Unearthing the cover on my septic tank. Is it OK to use the backhoe?

My septic tank is buried about two - three feet below the ground. I'm due to get it pumped, so I need to dig out the cover.

Is it OK to use the backhoe to carefully remove some or most of the soil? Or am I risking damaging the cover, tank, etc?

I obviously know not to drive over the tank as it won't support the weight of the hoe, but if I park to the side, can I dig?

Thanks

Get a steel rod dig slowly and every few inches jump off and check for depth with the rod once your within a few " 's finish with your shovel.
Scrape the surface off gently with the hoe when digging minimal
down pressure.

some of the old tanks were built with concrete blocks,,, the tops were made of precast slabs about 2 feet wide and about 5 feet long, they break easley, ground will be soft down there stay at least 8 inches above with backhoe bucket, more shoveling is better than geting broke pieces out,,,,had neighbor put his wife in tank (true story, i saw her in there) GL

What Bill said, it is not worth the risk of damage to get to antsy with diesel and heavy iron.
Once you have it cleared off, consider a riser kit, or at least bury it with easy material. I dumped a yard of course sand over mine 25 years ago and it is easy hand digging.

Slow and easy. Probe often and like others said finish with hand digging. Don't forget that some of the lids have built in rebar lift handles that stick up about 4".

^ +1 for the rebar handle thing. They are usually rusted about 80% through around here. you can break them off with a shovel, let alone a backhoe.

How old is your septic tank and what type of construction? Is it block, site cast concrete, pre-cast concrete or plastic?

I was young once. I put the tank there, I was going to remember where it was. Years later we put a patio over the tank. There once was 1' of dirt covering it, now there are two feet.
I pumped it 4 years ago. I dug by hand & added three risers cut from 275 gallon fuel tanks. Now I have accurate measurements, need to dig 9" to the covers.

since the OP says 2-3 feet down I am betting it has not been exposed by the OP

We've dug up hundreds of tanks to check, repair, or pump in the past. You've gotten some good advice here. I'll add a few comments.

-Do you have 811 in your area? Locators of utilities? Probably should call them. Free to have done here.
-Scrape the area across with minimum down pressure.
-Probe often.
-What the tank is made of and the age factors into risk of damaging.
-Some older concrete tanks were done without reinforcing wire, re-bar, low aggregate, and too much sand in the mixture. Any of these can weaken the lid so you want to be careful about pressure on it AND STANDING on any of the lids to clear it off. Seen many that if you just shift or bump, BAM! they go into the tank.
-Sewer gases also eat at the concrete. I've seen tanks with cast in concrete T-pipe baffles that had good concrete and reinforcing wire that were corroded GONE above the water/solid level.
-"Newer" concrete tanks with cast baffles have wire or rebar handles in the lid that a backhoe bucket will snag. Newer being 20-30 years old until now. They can commonly break before you get the lids out. Especially the wire ones.
-Never seen a plastic tank here although I'm aware of them.
-Seems I recall running into a steel makeshift tank once or twice. Garbage that should be replaced.

Note that if you have a modern tank with an internal baffle. BOTH sides have to be dug up and pumped. Anyone only doing one side (typically the solid side) is misinformed, or more commonly, trying to cheat you by not doing a thorough job.

Good luck! Be safe.

J.C.

skyking1 said:

since the OP says 2-3 feet down I am betting it has not been exposed by the OP

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Whether bought or inherited somebody installed that tank at one time..

The modern 2 compartment tanks have a access cover in the middle that allow you to access both sides of the tank

Steve Favia said:

The modern 2 compartment tanks have a access cover in the middle that allow you to access both sides of the tank

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Not here at least. The manufactures, following requirements of the state, put in what we called the "little lid" directly above the baffle for more of an air space between compartments. Seems I recall for bacteria aeration? Can't remember honestly.

And other areas may have a center lid.

A good pumping is opening up both sides, moving the suction hose around, washing down the walls with a water hose while pumping, and sometimes reversing the pump to blow the pumped sewer back in to break up in solids to pump them out.

CM1995 said:

Whether bought or inherited somebody installed that tank at one time..

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My point is, he probably has no clue. They are usually mysteries until exposed. Here is an example. My dad and my sister hand dug one in 1960, was never pumped, and then they built a block wall and patio right over the side of it. When I went looking for it, it sure was not where anyone remembered it! I really doubt that dad intended to put the patio loads on it but he sure did, and only a few years later.
I was looking for it to connect my sister's temporary trailer to it after the house fire.
My grandparents were connected to it in the 70's with a single wide, then the pipe was cut off and lost. It also served a bathroom and laundry in an addition on the house. I seriously doubt it was ever permitted.

In Illinois the precast tanks have the opening in the center that have plenty of access to pump and wash down,have had my installers license for 30 years,can’t speak of other area’s of the country

I have a precast rectangular tank. It has an 24"X24" lid over the entry baffle and the outflow baffle. They have a steel cable loop on them for lifting.
So, you wanna be dam careful scraping the lid with a backhoe in case yours has them.
A 2 foot deep tank would be rejected by a inspector in my area.
Most septic tank pumpers around me will uncover the access lids if they are shown the tank location.
I know that for a fact after I called three of them for prices and asked about the access lids.
A septic tank with a caved in lid is horrible mess to clean up. I cleaned one out for a friend once.
The dirt that went in with the lid made it impossible to be pumped.

The house my mother lived in when we were kids had a steel septic tank. Had a grease trap off the kitchen as well. Dad found the septic with a bar the first time and us kids dug it out each time. He apparently knew it was steel and we were a lot lighter. We also got the job of digging the grease out of the grease trap each time. I dug my current septic out once and made a drawing with dimensions showing exactly where it is. It's about 18" deep and a pain to dig out. Had it pumped once. Pump guy said it should be pumped every five years. Cost me three hundred for him to pump it. I had lived here for about thirty years at that time so I told him I got a deal at ten bucks a year. By his math it would have been sixty dollars a year.

Seen them not be pumped for 30 years and looked in decent shape as far as solids in the tank.
Seen others that were only in for a few years that were a mess inside and causing backups.
Also seen some where the solids developed on top were so hard you could probably stand on it. No, we didn't. But we did have to break it up with a steel bar and lots of backflushing to get it broken up enough to pump and haul away.

The health department in our area (the ruling body of installation and design) has a 5 year pumping recommendation for maintenance. But like I said, I've seen some go many more years and still look ok inside. A lot has to do with soil and usage.

I now pump every two years just to be safe. And I dig it myself so I know where it is. I’ll dig by hand to not risk destroying the tank. It’s 70 years old.

JCinNC said:

Also seen some where the solids developed on top were so hard you could probably stand on it.

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That had to be a fatberg, right? did it smell like tacos?