Coyote Steve
Ontario
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Joined: 09/25/2011
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Hi. Here in Ontario 9 out of 10 times the family and I find ourselves camping in Provincial Parks and only have electric hook up and no sewage. Although we always try to use the services provided at night or in bad weather we like to use our own. I have been thinking of getting a tote to be able to empty the tanks when on longer trips. My question is what size of tote should I be considering and is there a big difference in brands? My grey and black tanks are quite small(25)gallons. Do most buy a tote around the same size or smaller. Is it better to have a smaller one that can be lifted into the pickup and taken to the dump station or one big enough to empty it. I would be emptying the trailer when leaving the campground at the end of the trip anyways.
Thanks for any opinions
Steve
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paulcardoza
Southeastern Massachusetts
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For the difference in physical size, I would suggest that you buy the biggest tote out there. We have the 35gal Thetford (gray) and love it when we are at a CG with no sewer. We can easily take showers and use what water we need to. If it is as big or bigger than your gray tank, you never have to worry about when to dump.......
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New Bedford, MA
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bikendan
Napa, Cal.
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by far, the Barker blue tote is the most recommended.
i have a 12 gallon one that i use for the gray tank only.
i just don't see how people can fill the average sized black tank in just a weekend.
it would take us days of camping to fill our 25 gallon black tank.
3 of us spent a week in Yellowstone and never came close to filling it but i dumped before leaving the park.
the idea of pulling a tote, full of black water, through the campground, just isn't something i want to be a part of.
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john b
anywhere USA!
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By all means a Barker blue boy is the best.Get the 24 or so 4 wheel unit & no lifting anywhere just tow it or walk it to dumpstation.
I have heard at least a half dozen times when doing the job from dometic unit owners that said they wished they had bought the Barker because of several things the other one does or does not do as well or good at all.
We have had 3 different barkers over the years and each one getting bigger & nary a problem. They are also super on customer service. JMHO jb
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Fizz
Ottawa, Canada
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Joined: 07/28/2003
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Don't forget 1 gal of water = 13 lb. How much can you lift?
Most big totes are rigged to be slowly towed behind a vehicle.
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john b
anywhere USA!
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By all means a Barker blue boy is the best.Get the 24 or so gallon 4 wheel unit & no lifting anywhere just tow it or walk it to dump station.
I have heard at least a half dozen times when doing the job from dometic/thetford unit owners that said they wished they had bought the Barker because of several things the other one does or does not do as well or good at all.
We have had 3 different barkers over the years and each one getting bigger & nary a problem. They are also super on customer service. JMHO jb
Sorry about the double post me bad!!!
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paulcardoza
Southeastern Massachusetts
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Or the correct number of 8.3 pounds per gallon..... 
Fizz wrote:Don't forget 1 gal of water = 13 lb. How much can you lift?
Most big totes are rigged to be slowly towed behind a vehicle.
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SidKaye
Mt Dora Florida, Montreal QC for the Summer
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Bigger is not better in this case.
bikendan wrote:by far, the Barker blue tote is the most recommended.
i have a 12 gallon one that i use for the gray tank only.
i just don't see how people can fill the average sized black tank in just a weekend.
it would take us days of camping to fill our 25 gallon black tank.
3 of us spent a week in Yellowstone and never came close to filling it but i dumped before leaving the park.
the idea of pulling a tote, full of black water, through the campground, just isn't something i want to be a part of.
I have used the Barker 12 Gallon for more than 35 years most fulltime. I have probably done more dry camping and NP camping at sites without sewer than most.
The larger they are, the more space to store, more muscle to manage when full, more difficult to roll on rough uneven terrain as found in NP, Provincial and State Parks.
It is much easier to lift and put in bed of truck or when dump station is closer, to just walk it over as needed.
I have used mine enough to wear out the wheels, which were easily replaced with better wheels. Should last another ten years.
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mlts22
Austin, Texas
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I have an easier, though more costly way to do that:
I get a larger, 42 gallon tote tank. Just leave it in the pickup truck bed. Add to that a macerator pump, and garden hose, and an extension hose for the tote tank.
Phase one is using the macerator pump to lift the black/grey water up the feed needed to fill the tote tank in the bed of the truck. Phase two is just driving down to the dump site, drop the sewage hose from the tank to the dump station and let fly.
The advantage of this method is no lifting or lugging of the tank whatsoever when it is full, and it is easy to dump with it, with gravity helping it.
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fordsooperdooty
Southern California
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Joined: 08/13/2004
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Verily, it is written in the RVers Bible..."All sewer tote tanks will hold your wastes, but are not created equal", and this is the TRUTH!
Barker Blue Tote-a-long..the #1 selling portable tank, Made in the USA, a family owned business for 57 years, and if you look up the words "Customer Service" in the dictionary it says "Barker"!
Ours is probably 25 years old, been in continuous use, and when we lost the vent cap, and later broke a wheel (my fault!), Barker sent new ones in the mail free.
THAT's the kind of Company you want to buy from! Get the biggest you can afford, and fit into your cargo area.
My posts shouldn't be taken for factual data. They are purely fictional, for entertainment purposes and should not be constituted as actually related to scientific, technical, engineering, legal, spiritual or practical advice. Amen.
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