Can this cast iron drain pipe be cleaned out?

[Tony VA]

Hi, I'm a DIYer doing a lot of prep work myself while I wait for a plumber who's got time for my little job. I'm adding a tub in the basement of my 100-year-old house. There was a 4" cast iron floor drain that I believe was used at one point (as in 40-50+ years ago) as the drain for a basement shower. I wanted to tie my new tub drain into the last four feet of this pipe with a Fernco if possible.

When I finally cut through it, I found it about half filled with gunk. (see pics) My question is whether it's possible to clean it out and still use it. It's less than four feet from the cut to a toilet, where I'm assuming this pipe ties in, and then the stack is 2-3 feet behind that. The gunk seems too sludgy for a shopvac. Thought about using a piece of 3" PVC to try to pull out a lot of it. Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[Tuttles Revenge]

As long as the pipe is in good condition and the material inside of it is Gunk / Soft ish.. then it can be cleaned out. Once its cleaned out you should be able to have it visually inspected with a camera and verify how viable it is.

 

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[MACPLUMB]

Go to your local Home Depot Rental store and rent a Sewer Jetter,
jet though to the street, then jet up to house stack !