I want to add a word of caution here, septic system leach fields are a little more delicate than most people think.

The old wisdom was 'just keep really heavy things off them', unfortunately this was based on the misconception that the water coming out of the leach field was supposed to DOWN into the ground and if you drove something heavy over it the damage would be from crushed pipe (in the days of Terra Cotta clay pipes) and nothing else. In fact in a lot of cases the water does go down, unfortunately it is supposed to go UP to the surface where natural evapouration and plants, grass and ground cover type plants only, hopefully, will absorb the moisture and give it off into the atmosphere. This is why the trenches are so close to the surface.

Tom's comment about compaction below 2' (no offence to you Tom) is exactly the kind of situation you want to avoid. A typical leach pipe should never be deeper than 3' to the BOTTOM of the trench, the top of the entire setup (pipe, sand & gravel) is only a MAXIMUM of 2' down. If you compact ALL of the soil above the pipe you dramatically slow down the process of evapouration & therefore reduce the effectiveness of the whole system.

In fact one of the best, yet seldom done, things you can do is to RELIEVE the compaction over the tile field. A slit-type (or spring-blade type) aerator is the ideal for this type of operation.

When it water goes down it becomes contamination in the ground-water table, not a good thing at all.

One of the best things you can do for a septic system is to keep it covered with a healthy cover of grass and keep it well cut. This will take the most water out of the soil possible.

Best of luck.

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