portable holding tanks

i have a thetford smart tote... have had it problem free for 8 years now i think...i recommend the 4 wheeler...much easier to pull and i'd get one that's at the least the size of your largest waste tank or as close to it as you can get. has a nice metal handle that fits over the ball on my hitch.

I have a 50 gal poly drum (2actually), a macerator pump and adapters. I put the drum on the tailgate and pump away. Then it's off to the dump station. I thought it'd be cool with 100 gals. of waste tanks, but 2 drums take a lot of space. So now I take only 1!

We have the 27 gal 2-wheel version that I typically only use for grey water tank burping..but on occasion I have had to use it for the poop tank the two wheeled style works best for us as we are usually on a gravel or sandy site and once I get it righted on it's wheels the handle will fit right over the ball hitch with ease.

I too have the Thetford Smart Tote 35 and FloJet macerator pump. Yet to put the adapters together though.

I agree with the above there is no best. I have the Thetfold one. I got the biggest 35 gallon. My grey and Black are both 30 gallons so I'm good even if full. This one has an automatic stop so you don't overflow and out of all I looked at it seemed the strongest as well as most user friendly. Also but not needed, I have a flojet pump and with a few adapters I've put together I can pump 50 feet away into the tank into the back of my truck. Many times the dump station is way to far or rocky to use the pull with car method.

http://rvcampersuppliesandparts.com/rv-portable-waste-tank

Barker tanks seem better built just my 2 cents. With that said look on Amazon for the best prices and free shipping.

mamika wrote:
What is the best portable holding tank to buy? Does two or four wheels make a big difference? Is the 27 gal. bigger in size to carry than the 18 gal?

There is no "best" - some think that the blue Barkers are the best but I prefer the Thetford Smart Tote which I think are the best.

One thing I am sure most will agree on is 4 wheels are better than two, and the larger the wheels the better.

The bigger capacity of anything will be bigger than the smaller capacity version, and that includes portable waste tanks. Suggest you get the biggest one you can afford and can carry, but it need not be bigger than the larger of your RV's grey or black water tanks.

Just an observation.. 4 wheel tanks often will bottom out or drag if there are speed bumps in the road to the dump station or roots, etc. 2 wheel tanks do not.

We only use ours to tote the gray water, a 27 tote n stor. Since there is only the two of us, and the toilet flushes straight down into the tank with no off set piping to flush off. The need to use lots of extra water to flush isn't needed. Now we do put 5 gallons into the tank to start out with, to fill the bottom and to slush around while on the road, and to keep any solids from building up there at the bottom when the need to use on the way to our long term destination. We carry a 2 gallons usually in one or sometimes two container, along the way to use to fill the bowl. So even at that it takes two weeks or more to fill, then if no hook ups, to bring that black water tank up to where it needs to dump. I can break camp to do that, to keep from any chance of a mis hap at our camp site, but also to keep a smelly tote from happening. I have rigged up a easy on and off a 10" swivel single wheel, there at the front of the tote, assembled using the lowered tail gate as a table, and it has worked out super.

Now that gray water tank is a completely different situtation, it fill up very quick compared to the black water tank,,very fast.

I have been lifting my 25 gal/two wheel tank for many years. My next one will have 4 wheels. Brand is irrelevant IMO