sledge is all he needs, no heavy equipment required.

[Ryan Mooney]

Seriously, it took longer to read this thread than its going to take to break the hatch covers up folks. He's just talking about the covers, not the whole tank. two minutes each with a 10lb sledge is all he needs, no heavy equipment required.

Yeah but what's the fun in that?


I'm reminded of a friend who had a rather large pile of concrete from an old mobile home foundation. He had tried a number of things with minimal effectiveness... until I bought him a "house warming present" of a 12lb sledge. Within about 3 hours between the two of us we had it all broken up into moveable pieces. When I saw him the next day he said he had to get help putting his shirt on because he couldn't lift his arms over his head. So double win, everyone got a little exercise as well

[John K Jordan]

Seriously, it took longer to read this thread than its going to take to break the hatch covers up folks. He's just talking about the covers, not the whole tank. two minutes each with a 10lb sledge is all he needs, no heavy equipment required.

Yes, but Ryan's thought was the same as mine!

However, I didn't see where the thickness is mentioned - does such a cover weigh 30 lbs or 130? Is it laced with reinforcement? I have zero experience with these.

Either way, another option might be for two people to just pick it up and heave it over the fence. Based on tossing hay bales I'm sure I could heave 50 lbs just by myself (unless the fence was real high!)

Ok, on three. One, two...

JKJ

[Ed Labadie]

I would start with a .44 magnum at 25 yards.



Ed

[Clarence Martinn]

Well , got the job done...

6 shots on each lid, and they broke into easy to handle pieces. Tossed them all over the fence and down the hill they went !!

That Sledge Hammer worked great !!! Less than 10 minutes , and it was all done !!

[Jim Becker]

Sometimes the simplest, "stone age" tool is the best bet...

[Rick Potter]

I guess I am a bit slow on answering this one.

I was going to suggest putting them on CL for free. It has worked for me for anything I put on there....except for dirt, someone wanted it, but expected me to load it for them.

[Mike Null]

You might have a cement mixer truck drive over them.: eek:

When I was a kid my dad ordered a load of concrete for a garage floor. The truck backed over the septic tank and you can guess the rest.