How do unscrew 10 inch PVC cap?

[RickFlorida]

Hi everyone,
My brother has a nice but older house that has a septic tank with a 10 inch diameter PVC cap. The guy who comes to service it says he can't unscrew that cap by hand and he just opens the whole heavy concrete top to clean it out which is ridiculous and takes so much more time. What tool is used to professionally unscrew the 10 inch pvc cap? If my brother gets a tool for the next time it would be quicker and helpful. Is there a giant rubber strap handle like the small ones used for unscrewing bathroom faucets? Or do professionals use a giant pipe wrench but wouldn't that destroy the PVC cap and it's ridges? Thanks for any ideas. Since I use this forum a lot for my bathroom I thought I'd ask about his septic tank for him.

 

[Geofd]

There gotta be a big filter wrench out there,or you could cut the cap in a couple of places were the threads areshould come off then, just remember to put thread sealant on before the new cap

 

[havasu]

Try an old trick my auto shop teacher taught me 50 years ago. Put a leather belt around it and once it is cinched down it will squeeze and give you a handle to grab and pull. This also works great for spin on oil filters. Just make sure the belt is soft and pliable.

 

[Geofd]

Nice.....I like that idea

 

[Twowaxhack]

I’d Cut it off and install another one.

 

[RS]

If it has little lugs like the one in your photo I would take a block of wood and a hammer and try to loosen it by gently striking the lugs. Otherwise a strap wrench might work, if you can't find one big enough you can put a longer strap on a smaller one. The guy that pumped ours out wanted the bigger cover off so he could see what he he was doing. We only need to pump ours every 10 years.

 

[Twowaxhack]

If you put pvc threads together dry they have a tendency to gaul and never come apart again.

I agree with RS about the need for a larger access to perform maintenance.