Thetford smart tote

[swburbguy]

Thinking of getting a smart tote. I was wondering if others use and like them? Or do others use other types?

[Camping Couple]

They are OK. We bought one a few years ago for extended trips at campgrounds without sewer hookups. We never used it for black water just for the grey water. There is another thread here about someone putting it in the TT while traveling to the CG....don't be that guy. You'll regret it...lol. good luck

Mark & Carolyn

[Threebutchers]

We have one. We haven't used anything else.... but there were two features that sold me as we shopped for totes. (1) we have a low camper and the waste water feeds into the bottom of the SmartTote (2) the built-in waste hose for filling and dumping is really convenient. Everything stays together and gets cleaned together.

Also convenient is the hose adapter for cleaning the SmartTote with built in-storage. Thetford touts the vent stop feature so if you overfill your SmartTote - you don't spray waste water out the vent.....but bottom line, if you overfill any tote - you'll have to deal with waste water spill when you disconnect the bayonet fitting.

Downers....you'll never completely empty or dry out this tote - I've tried. We just clean it well after every use and sanitize it once a year like the rest of the water system.

[glsimms]

On our last camping trip, the subject of totes came up. I said I was looking in to getting the Thetford smart tote and someone said to be careful and do some reading reviews on them. He claimed the blue tote was better.

Any feed-back on which one to get??

[Crabman]

Originally Posted by glsimms

On our last camping trip, the subject of totes came up. I said I was looking in to getting the Thetford smart tote and someone said to be careful and do some reading reviews on them. He claimed the blue tote was better.

Any feed-back on which one to get??

The Barker blue totes do seem to get good reviews here and on the "other forum". I`ve had one for about 4 years now with no issues.

[edatlanta]

I have a SmartTote that I have been using for the past three years. I full time and volunteer for 4 months each summer at a state park where I use the tote weekly. It has now been in service for 10 months total and I just experienced a front wheel failure (I am approx 3/4 mile to the dump). The tread on one of the two front wheels split. I tried to find a Thetford replacement and it is a complete front wheel assembly for $59.95. Unfortunately the don't sell direct and none of their dealers that I could find stock this item. All quoted 4-6 week delivery. Since I use this unit weekly now, the parts might as well not be available.

I went to Home Depot and found a replacement wheel for $9.00 each and I just replaced both of them. Problem solved and it looks like a better wheel as well. Time will tell, but I now know where to get replacements locally.

[Diesel Donnie]

Our first tote was a "blue boy"- That was 20 plus years ago- When I poked a hole in the old one, we replaced it with a Thetford- The new tank is so much more friendly that no comparison can be made by me- The Thetford does a good job for us- JMHO- DD

[bradsr63]

I bought the 35 gal size, the largest, it works fine. Had to get a longer hose to flush it out due to particular camp ground dump station. My black tank is also 35 gal so I have to make sure it's not all the way filled or there's spillage. Yuck.

[clutch]

Two things to remember, those totes are meant to be pulled at a walking speed or very near and NEVER NEVER turn away when filling one. They will always hold less than your tank.