What does a Barker 4-wheel tote actually weigh empty?

[NXR]

A request to their sales department gave me two numbers that are "impressive" so I'm wondering if they got it right. If so, I'll thank them. If not, I'll ask them to double-check.

25 gallon four-wheel tote fully assembled: 44 pounds

42 gallon four-wheel tote fully assembled: 51 pounds

My days of lifting that much bulk and weight up, holding it against the coach's rear ladder, and strapping it in place by myself are behind me. Not to mention the force of that much weight on the ladder as we go bouncing down the road.

None of their brochures I found mentioned the weight empty so I may have just realized why...

Thanks,

Ray

[LETMGROW]

I would suspect those numbers are about right. These tanks are quite sturdy and there are wheels, piping and valves in the unit along with the handle to pull it around with.
I carry my empty tank on an aluminum luggage carrier which mounts by sliding into the rear trailer hitch on the rear of my coach.

[NXR]

Originally Posted by LETMGROW

I would suspect those numbers are about right. These tanks are quite sturdy and there are wheels, piping and valves in the unit along with the handle to pull it around with.

I carry my empty tank on an aluminum luggage carrier which mounts by sliding into the rear trailer hitch on the rear of my coach.

OK, thanks. I found online that several places list the 42 gallon as 38 pounds empty. I wonder if the quoted 51 pounds is the shipping weight.

Thanks for the tip on using the motorhome hitch. I do tow a car but I have a double receiver adapter for the bike rack. I use the upper receiver for the bike rack but only while parked because the bike rack would hit the SUV hood. (I transport the e-bikes in the back of the SUV.)

So yeah, I could see using something like you suggested in the upper receiver so the tote would not have to be lifted so high or strapped to the ladder. That's a great idea, actually.

Ray

[LETMGROW]

I bought mine at Harbor Freight
https://harborfreight.com/automotive...ier-92655.html
I also use it on occasion on the rear of my ATV. Very handy.

[Old-Biscuit]

Bought one.......back in 2007

Used it twice
More of a hassle then it was worth stowing/lugging around etc

Found it was NOT worth having
Easier to just go to dump station and get it done....I can easily go 7 days before dumping and we rarely stay someplace longer then that

[LETMGROW]

I have the largest Thetford tank they made when I bought it. We attend a NASCAR race each year in a family group of at least ten including grandchildren. The campers are packed together rather tightly so once I pull in I am not going to move until we leave five days later.
There are Porta-Potties galore and the sanitation company cleans the units daily however there are some slobs who think it's fun to string toilet paper around in the units, drop beer bottles in the urineals and generally make a mess.
I much prefer especially the ladies have clean facilities so they all use the toilet in my coach. While the others use the showers on site my wife and I prefer to use our own shower.
Prior to buying the Thetford I was paying $50.00 daily for a truck which drives around draining holding tanks. Now I can drain my tanks daily, pull my tank down a slight grade and along the level about 1/4 mile and drain the tank at the dumping station. It pulls quite easily. We have used my son's truck and either load the tank into the pick up bed or drop the tank handle over the trailer hitch ball on his truck to pull the tank slowly along.
I have saved the price of the tank several times over and I don't have to sit around waiting to flag down the sanitation truck to drain my tanks while everyone else is off doing something.

[carybosse]

I want to follow this as I have been considering something for my travel trailer. Pulling up mid-stay to drive over to the dump station and then back, to setup again, would be a pain. I actually have a 5 gallon bucket with screw on lid that I have used to drain some of the grey water before. Would never consider it for blackwater, but blackwater tank seems to be okay. It is wife washing dishes for one grey tank and a couple of showers for the other grey water tank and our two grey tanks can fill up. Wish there was an easy way to transfer grey water between grey water tank or even in to the black water tank.

I love it when we have a full hook up site.

Those dry weights for waste water dollies surprised me. My grey tanks are 30 gallons a piece, so the 25 gallon would be the smallest I would want to consider. I was surprised when I was at an RV store and saw they had some pretty small unites for sale.

I need to figure out how to haul things over the top of my propane tanks & the trailer tongue.

