Water Tank

RobS · Apr 16, 2001

I will be planting trees this weekend (if they arrive /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif) and need to transport water out to the property. I also may need to water throughout the summer if it's dry. I looked at poly water tanks at TSC etc. and they are pretty pricey. I found a guy who sells 55 gallon drums for $3 a piece which is more in my price range. His drums have lids with a plug and a plug about a foot from the bottom of the drum. I figure I can get two of them and plumb them together to water 100 trees in one filling. My question is, what threads are barrel plugs and where can I get fittings? Thanks ahead of time /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

MikeBurr · Apr 16, 2001

Be sure to find out what the barrel held and make sure they are cleaned out good. With my luck, they would have had tree killer and the trees would be dead before the second watering. /w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif

TC33D

Anonymous Poster · Apr 17, 2001

Rob it should be standard pipe threads and you can find them at your local hardware or plumbing supply. Make sure that you know what they contained before will not harm your trees. Good luck!

Boondox · Apr 17, 2001

This won't help Rob, but anyone in the northern New England area is welcome to plastic 55 gallon drums free of charge at Green Mountain Coffee Roasters in Waterbury VT. Also empty burlap bags (coffee sacks) that are great for gardening. We recycle them to the public to reduce our waste. The drums should be thoroughly washed inside as they contained concentrated flavoring (hazelnut, french vanilla, etc). Unless you really like the smell you ought to wash them out away from home, like in a car wash, since even the fragrance of Belgian chocolate gets old after a week or two.

We won't ship them, but they are generally available for pickup free of charge. Call first.

Pete

www.GatewayToVermont.com

RobS · Apr 17, 2001

That'd almost be worth the trip Pete, plus I hear it's pretty up there.

Back to reality, I did splurge tonight on the way home and bought two steel drums with lids for a whopping $6. They contained some sort of paint (solvent based) but had plastic liners in them. As I got them they're basically like new with red-oxide primer on the inside and a slight smell of paint. I'll give them a rinse and let them sit open for a couple of days to evaporate away any volatiles. I also found in an industrial supply catalog the "standard" drum plug is 2" NPT and fittings are commonly available. Tomorrow night I hit the hardware store (arrggghhh, arrggghhh, aaarrrrrggggggghhhhhh) to plumb these babies together with a valve and hose.

Now if only my trees would show up /w3tcompact/icons/mad.gif

Mike and Ken, thanks for your inputs as well /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

DRinMA · Apr 21, 2001

Rob,
I can not help with the fitting question other than they should be standard pipe threads (guess).

Have you considered the weight of 110 gal of water? At 8.3 lbs per gal, it is just over 900 lbs. I don't know what you plans are to transport the barrels.

Just a reminder.

Dave

RobS · Apr 21, 2001

You're absolutely right about the weight Dave. I'll be transporting in my truck so it won't be a problem. Back and forth between home and the property on my tractor just takes too long /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

poorboy · Apr 25, 2001

Guys my brother in-law is a chemical salesman. He gets all the barrels that I care to clutter up the place with. Most of the barrels look really nice with a sort of dark red coating and appear to be clean as a whip. The only problem is that a neighbor used some for his chickens. All dead the next day. Apparently the alcohol based solvents attach to the lining and must be burned out. A few guys used them to haul water last year when transplanting tobacco plants with no ill effects. We use them as trash cans in the barns and for the garbage pick-up. I hope this saves somebody some headaches or worse.

RobS · Apr 30, 2001

Re: Water Tank Update

My trees finally came and I had a chance to use my "water tanks". I ended up with two 55 gallon drums plumbed together to act as one with a ball valve and hose teed off for dispensing. Everything worked OK and it sure is nice not having to run back to our house for more water several times. One thing I'll modify is the hose diameter. To save time and $$$ I reduced the drum outlets to 3/4" garden hose and used washing machine hookup hoses to interconnect. ID too small, takes forever to fill the pail I was using to carry to the trees.

If we don't get a little rain soon, I'll be out watering again this weekend /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif