Being the smart person that I am....

[Winston]

Hi all,

Here's a question from one of our rec.crafts.metalworking pals. Help him out if you can, please?

THX. --Winston

"I drove my (new to me), big, diesel backhoe over the last tank in my two-tank septic system. Still, not too smart but I thought that I had cleared it by a foot or two. NOPE! So, one of the rear tires fell in the hole, not all the way but it competely broke the concrete lid on this concrete tank.

Now, not only being dumb but being cheap, too, I want to make my own lid of about 6 inches thick and about 4 feet in diameter. I have only worked with concrete just a bit by pouring it into some holes for a few t-posts and a few vertical landscape timbers.

I do have a small (unused by me) concrete mixer.

Do I simply lay out some plywood on solid ground, build forms around it, put in some welded wire and some rebar and pour away? Yes, I will keep a center hole open and install some hooks to lift it on the tank.

Does this sound like a plan?

Thanks

j/b"

[SteveB]

Did you break the top of the tank, or just the lid? If you just broke the lid, you can use thick visqueen, and a temporary support under it, and pour yourself a lid that will match the other one perfectly.Lay the visqueen in there and fill it with water so it will take the form of the plug. Wetvac out the water being careful not to pull the Visqueen out of place. Being a metalworker, make a pattern of rebar in there, and a horseshoe shaped lifting eye. Weld it all together. Let it cure for about a week before lifting. Lift, peel off the Visqueen, and next time ............. It is also a very good idea to take a grinder and score two marks, one on the lid, and one on the tank so that if you do have to pull it again, you can put it right back in the exact orientation.

Steve, from r.c.m.

[aemeijers]

I think you will find that you can buy a replacement lid cheaper than you can make one. (Unless you value your time at zero and happen to have all the supplies just laying around that would otherwise go to waste.)

-- aem sends...

[Frank]

That was my experience. Once bought a concrete ring and a lid directly from fabricator and they were dirt cheap.

[benick]

Ditto.....They are cheap....

[SteveB]

Yes. But that would be the EASY way. We doan need no steenkeeng EASY ways!

Steve

[Larry The Snake Guy]

How thick is the old lid? If you're thinking you'll make the lid thicker so it wont break when you drive over it again, keep in mind that that just means the tank may break instead. Personally, I'd rather have the lid break...

Oh, and I come up with a figure of about 940 pounds for your lid (just the concrete)... But then you do have a backhoe, so maybe that's OK...