Operating on leach field?

[ericm979]

Our leach field has 20 years' worth of brush and small trees on it. I want to clear it and keep it cleared. Is it safe to operate a tractor on it? It's on a slope but not too steep and after I finish making a road I could get the tractor on it. My Branson with loader and loaded tires weighs about 5000 lbs. With rotary cutter or chipper that's 5500 or 6000 lbs. Soil is sandy with loam and lots of sandstone rocks. I'd have to cut the brush and chip it as it's way too thick for a rotary cutter. But it'd make chipping easier if I didn't have to drag everything off the leach field to the tractor, and once it's cleared I'd like to mow it.

 

[Sysop]

Really depends on the type of leach field it is. If it low PSI crush strength pipe in really big gravel buried shallow, likely not. Higher rated pipe with smaller gravel a bit on the deep side should be okay.

I would also try to avoid running over the lines with more than one tire at a time and alternate travel paths. Cross at an angle.

 

[jimmysisson]

Ask the engineer who designed it. All depends on amount of cover, type of cover, other traffic it might have received, etc. I wouldn't chance wrecking it w/o trying to find out how it was built. Maybe you have a drawing?
Jim

 

[RNeumann]

The typical leach field from 20 years ago was made with 4" rigid pvc pipe. Code requires a minimum of 1' of soil cover over the lines - it would be more if the field has any slope.. With that sized machine I see no issues. Between roots supporting the soil and the relatively low weight of the machine 4" pvc will do fine. People drive over pipe that big with far less cover all the time.
If you are worried about maintaining the lines from roots and inspecting for damage add 90° sweeps to the end of the runs. Add pipe vertically so they end up above grade. Now you have essentially made clean outs for the lines.

 

[newbury]

What about 2,4 D?

My personal preference for a good burn down is napalm, but that is often frowned upon.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Drive over mine all the time.

 

[TemporaryKubotaOwnerMark]

My personal preference for a good burn down is napalm, but that is often frowned upon.

A man after my own heart!

 

[ericm979]

I don't think it'll be possible to see where the lines are buried. It wasn't 20 years ago when we bought the place. There was brush on most of it then too, just smaller than now.

I'll see if we have the plans.

 

[RNeumann]

U r overthinking the leach fields. Mow it down.

 

[jenkinsph]

Having been in the plumbing business for thirty years I avoid driving over septic tanks. Drain fields I do not give a second thought. If you could not drive over it without damage it isn't built to code.

 

[RNeumann]

Having been in the plumbing business for thirty years I avoid driving over septic tanks. Drain fields I do not give a second thought. If you could not drive over it without damage it isn't built to code.

Second that- tanks are a whole different topic and should be avoided unless designed to be driven over.

 

[jenkinsph]

Second that- tanks are a whole different topic and should be avoided unless designed to be driven over.

How deep are the tanks and field lines in your locale? I am betting they are deep.

 

[RNeumann]

Tanks are a minimum of a foot but lids can daylight. Fields are a minimum of a foot of cover to the shallowest part of the FIELD. Meaning the actual pipe will be deeper if their is any slope.

The OP needs to lay a piece of 4" pvc/sdr35/3034 (or whatever they call it there) on the ground and add dirt around it until the dirt is flush with the top of the pipe. After driving over that and seeing no damage he will hopefully realize the chance of damage is slim.

Concrete tanks are flat topped and usually 4-6" thick. A big flat slab that is 5'x8' (rough tank footprint) could crack with the weight of a machine. Poly tanks would deform. In our area you can spec a tank that can take vehicle weight. They add thickness and I assume steel/rebar to the lid.

 

[bdog]

My leach field is newer as I had installed in 2011. I plow and plant right on top of it every year with my 16,000 pound 4440 and have never had a problem. I marked where the tank is with some t posts when they installed it and I don't drive on top of the tank but I farm directly on top of the leach lines and up to about 4' from the tank.

I think you would be fine mowing over it but I would not try to grub anything out as the roots are likely down in it.

 

[Redlands Okie]

I would think driving the tractor over it would not likely hurt the field.
I suspect they drove right over the lines when they buried the lines to start with.
Likely a lot of roots IN the pipes by now from your description. I would think it would be way more advantages to get rid of the brush which is a issue for sure than worry about a maybe issue on the tractor.

 

[bigtiller]

I don't think it'll be possible to see where the lines are buried. It wasn't 20 years ago when we bought the place. There was brush on most of it then too, just smaller than now.

I'll see if we have the plans.

Check with your county sanitation dept. They will have the permit that was issued and everything you need to know about it, and probably including a hand drawn map with a few dimensions explaining the location of everything.

 

[ericm979]

I have the map that was in the blueprints. Checking with the county is a good idea.

I've searched around the internet and half the answers to this are no problem and the other half is nothing larger than a garden tractor or you'll compact the field or damage the pipes. Some nice youtube footage of damaged leach fields.

You're right about roots in the pipes, that's one reason I want to clear it. The others being a larger buffer for fire protection and appearance.

 

[mapper]

Tanks are a minimum of a foot but lids can daylight.

Concrete tanks are flat topped and usually 4-6" thick. A big flat slab that is 5'x8' (rough tank footprint) could crack with the weight of a machine. Poly tanks would deform. In our area you can spec a tank that can take vehicle weight. They add thickness and I assume steel/rebar to the lid.

I demo'd a tank a couple of years ago, the lid was 6" at least, with a bit of rebar. I thought that I would be able to break it up with a sledgehammer, it quickly showed me that I was not going to be able to do that easily. I ended up using a eighty lb electric jackhammer. The sides were only about 1.5 " thick and I was able to push them in with the fel. The concrete lid took about 4 hours.
I think that tank would have stood up to anything less than a tandem axle gravel truck, the lids not so much.

 

[DieselBound]

I believe, and I may be wrong, that the real concern is about compaction of the surrounding soils more so than the piping itself.

 

[TemporaryKubotaOwnerMark]

I demo'd a tank a couple of years ago, the lid was 6" at least, with a bit of rebar.

Mine is 4", and it's exposed! Makes it easy to avoid, I guess....