Driving over Schedule 40 PVC

[cbgb00]

Still asking questions here....someday I hope to answer some.....

Anyway, I'm curious about driving my tractor over Sch40 PVC. We have an area that easy access to would include driving over the septic drain line from the house. It's buried a couple feet down. I recall that Sch40 is supposed to be heavy duty and withstand a lot of weight, but does anyone know if driving over it with a tractor is okay? I have a JD3320 and its weight is approximately 3000lbs. Will the pipe handle that load, or is this a bad idea?

Thanks all.

 

[johnrex62]

I would hope so. I brush hog my drain field all the time. I was told not to drive cars or trucks over it or to build any structures over it, but before I got my own tractor my mowers ran their tractors over it all the time. Other then the inspection ports getting run over and broken by the mowers, I have observed no discernable damage over the last 5 years.

 

[JD15302155870]

I don't know what the correct answer is. All I know is I have been driving over mine for the past 25 years. My JD weighs 4800 not counting the water in the tires.

 

[k0ua]

In my opinion, no problem. I bet you could drive that tractor over the pipe laying on top of the ground, as long as it wasnt on a sharp rock. But 2 foot down in soil?.. no problem

James K0UA

 

[Rustywreck]

I'm using a 10' piece as a culvert under my driveway. It only has a couple inches of gravel over it, and it has survived well with my tractor, car and truck driving over it.

 

[EddieWalker]

When driving over a burried pipe, the amount of soil over it and the size of the pipe will dictate how much weight it can hold. Basic rule of thumb is half the width of the pipe is how much soil you need above it to carry the load. With little pipes, a foot of dirt over it will carry anything you can drive over it if the soil has been compacted after filling the trench. If the soil is new, and loose, then it doesn't do anything to carry the load and the pipe may be damaged from movement.

If it's been in the ground awhile and a half a foot or deeper, then you can't hurt it. Schedule 40 is thicker and able to handle more pressure and abuse, but when burried in the ground, thinwall pipe is capable of handling the same loads driven over it as schedule 40 or thicker pipe.

Eddie

 

[cbgb00]

Thanks for the input. I always felt I was being too cautious...but I'm glad to hear that I can drive over it.

 

[belah]

As was said above, you could drive over it lying on top of the ground and you won't hurt it. I've got an 8 in piece under my driveway and it's been run over by my Kubota M4030 with an 1100lb 6ft rotary cutter attached and water in the tires. It doesn't even bend it any !!! It's HARD to break schedule-40.

 

[SSdoxie]

I have 4" schedule 40 about 2' deep going across by drive the drain field. Propane truck backs in over it to fill the tank with no problem.

 

[LBrown59]

Still asking questions here....someday I hope to answer some.....

Anyway, I'm curious about driving my tractor over Sch40 PVC. We have an area that easy access to would include driving over the septic drain line from the house. It's buried a couple feet down. I recall that Sch40 is supposed to be heavy duty and withstand a lot of weight, but does anyone know if driving over it with a tractor is okay? I have a JD3320 and its weight is approximately 3000lbs. Will the pipe handle that load, or is this a bad idea?
Thanks all.

Driving your tractor over it won't hurt a thing.

I don't know what the correct answer is.
1* All I know is I have been driving over mine for the past 25 years. My JD weighs 4800 not counting the water in the tires.

1*Got ya beat.
Been driving over mine for 40 years with no problems.

In my opinion, no problem.
2*I bet you could drive that tractor over the pipe laying on top of the ground, as long as it wasnt on a sharp rock.
James K0UA

2*I lost that bet when i drove my Bx1500 over a 4'' slotted plastic pipe that wasnt covered on top with dirt.

3*As was said above, you could drive over it lying on top of the ground and you won't hurt it. .

3*See 2*

 

[moored4]

If the pipe was put in a well prepared trench then drive over it. Well preparied means that the soil under the pipe was compacted and will support the pipe, fill soil, and tractor. If not the weight will cause the pipe to 'sag' and maybe pull the joints apart or crack the pipe from axial pull force but not from compression forces.

 

[cbgb00]

If the pipe was put in a well prepared trench then drive over it. Well preparied means that the soil under the pipe was compacted and will support the pipe, fill soil, and tractor. If not the weight will cause the pipe to 'sag' and maybe pull the joints apart or crack the pipe from axial pull force but not from compression forces.

