Well, seems I dodged a bullet by renting a Kubota U17 mini excavator for $211 and then some new pipes and fittings for $80. Just finished up and I am proud to say the $hitter is no longer full.
That's one major problem solved for FAR less than the estimates I was getting, not to mention no one was able to make it out until after the holiday anyway.
The Mini Excavator cost me $303.98 to rent for 24 hours, of which I used all but two minutes of, LOL! Literally got there with 23 hours, 58 minutes on the clock. I opted for the insurance since
The Excavator cost $35,000 new... So yeah... But it worked GREAT and fit in the tightest of spots! It's 17 HP diesel 4 cylinder engine was great on gas as we only used 2 gallons! It literally
cost me more to wash it than to fill it up! LOL
It was so easy to operate it that my 16 year old kid was able to operate it without issue! Even I was able to climb into this thing having never driven one and get it off the trailer!
I was a little worried when I first picked it up, and even the sales people at the rental place would not guarantee it would cut thru the ground in the near 0 northern temps, but it did!
Not only cut thru the top ice layer, it cut thru massive weaves of roots I'd have never been able to shovel thru! It did it with a quickness too!
Rented this at Home Depot, incase you ever need to rent one yourself... You back will thank you!
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What is to give light must endure burning -- Viktor Frankl
How did you know where the break-in-the-pipe was ?... I would have likely dug-up the whole yard before finding the break..
At least your breather-pipe will be a sure tell-tale for things blocking-up again, the moment it spills over or stops stinking LOL !
You do know that if Stoma was allowed back-in-here, he would have actually paid-you for the chance to do the job ?...This is where his expertise-is-at !
-- Edited by Rastus on Saturday 30th of December 2017 07:52:58 PM
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"Only an alert & knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial & military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods & goals, so that security & liberty may prosper together". Dwight D.Eisenhower.
Thanks Rastus! It's really nice to run everything without having a backup... it had been acting up quite a bit this month and I have snaked the system in the past without any luck. Last time I snaked from this clean-out it didn't fix anything because the roots were coming in where the cast iron pipe and PVC join (before the clean-out), I had to go in thru the toilet drain by removing the toilet! So I was pretty sure the blockage was before the clean-out and after the toilet.... apparently the rubber hose / adapter split, and roots took hold in there almost like a nest.
I was prepared to rip out all the old cast iron stuff clear under the house, as I was sure the main line to the sewer was already done in PVC. Around here they originally had clay pipes fitted together but they are real bad for roots getting in. Turns out that good old 70 year American cast iron was in excellent shape! Took two sawzaw blades to cut a 4 inch pipe! Probably last another 70 years!
Feels so good to have it finally fixed... it has given me problems before back when we first got the place but over time I was able to figure it out. The snake I used before broke and almost took my head off - put a nice size dent in the tub too. This is the main reason I wanted to fix the problem rather than just snake it every few years. It was worth the money and 24 hours of hell in what was single digit temps (F). Going down below zero soon for a week or so, double digits below zero (F) wind chill. We have gotten so much snow I dare not even move the Mercedes for fear of tearing off that AMG bumper. lol
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What is to give light must endure burning -- Viktor Frankl
Welp... the repairs shown in the photos above lasted 7 years before them tiny little tree roots were able to penetrate the rubber collar sleeves that connect the PVC to the 1950's cast iron pipe that runs under the house. Since this happens right BEFORE the clean out, it means that I will have to dig once more, disconnect and remove the roots -- then re-seal... this time I have to figure out something more perminate -- however the probelm with cast iron to PVC is the fact that over time the cast iron will rust, thus allowing ever so small roots to enter. Once them roots get a taste of our crap they grow at a crazy rate! I don't know why these trees like our poop so much, but it feels a lot like something out of the Avatar -- where were connected with the trees on a deeper level! lol
Anyway, I went to Home Depot to rent the Kubota excavator only to learn that it was stolen on a jobsite while being rented some many years ago! What a pisser! They still have a similar excavator but it's not the Kubota!
It looks similar to the Kubota -- but I have my doubts! Also they said my little Chevy S10 pickup truck is not rated to pull the 7,000lbs that this unit and the trailer weigh. So that sucks because the kid moved to Texas with his 1500 Silverado Z71...
This issue with the tree roots causing a slow drain, and at times a back-up has been ongoing for over a week now... we just got a big snow storm that dumped 6 inches and unlike last time when we tackled this in December, I'm sure the perma-frost is much thicker at the end of March than in very early winter... an excavator will be required to cut thru them roots and break thru the permafrost. For now we restrict use to only the toilet, since thats really all the trees want anyway.
I'm going to have to figure out a way to keep that cast iron from rusting and allowing in them damn roots... replacing the cast iron is not an option because it's all under the house and I'd have to bust up concrete -- which I'm not doing. Not to mention the cast iron is still in good shape, it just rusts where it meets the rubber coupling and over seven years them roots are able to work their way into the pipe.
"Only an alert & knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial & military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods & goals, so that security & liberty may prosper together". Dwight D.Eisenhower.
It's good to hear you have had good luck with the Yanmar because that's all they got to rent at the rental place... so I'll be able to do a little head to head comparison.
Also, it's pretty hard to get anyone to cut down trees anymore, and if they do it's literally an arm and a leg! Plus I like having the trees because otherwise it would just feel too urban around here. To make things worse they put this sign up right by our house
So I don't know... It's just one spot where the roots are getting in (where cast iron connects to PVC) -- I just have to figure that out as the rest is sealed PVC and the part that meets the city sewer is below the root line at some 12+ foot deep!
As mentioned, the trailer and excavator is 7,000 lbs and the rating for the truck is well under that... I know for sure it would pull it, but from a liability standpoint the rental place just isn't going to let it fly... so I'll have to rent their F250 for an hour to take it home and an hour to take it back. Sucks, but $20 per hour ($40 total) is a whole lot cheaper than upgrading my truck as it's very rare I have to pull something this large.
