Need temporary water tank--Ideas?

[Pilot]

I need a 200 gal minimum water tank for a short term project. The water doesn't have to be clean. I need to be able to move it once in awhile.

First idea: I have found 275 gallon heating oil tanks available for free from time to time on Craigslist. I figure I would put in some detergent, wash it out & fill it with water. BUT, no one seems to know what these tanks weigh. Anybody know? Can a 62 year old codger reasonablly expect to wrestle an empty one around?

I'd appreciate other ideas for a cheap or free water tank also.

 

[gordon21]

The water will weigh over 1500 when full, plus the weight of an empty tank. That's a lot of weight to be dragging around. What about using old plastic 55 gal barrels? They tend to be cheap (under $15) and could be plumbed together at the bottoms to create one larger supply if you really require that much water at once. Use quick disconnect fittings and short pieces of garden hose between the tanks in the lowest 6" of the tank. That is what I will be using on a remote building site to supply water for the concrete guys. They will be 10' uphill from the worksite and gravity can do its thing. Option 2 would be a racetrack shaped metal livestock watering trough if you don't need a sealed top. That option would cost about $100-125

 

[Highbeam]

I use a pair of plastic barrels for pressure washer water. Even two of those barrels is a lot of weight when full. So tell use, are you going to fill these in place and leave them there or try and transport them when full? If transporting, then several barrels would do it for cheap. If stationary then go to s feed store and check them out there are many water troughs that are large enough but they aren't set up well for moving.

There are also these flexible plastic/rubber bladders that are made for truck beds and the like that inflate as they fill up and deflate as they empty. You can roll them up and store them whe you're finished.

 

[QueBota]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">(

BUT, no one seems to know what these tanks weigh. Anybody know? Can a 62 year old codger reasonablly expect to wrestle an empty one around?

)</font>

Empty single wall tanks normally weigh approx. 1 pound per gallon.

Dave

 

[Glenn9643]

No idea what might be available in your area, but I bought two 200gl aluminum spray tanks last year for $100 along with a cradle mount for one that I converted to 3ph mount. I've built a cradle frame from 6x6 that I can move with my forks and use that one for diesel storage. Plan to use the other for a spray rig on my tractor. These tanks (empty) aren't heavy but bulky. Since I bought these I've seen a few more for sale around here pretty cheap.

 

[MikeIA]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I'd appreciate other ideas for a cheap or free water tank also. )</font>

About 10 years ago I bought two 375 pickup tanks from a local farm store for $10 each. Someone had poked both of them with a forklift near the bottom, probably while trying to move them around at the store. The manager even told me how to repair them....melted some polyethylene tubing into the gash with a heat gun. I used one to haul water to my trees on the acreage before we built and used the other one to store water between trips. After the house was built I sold one for $50 and gave the other to my Father-in-Law....he still uses it with his spraying set-up.
This past summer I wanted a small swimming pool, so I called the local sprayer supply house and asked if they had any damaged tanks...apparently forklift damage is pretty common, because I got an 1100 gallon tank for $100. They even sent along some circles of tank material left over from drilling and installing bulkhead fittings, but I didn't need to repair the tank, I just put the extra fitting I needed right where the hole was.