How far would you tow a tote

doonkin · 12-23-2018, 12:26 PM

Planning a trip to sequoia. The campground is 3 miles of mountain road(not sure how busy)away from the next campsite w dump. Would you tow a 25gal tote. Even if it’s only 1/2 full it’s very hard to haul it into truck bed n back down again.

I don’t trust those metal bar tote to hitch thingies.
Should I make many trips w a little waste or go for it towing a full load?

RogerR · 12-23-2018, 01:10 PM

I don't have one but this macerator shows pumping into a truck bed.

Flojet 18555-000 Waste Water Macerator Pump 12V - 12.5 GPM

With this macerator pump you could leave your waste tank in the truck bed for the trip and save lifting it full or dragging it down the road.

CampNow · 12-23-2018, 07:42 PM

I wouldn't chance 3 miles on an unknown "mountain"road with our tote---half empty or not. It wouldn't take long for a pothole or two to do some serious damage to the small wheels. I've driven a couple of hundred yards with a full tote on an average gravel, dirt road and thought it was going to rip it apart. I don't know, maybe your tote is more rugged than ours.

As RogerR suggested, I'd seriously consider using a macerator. That's what we use with our 42 gal. tote. Works great. Put the empty tote in the truck bed. Use the macerator to pump the contents of your black tank uphill into the tote while it sits in the bed of the truck. Drive to the dumpsite and connect up some RV sewer hose. Open the valve and let gravity do its magic. If your tote doesn't have gravity dump capability, then you're going to have to lift up the tote to empty it while it sits in your truck bed.

goducks · 12-24-2018, 10:02 AM

Best case scenario the tote busts apart on the way to the dump station and you can turn around and head back to camp with an empty tote.

clutch · 12-24-2018, 11:54 PM

3 miles??? might as well fill it up because the wheels wont make it that far.

Jace817 · 12-24-2018, 11:57 PM

Are you just hauling grey water? If so, pick up a cheap 12v water pump. Before I had the macerator, I used one for grey water. Was less than 10 bucks at harbor freight I think. Pumped up into the tote in the truck bed just fine. Don’t need anything too fancy for just gray water.

North of 49° · 12-25-2018, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by goducks

Best case scenario the tote busts apart on the way to the dump station and you can turn around and head back to camp with an empty tote.

I always get nervous when I hear the rattle of the wonky wheels coming down the campground road, and it's the sound of someone towing their tote where the wheels are in desperate need of replacing. I could only imagine the mess if it let go, and hopefully they only have grey water in it. If I were to do that, I'd replace them with small pneumatic tires, like off of a kid's bicycle or a wheel barrow or something. It would reduce the annoying sound and possibly the chance of failure.

FWIW, when we got our tote, I purposely got the 11 gallon one, small enough that I could lift it into the back of the pickup, yet large enough that one or two trips to the dump station would empty the tank enough to get another few days out of it.

Quote:

Are you just hauling grey water? If so, pick up a cheap 12v water pump. Before I had the macerator, I used one for grey water. Was less than 10 bucks at harbor freight I think. Pumped up into the tote in the truck bed just fine. Don’t need anything too fancy for just gray water.

That's what we did for our fresh water and the 7 gallon Aquatainer. I bought a small 12 volt submersible bilge pump and put alligator clips on the power leads. 10 feet of food-grade PVC hose completes it. So when we need a little more water, I just drop the pump into the full Aquatainer, feed the hose into the water fill and connect the clips to the RV battery. It takes a few minutes to transfer the 7 gallons, but I'm not in a hurry anyway; I'm on vacation.

RP53 · 12-25-2018, 02:46 PM

what CampNow
said that's how we do it. unless the dump is close we have a 32 gallon Barker tank i would highly recommend this tank

ekonkjack · 12-26-2018, 09:07 AM

I was considering a winch or pulley system to haul the tote up a ramp into the back of the truck but the macerator idea sounds easier and probably more economical.

DonaandDon · 12-26-2018, 09:12 AM

I have used the portable macerator for three years and would not leave home without one. Mine take both the DW and me. Of course she has the switch to operate and I have the business end at the bed of the truck. Having the tote in the bed of the truck is so easy.

Additionally, I have installed a battery with the "battery tender" to float charge that separate battery for the macerator to use.

CampNow · 12-26-2018, 10:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by North of 49°

. . . I bought a small 12 volt submersible bilge pump and put alligator clips on the power leads. 10 feet of food-grade PVC hose completes it. So when we need a little more water, I just drop the pump into the full Aquatainer, feed the hose into the water fill and connect the clips to the RV battery. It takes a few minutes to transfer the 7 gallons, but I'm not in a hurry anyway; I'm on vacation.

Great idea! Especially like the fact a bilge pump is going to reduce potential priming problems vs. using a standard water pump with a hose intake.

doonkin · 12-26-2018, 01:41 PM

Thx ya all. Will look into a pump n how to use it. I also thought about filling it half so I can lift it into truck n just make multiple trips

blujay40 · 12-27-2018, 07:04 AM

Even at half full, your looking at around 100#. Why go thru all that? Do what they suggested and get the Flojet portable macerator and be done with it. I have used the pump with my 42 gal Barker in the bed of my truck now for a few years now and it works great. I place the Barker sideways in the rear of my bed so the outlets are easily accessible when I drop the tailgate, pump it full with the Flojet, travel to the dump site (ours is 6 miles away at a nearby campground), hook up your sewer hose and let gravity empty it. And since we don't have a convenient sewer cleanout at our house, I can still aggressively flush my tanks curbside at my house by just attaching the Flojet and running the hose into a half bath toilet right off the garage.

nighthawk87 · 12-27-2018, 09:20 PM

For fresh water I just bought 4 50’ hoses haha. I can reach almost anywhere. No lugging containers, no mess, and it’s cheap and clean.

WeRJuliian · 10-06-2019, 04:41 PM

We have a large (6 gallon) oil drain container from Walmart, which slides neatly under the TT.
We changed out the dump valve cap for one that has a threaded garden hose fitting in it.
(Courtesy of Amazon, where else?)
A short piece of hose lets me drain grey water every day or two, and 6 gallons is light enough to lift into the back of the car.

(We generate grey water faster than black, it seems...)

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