simple shop made hydraulics?

I don't think hinges would work, but I hadn't thought about something as simple as a long lifting lever that hooks the front of the lid and lifts it just enough (a couple of inches) so it can roll back a foot or two. Thanks for that idea! The implement could be kept in the shed when not in use. I need to think about this approach. Actually, just a better handle on the front of the lid might help a lot. That'd be an easy welding project.

Damn, I sorta liked the idea of simple hydraulics, but I didn't know that infrequent use increases likelihood of failure. Do automotive brake systems typically fail if the car is rarely driven, like the 1955 Ferrari kept under a tarp in the barn? (Jay Leno's barn, not mine!)

What about the bottle jack in the truck that gets used about once per decade? The jack, not the truck.

Pneumatics (air cylinders) could easily handle the light load but there's no shop air at my lake cabin. Ah, but there is water pressure from the well pump! Perhaps I could devise an air over water device that could be drained after each use (so no need to winterize) and use the well pump as prime mover. I think the system pressure is about 40 PSIG, so an actuator producing 15 lbf of force (66.7 Newtons for y'all thoroughly modern mechhies) ( one of four such) would need a piston or bellows area of 0.375 in^2 which would be a diameter of 0.691 in, just a bit under 3/4". So go with 1" dia and let the SOB leak air, or water for that matter, there's plenty of both. Now we're getting to hydraulics where greased pump leathers from old bicycle pumps would suffice.

I've seen lots of folks with those " dog houses " over their wells. On the smaller ones like the one you have they hinged the roof so they could tip it up & then use a rod that pivots on both sides to lock the roof from falling when open . animal

It's a covered well in a separate doghouse that is ridiculously large for its purpose. It's like a 4 foot cube. The lid in question is the flat roof of the doghouse. No helpful structure above or near, and I don't want to add any signficant external structure because it's ugly enough as is. I'd like nearly all of the solution to be inside and out of sight, with maybe just an actuating lever on the outside. The idea is to raise the roof just about 2" so a surrounding lip clears the structure below, and it can then roll it back just enough to get at three valves inside. I've already made tools to reach and operate the valves from outside. The tools stay inside the wellhouse. Because it will be a passive system with rollers that push the lid up from inside, if the rollers and/or lifting mechanism fail to work then I just do it the hard way as I have for years.

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Thanks. The problem with hydraulics is that they need a control and perhaps an energy source accessible from outside where they invite tampering. Even a recessed Schraeder valve to pressurize roller-raising air cylinders with a bicycle pump or CO2 tire inflater could become uncapped and filled with dirt by wind or wasps. Can you accept an external opening device that could break or be lost or forgotten?

The square PT meant for deck railing baluster could be your rot-proof external lever. Mounted vertically it would look like innocent decorative trim. A center one could toggle or cam up the roller levers, or pull a rope that does. Maybe hide magnets that keep it in place.

If you could disguise the lifting levers as sliding or swing out sections of the overhanging rim they could lift a side enough for a hinged caster to drop into a track and keep that side up, avoiding finger risk. Privacy screen hinges that fold both ways would allow the caster to hang vertical. The caster should be latchable in place, as with a turnbutton. Lift the other side the same way and then roll the lid back, perhaps until it stands vertically if there is one centered caster on opposite sides and a track end stop. You never have to lift more than half the lid's weight.

You'd need a way to keep the caster temporarily folded back to lower the lid with both hands on the levers, such as a pull cord.

The 8' lever that lifts my hinged 4' deck roof extension to lower the supporting columns and then the roof for maintenance required only a screw eye in the house roof soffit to hook it to, and it swings up under the soffit for storage where it hides among all the other gear I have up there, like the block and tackle to raise the hinged deck stairs and pulleys for washing and drying tarps.

Anything not sheltered under the rim could ice up, a problem I have with my chimney cleaning brush rope and TV antenna raising and lowering mechanism which are on the shaded north side of the house.

Good luck, hth

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Another afterthought: The compressed air outlet beside my garage door is a water faucet with a DIY screened cap to keep mud wasps out but not lock in place if pressurized. It looks normal on the garage, wouldn't seem out of place on a well house and takes compressed air fittings with an NPT to GHT adapter. Removing the knob should make it less tempting to tamper with. The valve could lower the lid gently after removing the pressure source.

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That was supposed to be a $16 air cylinder