They are not called "septic tanks." They are called RV "totes' or "tote-alongs."
There are two main manufacturing companies:
Barker Totes
and
Thetford
In addition
Camco Rino is a contender also.
I have a 32 gallon Barker Blue Tote. I've had this same tote for over 25 years now. I replaced the wheels once and the slide valve once. Barker sent them to me absolutely free, even though they were some 15 years old already when they needed replaced. The tank has held up well, and it's been towed behind my vehicles, at least a thousand miles between campsites and dump stations all these years.
I take care of it, rinse it out well ever time I dump and keep it out of the weather, always.
Rather than putting the tongue of the tote over the ball of the hitch I use one of these D rings. I had it jump off the ball a couple times when towing it. I tried using bungee cords to hold it down, but stumbled into this thing and I've been using it ever since .... like over 20 years now!
This way just didn't cut the mustard:
I use it at home to dump into my septic tank since we use the camper all the time at home too. This works nice, but I found pulling it by hand is really much easier than dragging out the lawn mower every time I need to dump.
I like the Barker because it has the slide slide where an RV sewer hose is attached. Some of the other models come with the hose already attached. Sometimes, the attached hoses are just too short.
Unless you are a super strong person, you do NOT want to get the type that you have to lift or carry. Get the ones with 4 wheels. Lifting them is a real pain. Pulling one with 4 wheels, even a 32 or 40 gallon tank is not bad at all.
If you are on sand or on a down hill slope, you can always attach a rope to it and use your vehicle to pull it up to the road if the terrain or the campsite conditions are such that you can't pull it by hand to attach to your vehicle.
About the fastest you want to travel with one in tow is 10 mph or less. I usually just let the engine idle. Idle speed is fast enough. You don't want want the axles to over heat. They do not have bearings. The wheels are similar to wheels on a push lawn mower.
Some folks don't like them. For us, our Blue Tote has been priceless. If we had to move the camper every time we had to dump the tanks to take it to a dump station, we'd be breaking camp ever 2 days - 3 days. With the tote, I can dump ever other day, all 3 tanks and not over spill the tote.
This is the down-side of the tote. You REALLY have to learn how much is in your tanks and how much the tote will hold so you don't overfill the tote. If you do, you'll end up with a mess on the ground. But, in time, after using one long enough, you'll have this down to a science!
Good luck! Happy camping!
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