Pit Mud Agitator

Anyone use a Pit Mud Agitator before having your pits pumped? The reason I ask, I have a 5 stage pit system, 2 inbay (SS), and three stages outside the building before going to the street sewer. The 3 stages outside are roughly 5' deep x 5' wide x 10' long each connected by an overflow wall. The only access to these pits are through (3) 16" manhole covers, (1) over each pit.

I was thinking the agitator might help to get all the mud out when pumping. I saw a Gas powered Sewer agitator/mixer online but can't find it now...Anybody use anything like this?

Did you mean this? http://www.crustbusters.com/

That's it! No wonder I couldn't find it again. I tried every search word imaginable except "Crust Buster".

Ok...So anybody use one of these things? I saw it @ a sewer/septic tools website. Just wondering how it might work on mud?

Just found this from the "Testimonials" from the same site:

We have now completed one year with our Crust Buster and just wanted to let you know how we feel about your equipment. This little machine has made our life so much easier. For example, every winter we seem to pump a lot of car wash pits, we used to hate them, but this Crust Buster has made the job so much simpler we even started to take on more car washes - when we used to turn them away! Also, grease traps and septic tanks that have not been pumped on a regular basis go much easier with the Crust Buster. It just stirs the tank into a consistent slurry which makes pumping that much quicker. We usually put the Crust Buster into the tank, start pumping to pull liquid down from the outlet baffle, then start the Crust Buster and stir until the tank is empty. By using this method, rarely do we need to drag out garden hose for extra water to rinse down tanks. By the time we reach the bottom (where the sludge is thickest, and a lot of sludge is usually left behind) the Crust Buster has liquified all contents inside the tank and the tank is completely empty.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFvlKnH4gvw&feature=related

Just called & Al said it is $1225 plus $75 shipping

I made my own at 1/3 the price of a crust buster using the power unit from a small post hole digger.....

You know I was thinking of that same idea the crustbuster uses the same motion just 3x more expensive

Rudy said:

I made my own at 1/3 the price of a crust buster using the power unit from a small post hole digger.....

Click to expand...

$1300 is pretty pricey....I was thinking the same thing about using a post hole digger power head. Would be simple to make and a lot cheaper.

How did you determine what size prop to put on it?

There are many power heads on the market and the output RPM ranges anywhere from 150 to 280....Plus they have different hp ratings ranging from 1.5 to 3.0 to even bigger. So chosing the right prop might not be easy to do....

The powerhead is a 43cc Earthquake Post Hole Digger unit. It has a clutch built in. I did a quick search on Amazon and came up with this:

http://www.amazon.com/Ardisam-Earth...21MQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1331991991&sr=8-2

I used a length of (3/4??) galvanized pipe which connects over the driveshaft with a soft bolt which serves as a shear pin.

On the "crust buster" end, I threaded a flange to the drive pipe, and bolted two gate hinges to the flange. The hinges are necessary to provide "flex" in the downward direction, but they lock in the upward direction. (I'll try and send some pictures soon). When you pull the unit out of the pit, the hinges "drop" parallel to the driveshaft. When the unit turns, the hinges go to the 90 degree position and stay there.

I used two garden hand "diggers" as the "propellers". I sawed off the handles and bolted them to the hinges along the lateral edges. The "diggers" pretty hard, and the ones I found actually had serrated edges which I think helps.

This thing, when it starts spinning, really churns up the pit mud. The weak part in my setup is the hinge mechanism. If you lower the unit to quickly into hardened mud, the hinges can bend. I simply stop the unit, bend them back into position, and continue on. I end up buying new hinges at Lowes every two years or so. If you take your time, the churning action of the water loosens the pit mud and turns it into a slurry.

Again, a picture speaks a thousand words...so I'll try and get a couple of shots the next time I'm at the wash.

Rudy

Your right, pictures are worth a thousand words! I'd like to see how you made your mixer blades.

I found these mixers at usabluebook...I don't know how easy it would be to choose one that the power head could pull or maybe it wouldn't do anything at all. I like your idea and it would be easy to adjust or trim to get the most out of it.

http://www.usabluebook.com/p-265591-replacement-mixer-prop-1-shaft-x-6-diameter.aspx

Raw power need? Improvement over water added?

Rudy said:

I made my own at 1/3 the price of a crust buster using the power unit from a small post hole digger.....

Click to expand...

Rudy,

If a rechargeable electric one could be made to have enough power to do the job, it seems like it would be handier to use & store.

One of us always assists the pit pumper with a special water nozzle & garden hose to loosen up the mud while he is vacuum truck sucking. The mixer approach is something we never thought of & it seems like it could be an improvement. Have you ever used the water with a special nozzle approach? If so, do you notice enough gain with the homemade mixer vs the special water nozzle?

mike walsh king koin of bismarck

Yes, it saves me money. I have to pay by the gallon hauled away.....so it costs big bucks to have the garden hose come out! This was my motivation......

My ringomatic came with a long metal tube and some hose that hooks onto the exhaust for the gas engine. You plunge the metal tube into the muck and it aerates the mud for easier pickup and it costs nothing.

Here are some pictures of my homemade setup. The gate hinges need to be replaced. I got two seasons out of them, but they get bent when they hit the sides of the pit.

Here's a picture showing the flange plate connected to the drive shaft, and also the hinges that are attached to two garden shovels:

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg82...29&filename=20120318180042copy.jpg&res=medium

Here's a closeup of the "propeller" made from a garden shovel:

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg41/scaled.php?server=41&filename=20120318180721copy.jpg&res=medium

This closeup shows how the "Propellers" fold down in case they get stuck in pit mud:

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg819/scaled.php?server=819&filename=20120318180758.jpg&res=medium

Another closeup:

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg801/scaled.php?server=801&filename=20120318180841.jpg&res=medium

When working properly, the propellers provide an "upward" thrust", almost supporting the weight of the power unit. It circulates the water downward in a swirling motion.

If the pit mud is badly packed (I'm down to emptying them every two years now), I sometimes have to loosen things up using a large breaker bar before agitating.

Because I break things up ahead of time, and then agitate the pits into a slurry.....the suction truck has a easy time....saving money.

When we pump tanks we pump most of the water out before the pumper truck comes and then use a Turbo nozzle of the end of a long piece of pipe to agitate the sediment into a slurry so the pumper can suck it up. You want to keep the Turbo nozzle in the water or you’ll have a heck of a mess. We have “T”s on the pit before the water goes into the tank. I can go about 3 to almost 4 years on pump out on the oil water separator tank.