I'd rather get bitten by a dog than have the job of a septic pumper.:)
They deserve any amount they want to charge.

My township mandates a pumping every 3 years, so when I dug mine up years ago I refilled the hole with sand making it much easier to dig up.

I've heard 3-5 years, but at the same time, I think if it's functioning correctly it may not need to be pumped for a loooong time (ever?)

My wife and I bought a macerator pump to empty our camper's black/grey tanks at home rather than waiting in long lines when leaving the campgrounds.

This uses a garden hose water supply line, and a garden hose exit line also, while the pump chews any solids into a manageable slurry that gets pumped into our septic system. The neatest part is the clear 4" tank connections that you can watch until they clear up to stop.

Septic pumper guy was here this afternoon. I had not opened the cover of the tank...just cleared all the dirt from around it.
He lifted the cover and the opening was completely covered with a bed of intertwined small roots.
He said that is normal with a tree as close as mine is. He broke them out and stuck the 6" suction hose and a garden hose down the tank.
He had a 10ft long shovel/scraper that he worked up and down the inside walls of the tank while spraying water and sucking crap out.
Then, after scraping, he used a long handled crowbar type tool to drag out more roots. The biggest chunk was about the size of an unrolled single sleeping bag. He had a difficult time getting it out of the opening. He had to break it into sections.
Took him just a little less than an hour. $250 for the job.

He's coming back in a day or two to install a 12" riser. $200 for that.

He had me flush the toilet inside to see if there was any problem there or with the baffle.
"All is good"...he said.

Very happy here.:)

Sounds like a sheitty job, and $250 sounds CHEAP to me.

A very fair price...I'm glad I called them.

I asked the guy if he see's others with as many roots inside? He laughed and said.."we get called to pump many tanks that are very old and were built by laying cement blocks in a circle. The roots come in right through the walls in those. They are a mess" :eek:

The roots in ones like mine find their way in from the cover and grow from there.
That's why he said the riser will be tarred in....keeps the roots from entering.

Congrats on not having baffle problems. Every time I've had one pumped there has been a corroded baffle. SCORE for you!

The riser was attached this am....I back-filled and put a couple inches of black dirt and grass seed on top.

Might put an artificial rock over it...it's only a couple inches above the soil line.

Beautiful! And with turtle content.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1623952245.jpg


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Good job on the riser install , in my opinion every septic tank should have one installed . Four years ago in our new to us retirement house I wanted to have the tank pumped so I had a baseline . Unfortunately I only had a vague inkling on where it was . Tapping some rebar into the ground I eventually found an outline of the tank . Dug down and by luck found one of the lids .

After having it pumped out I installed a riser/cover . Now anyone can quickly know where the tank is and can be serviced anytime by just removing a few screws. It is just my wife and I 99% of the time and it's a 1000 gallon tank so I expect to pump it out about every 10 years .

^^^
My receipt said mine is a 600 gal tank....I might figure every 5-7 years.

I found mine by using a tool from HD.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Bully-Tools-48-in-Soil-Probe-with-Steel-T-Style-Handle-and-Sharpened-Tip-99203/205348127?MERCH=REC-_-searchViewed-_-NA-_-205348127-_-N&

Just had ours pumped (turned out we had other problems with our 30 year old system that required a new drain field....turned out half of the system wasn't even connected...but I digress), the recommendations in this area, from several sources, is to pump every 3-4 years. Not that expensive, about $300, so we comply.

^^^ Ouch! Drain fields are costly.

I was very happy when the guy said "everything looks good"
I might have to send him a xmas card!

Tomorrow morning will be a special day ($450)..sitting on the throne...lol

Yea, was a bit expensive $17K, but it's nice to know I'll never need to do it again, and all the problems are fixed! On the side, since he was out here with his equipment, he threw in extending our driveway around the house! This all came after we had our deck rebuilt, so we've had some very hefty bills in the last couple months!

Great that you got the riser.
This thread got me off my butt and I called a septic tank guy like I should have done before I bought this place. He’s coming tomorrow. I uncovered the riser and slid it aside to see what’s down there. It’s 5 feet down to the top of the tank. There is no other cover on the tank so I can see right into it and there is sludge on the surface. Not feeling optimistic about what he’s going to find.

^^^ From what I've read...a sludge is normal. The height of it (compared to the baffles) is what he will look at.

When my guy finished with the riser...he shoved the old cover off to the side of the new riser and said..."There ya go...less back-fill for ya" :)

gold plated pipe? WTF! Wow!