That is a very good point, and a concern. The pipe is part of the septic system, and is the drain from the house to the tank. It's been in place for 6 years, and there is no evidence of settling. I have a JD L130 lawn tractor that I drive over it all the time (okay so it only weighs a few hundred pounds), and it has not caused any settling or issues. So, does that sound like it should be fine? We've determined that the pipe is capable of withstanding the compression....what do you think the likelihood of sagging is? I'm back to being cautious again. Thanks all.

 

[moored4]

That is a very good point, and a concern. The pipe is part of the septic system, and is the drain from the house to the tank. It's been in place for 6 years, and there is no evidence of settling. I have a JD L130 lawn tractor that I drive over it all the time (okay so it only weighs a few hundred pounds), and it has not caused any settling or issues. So, does that sound like it should be fine? We've determined that the pipe is capable of withstanding the compression....what do you think the likelihood of sagging is? I'm back to being cautious again. Thanks all.

After 6 years I think that your ok :thumbsup: for tractors but if I was going to bring in a dump truck of something I would just put down some 2x6 or 8's and over lay that with heavy plywood to spread out the weight of the load. If it does collapse then you got an excuse to rent/buy a back hoe and 'Play' I mean work getting it dug up and replaced! More seat time!

I think your all right!! I drive my truck and horse trailer over mine during the summer.

 

[JB4310]

You could drive over a pipe made of glass or egg shell if it's 2 feet down, especially with a CUT.

JB.

 

[bearcreek paul]

I have driven over mine numerous times with a 3/4 ton loaded with dirt and gravel no problems.The only thing I was told were no tri axels.By the way mine is buried 4 ft deep.

 

[JoeL4330]

Here is a quite conservative description of what is required for really heavy construction loads when installing culvert pipe.

 

[Jay4200]

Still asking questions here....someday I hope to answer some.....

Anyway, I'm curious about driving my tractor over Sch40 PVC. We have an area that easy access to would include driving over the septic drain line from the house. It's buried a couple feet down. I recall that Sch40 is supposed to be heavy duty and withstand a lot of weight, but does anyone know if driving over it with a tractor is okay? I have a JD3320 and its weight is approximately 3000lbs. Will the pipe handle that load, or is this a bad idea?

Thanks all.

Schedule 40 PVC buried a couple of feet down? You could run that over with a fully-loaded cement mixer and you wouldn't have to worry. That's why the house-tank connection is schedule 40. JFTR, with your fly-weight 3320, you could run over that pipe with it laying on top of the ground and it likely won't break.

JayC

 

[Jay4200]

Here is a quite conservative description of what is required for really heavy construction loads when installing culvert pipe.

That is for multi-foot diameter thin-walled culvert pipe. The PO is talking about 4" thick walled PVC, so take those 3-4' results and divide by roughly 10.

Incidentally, I have a 3' culvert pipe bridge that crosses a stream in my driveway with roughly 2' of cover. I had 35 fully-loaded tri-axle dump trucks (24 ton loads - and in all cases with their third axle raised, even though I begged them to lower it) cross the bridge this summer with no problems. I will say that after the first couple of loads, even though everything looked just fine, I remained nervous about the culvert - I dug down a half foot, and poured 3'x6'x4" reinforced concrete pads over the wheel tracks on the bridge to help spread the load. All was good.

JayC

 

[JoeL4330]

Jay 4200: Actually, the table I posted is for double walled HDPE...sorry if I confused you; I am confused about 4" thick Sch 40 PCV, which you reference.

The attached table shows Sch 40 dimensions and four inch PVC has about 1/4" wall thickness ...even for the bigger diameters, wall thickness gets just over 1/2" ...but, maybe I didn't understand.

My reference to "conservative" was that the info was for HEAVY CONSTRUCTION LOADS, and much less would be required for normal traffic, including tractors such as those normally referenced on this board.

Properly bedded, it is very difficult to deform a circular cross section ...and, of course, pneumatic tires spread the load so that even a heavy truck running, say, 100psi in its tires, only puts 100psi on the ground, as I recall.

Anyway, sorry if I misled anyone

 

[Code54]

Ours is about 6" under the ground right by the house (yep - way too shallow) and I take our tractor (over 3k) over it without any issue.....