[LETMGROW]

If you stop to think about it the tanks have to be made stout enough to hold 25 gallons which equates to around 200 pounds and be able to be moved around without folding in half. Sometimes strength causes weight.

[NXR]

To further muddy the Barker weight issue, I asked the Barker person why the online sites (reputable ones that I provided the links for) listed the empty weight for the 42 gallon at 37 or 38 pounds when he said it was 51 pounds. He replied:

Extra weight came with the pneumatic tire upgrade.

Which may make sense if he was talking about the difference between the 2-wheel and the 4-wheel, or if the 4-wheel originally had solid tires (due to the new axles, greaseable fittings, etc. that came with the pneumatic tire upgrade).

So I then asked "Those sites do say the tires are pneumatic and I was hoping you accidentally gave me the shipping weight and not the actual tote weight. No chance of that, huh?"

To which the Barker salesperson replied:

Deduct 7 to 10 lbs for hardware & box.

As my kids would write "SMH". My original query to Barker:

What do the 25 gallon four-wheel tote and the 42 gallon four-wheel tote weigh fully assembled but empty? I saw the sizes but not the weight on your site. The accessories would be carried separately, obviously.

I'll need to hoist it on to the ladder to transport it.

So now I'm thinking the empty weight is more manageable, especially if the removable handle weighs a few pounds. I'd prefer the 42 gallon for "just in case" but probably would usually fill it halfway or so normally. I likely would be towing it with a car much of the time but it still needs to be pulled manually from the back of the coach to the front where the car would be.

Our black and grey are both 52 gallons. Black usually lasts 4 days but grey can be half that on a full hookup site. My Tecma toilet has its own level sensors and it turns yellow when the black tank is half-full so that one is pretty easy to gauge (no pun intended).

Ray

Capacity - Dimensions (Weights from RV Upgrade Store)
16 gallons - 11.5" x 17" x 37" - 24 pounds
25 gallons - 11.5" x 24" x 37" - 36 pounds
32 gallons - 11.5" x 24" x 45" - 35 pounds
42 gallons - 14.0" x 24" x 45" - 38 pounds

[carybosse]

Originally Posted by NXR

....
Capacity - Dimensions (Weights from RV Upgrade Store)
16 gallons - 11.5" x 17" x 37" - 24 pounds
25 gallons - 11.5" x 24" x 37" - 36 pounds
32 gallons - 11.5" x 24" x 45" - 35 pounds
42 gallons - 14.0" x 24" x 45" - 38 pounds

Ignoring the cost differences, my thoughts are 16 gallons isn't big enough to be worthwhile, weight of the 25-42 gallon sizes are similar enough that I would just opt for the 42 gallon. I could probably manage on a multi-day stay to only need to dump once.

[LETMGROW]

I opted for the largest tank I could get at the time I bought mine. I'd much rather have a tank larger than I needed than one which was too small. The difference in empty weight is pretty much nil. When it's full that's another matter but there is always someone in our group willing to lend a hand if I need it.
As I said, I empty my tank daily so I don't have to worry about it becoming too full to handle. I believe my Thetford is 35 gal. We are conservative when using the shower and flushing toilets when knowing we will be using the tank.

[NXR]

Hoping that the 38 lbs posted by a few online sellers was closer to reality than the info Barker gave me, I purchased the 42-gallon 4-wheel tote from Camping World for $254 delivered (with a 10% off coupon from Honey).

My black and grey holding tanks are 52 gallons each. I also purchased the Thetford ladder bracket which can support objects up to 50 lbs.

The reality:

The tank itself without the removable handle, rounded up to the nearest pound: 42 pounds or 1 lb per gallon empty.

The removable handle: 3 pounds

The Thetford ladder bracket clamps are positioned so they each rest on the top of a step at the top and bottom. The tank is centered vertically between two ladder standoffs.

One rear brake/tail light is blocked but the other is completely unblocked. We always tow a car so one of the four lights being blocked is not a safety issue.

The tank is a bit of a beast to lift up and down by myself but I can do it without straining anything. So far.

The single strap that Barker provides is pretty sad, as others have noted. I'll be adding at least one other strap.

Ray