Need Ideas

LittleRedHen · #1 10/06/07, 03:47 PM

I also posted this in the pig forum but I thought I might get more ideas from here

In the center of my pig pen I have an old septic tank. On our property there used to be two trailers but we removed them a few years ago. We put our pig pen in that area and hadn't even thought of the septic tanks until our pigs started eroding the area and it exposed the concrete. I paced it off today and its a 6 foot wide by 18 foot long concrete pad. I haven't shoveled all the dirt off yet but I imagine its not the most smooth concrete but none the less, its a concrete pad. It likely has a place to lift for the septic. ( im thinking its about 20-35 years old as that is how old the trailers were that we removed. (1970's)

I would like to utilize this concrete pad. Currently my pig shelter is pretty pathetic. It is just 4 logs buried into the ground and a piece of plywood across the top to make some shade and keep the rain off a bit. But I have learned that the pigs don't mind sleeping in the rain but they do use it for shade if their favorite tree isn't favorable with the sun at the moment. But it is small and a bit insufficent.

So what could I do with this slab to make some type of shelter but with minimal costs? I have lots of trees at my disposal that I could make something with the logs. Maybe make the pigs a "log house"??? They will be butchered soon but we raise about 6 pigs a year and I do hope to get into breeding pigs in the near future too.

So give me ideas... i hate seeing that slab of concrete go to waste when I could use it for something LOL.. We might have a cow in there some day too... i just dont know... give me ideas as to what you would do with a slab of 6x18 of concrete in the center of a 32 foot by 115 foot ,4 foot tall woven wire fence with two lines of hot wire on it...

I could always buy hog panels and make my pig area somewhere else if I could think of using this pad to big a barn for another type of animal

js2743 · #2 10/06/07, 10:44 PM

you need to be careful as septic tanks have openings on the tops, your hogs might fall through, and i bet they are full of waste.

rambler · #3 10/06/07, 11:31 PM

In my state, an old unused septic tank is pretty much treated like a hazardous waste cleanup deal. Not quite as bad as an underground fuel tank, but - getting there.

Me, I'd be worried about it caving in. That does happen, and it would not be a good thing. They are not designed to be driven on, or having cattle stand directly on. I suppose a few hogs aren't so heavy, but......

I'd be careful.

--->Paul

pointer_hunter · #4 10/07/07, 06:07 AM

6ft x 18ft seems like an awfully large septic tank. If it is that old, it was probably poured on site and may not have a solid top to hold the weight of a log house on it. You have a few options that I can think of. Have it emptied out, dig it out and set it up on the ground on its side. Then make the opening large enough for you or the pigs to get into and use that as their shelter. Then you can fill the hole in a little with dirt and the rest with water to give them a place to wallow. OR You could move the pigs somewhere else, empty the tank, let it air out and dry out for a while, drop a ladder down and use it for underground storage or a tornado shelter. I guess it would depend on how deep it is.

pinfeather · #5 10/07/07, 09:47 AM

You said you paced it off. Could it be 8' x 18'? Could it be a trailer pad and not a septic tank? It does sound pretty big for septic.

LittleRedHen · #6 10/07/07, 10:30 AM

I hadn't thought of it maybe being a trailer pad. I just know its about 6 feet from the former septic field.

I know the concrete is about 6 inches-8 inches thick. We figured they covered the tanks with a layer of concrete but that does seem silly... I'll try and find pictures of our property when we bought it and see what we see...

LittleRedHen · #7 10/07/07, 10:51 AM

Alright I found a few pictures, its not a trailer pad as the trailers were about 50 feet to the east of them. The drainage field would be between where the trailers and the concrete pad is. In the pictures it looks sort of like a little hill. But the concrete is at least 6 inches thick, if not a bit more. I will measure it later and i will scrap the dirt off to see what i see... i will take pics then and see what yall think

LittleRedHen · #8 10/07/07, 10:53 AM

btw it was two trailers, not one so maybe two septic tanks? It had been used for migrant workers.. I dont know much else except that in 1955 that nothing existed there. So between 1956 and 2001 when we bought the property, I am not sure if those two trailers had been the only ones there... I just know they were 70's trailers but its possible they were moved there and bought used and thus the concrete is newer.. i just dont really know

KCM · #9 10/07/07, 12:04 PM

You should be able to find out where the original septic tank was by going to the county health building, or wherever you county keeps those sort of documents. If the septic was not officially documented with the county, you might have to do a lot of digging or a lot of covering up.
If it is an old septic, would you be legally required to get it removed or capped according to county standards? Is so, just curious about whether you would do the legally responsibile thing or not. If you don't care to abide by county ordinances, then you probably can put whatever you want on top of it. Just be prepared for the legal consequences if there are any.
The more serious consequences is if it caved in somehow. Certainly if a pig a fell into a septic the pig could be replaced, but a child cannot. So you be careful with whatever you decide to do so that nothing inconceivable happens.

:baby04: