RV Waste Water Totes

[bw2]

I am in the market for a waste water tote. It appears there are three manufacturers; Thetford, Barker, and Tote-N-Stor.

What should I be looking for in a tote? The 4 wheel for less lifting? or is lifting on end a non-issue? Is there any specific size of tote, that is better or worse? Storage/carring is an issue of course, so where and how are you carrying the tote?

Thanks to all!!! for any experience you can share.

[H. John Kohl]

I have thought about this and I need to answer these questions before I can decide.
How much do I want to dump at one time. Is it easy to shut off before the tote tank is full and yet the tank is not empty.
How much can I lift or maneuver in tight spots.
Is it for just gray water or also Black.
Where will it be carried when in transport.
Each of my holding tanks are 35 Gal. And I will say they are 30 Gal full when I dump them. If I try to dump a full tank then I definitely want the 4 wheel type so I do not have to life. My back is fine now but I never know what the "golden years" will bring tomorrow.
I know this has not answered the question but hopefully it will help determine the answer.
Cheers,

[Devildog]

I bought a 30 gal 4 years ago at the one time I needed it. More than enough to push around without being too much. One of the three wheel models.
Yep, knew it was the purchase of the century. Used it once. Still sitting, brand new with all the hookups, including the one that goes over your hitch ball. Thought about selling it, wife says not, we might need it someday. I couldn't carry the amount of water she uses in the shower anyway.
Possibly for sale. Maybe. Thinking about it.
As a side note, they are fantastic if you dry camp, stay in alot of state parks for days at a time, need to empty your tank when you get home, etc..

[hazmic]

The Blue tanks are nice when you need one. I have one and threaten to bungee it to the ladder and when mentioned boy dose that fire up DW. We ARE NOT having that on the ladder. RV repair men say they are great. People have a tendency to shut off the flow before they are empty and fill up the seals with,you know what. Then comes a repair bill to fix the leaking seal. Thetford gave the repair people a special tool to clean or dig out the seal, a screwdriver that has a 90 degree bend at the end. If you have one be sure that flow has quit before closing the valve. In other words be sure to have a BIG Blue tank. They are nice when needed.

[richfaa]

We have the 30 gal blue tank. I do not see a big difference in manufacturers.We have the 2 wheel model and use it for grey shower water only,Lets us shower when we are without hookups. We wedge it in the rear of the LB Ford. We do not carry it at all times only when we know we will be without full hooks mainly when we are with our local camping group. We would never deliberately go to a campground on our own without full hooks.... IMO it is a good investment..we may use it 4 maybe 5 times a year.

[simonsrf]

This is a pretty interesting subject.

Like John points out, you need to know how much you are going to use it, and where. Not everyone has the same needs, because not everyone 'camps' the same way.

We have been fulltiming now for 14 months. We try to boondock whenever possible. We usually boondock for 7 days and up to 12 days at a time. We have never had the need for a blueboy. We thought it might be a must at one time. I suggest you go as long as possible before buying one, you may find out like we did that it is just not a necessity. Space is the biggest problem and we are not willing to give up the space for the small possible convenience of a blueboy.

Of course when we are at the RV Park and connected to the sewer we shower at least once a day, leave the water running while rinsing dishes......

[clutch]

We bought one last year for our small tt. It is a 15 gallon tote and we use the quad to pull it when needed. If I had to do it again I would get one with the biggest wheels, largest capacity, and a side dump valve.

[Ozzie]

We have one too, a two wheeler with a hitch hookup.
Some places just don't have full hookups and we use it for shower water mostly, and kitchen with an extended stay.
We'd have to be in pretty rough shape to use it for black...no thank you.

[Army Guy]

Has any one thought about storing underneath behind the spare tire? I have a blue 30 gal and thats where I'm thinking about mounting it. I agree, I only use it when I'm camping in state parks and such, maybe 4/5 times a year. As the saying goes - better to have it and not need it then to need it and not have it.

[Okie Guy]

I would wait as long as possible to purchase one. I thought I had to have one this year so I purchased the new Theatford 4-wheels and built in hose. This is the side dump type. I bought the biggest one they had at camping world. I broguht it home and it has been sitting in the storage shed ever since. Its a lot of money to shell out so think about all pros and cons before purchasing.
Phil

[old turbo]

I had one for years, used it once sold it this year in our garage sale. You have to give a lot of thought as to your type of camping. I find a lot of parks without full hookups have the honey wagon which will come around and pump your system out. It may cost for the pump out, most I have paid is $5.00, some parks offer it for free.

[ols1932]

I have the 4-wheeler. Don't use it often but when I need it, it is very nice to have. Carry it on the ladder using one of those lawn chair hanging brackets.

Orv

[rvfirefighter]

We camp and host at a state park in P.C. Fl. for several months every year. I have had a blue tote for years, 25 gal. 2 wheels. The capacity is enough, but I wish I had wheels on the front to eliminate the lifting to pull behind the truck.

Like some have said, it depends on how much you camp with no hook-ups, but it also depends on how much you use the bathhouses at the campgrounds. We fill our grey tank with 4 showers and I do not want to haul the tank that often.

[clutch]

quote:Originally posted by old turbo

I had one for years, used it once sold it this year in our garage sale. You have to give a lot of thought as to your type of camping. I find a lot of parks without full hookups have the honey wagon which will come around and pump your system out. It may cost for the pump out, most I have paid is $5.00, some parks offer it for free.

The park we stay in dosen't have sewer and we have to use our blue boy about every 10 days. The pumper truck does come by every week but the fee is $15.00. Our tote paid for itself the first two months.

[TheCoachPotatoes]

We purchased a 32 gallon, 4 wheel blue tote from Camping World last year. We got it for half price because they were discontinuing that particular model.

We found it came in very handy while staying at a State Park without sewer hookups. Since we were coming to the end of a very busy holiday weekend, we decided to avoid the morning lines and took two trips to the dump station the night before.

For now, we are keeping it in the back of our truck, but plan on mounting it under the trailer between the spare tire and the axles.

I replaced the wheels with rubber tires. I got that idea from Trailer Trash 2. It does pull better on sand and is quiet on the blacktop. Thanks, Don.

[bw2]

Thanks to all. I elected to purchase a 16 gal. 4 wheel Barker. This will fit in the front of the short bed F250.

Sorry for such a late update, I forgot about this post.

Happy New Year to ALL, everyone please be safe if out and about tonite!!!!!

[ols1932]

I've found that my travels are taking us more and more to places where there is either full hookups or a dump site nearby the boondock area so I'm selling my 25 gal, 4-wheeler Blue Boy Tote. Will sell for $75, you pay the shipping, or I'll deliver if I'm going near you. Right now I've removed it from my ladder and stored it in my shed on my lot in Lakewood, NM. Will be leaving it there when we leave for warmer climes on January 7,2008.

Orv

[Old GI]

We have the same one as the couchpotatoes, it works great. We use it at Longpoint park, the river sites don't have sewer, we fill it up, hook it to the bumper hitch and tow it to the dump station. Word of caution, some County RV parks in florida will not allow them for black water, grey only.

[wersqu]

I have two. One 30 gal 4 wheel side dump and a 22 gal 2 wheel model. I use them for extended stays in our state parks here in Wi. They only offer electric sites. The 22 gal tank I use as a second fresh water tank and sanitize it as such. I also have a second 12 volt water pump I hook up and pump from the tank to the trailer. I leave this in the pickup and run the hose just like a full hookup. The 30 gal tank is used for gray or black water. It comes with a float to tell you when it is full but I make sure to empty the black tank at about half. I pull this tank over to the dump with a sanded trailer hitch with the handle. This setup allows us to camp in our state parks just like we had a full hookup site. A little more work but it beats taking the trailer every time something is full.

[Waynem]

Tim,
I hope you never get those tanks crossed! :-)