"Sewage Cruiser" Build

[UsedChateauGuy]

We purchased our 2018 Thor Chateau Motorhome about year ago. Our first trip was to a State Park with only electrical and water hook-ups and we noticed that the folks that either towed a vehicle behind their Motorhome or had trailer-RVs would periodically use their vehicle to pull a portable sewage tank to the dump station.

When it came time for us to empty our tanks, we had to disconnect our water and electrical lines, retract our slide, retract our leveling jacks, move our leveling blocks and furniture out of the way, and then drive our Motorhome over to the dump station. Then redo all the above stuff when we got back to our site.

After that experience, we decided to buy a portable sewage tank and I built a small, battery powered drive module that we can use to "drive" the tank over to the dump station. I purchased most of the components and aluminum stock off Amazon and it's controlled using a wired remote module while walking along side the tank.

My wife and I named it the "Sewage Cruiser". We've used it lots of times and it works great, so I thought I'd share the idea. I have a short video that shows it in action, but apparently we can't post videos here so I hope the pictures are sufficient to explain the idea. If anyone wants more details on what I built, please let me know.

Not everyone pulls a TOAD so I'd think there might be a market for something like this if an RV company decided to manufacture one. What do folks think?

[Desmo888]

Great idea and execution!

[ducksface]

A nicely executed and creative cure to a problem.
It's a very limited market and unless you need a hobby, I doubt there's value in dedicating a work space to produce these.
Camco and others need to weigh profit. Your nicely built unit would need to be $2,000 to make shipping and flooring costs.

What does yours weigh when empty and where do you keep it when travelling?

Nice work, just not worth creating/breaking into a market.


For folk interested in building one;

When building scuba underwater scooters, I found older electric wheelchairs to be cheap or free and perfect for this type of components.

I'm fairly sure I've seen a version of this cart/tank with a seat to ride.

https://batcaddy.com/products/batcad...UaAuhIEALw_wcB
I still have a highly modified older one of the above that was used to haul my dive stuff(dive scooters weigh up to 400lbs. Look up k-10 and farallon mark 8) It now awaits being adapted to a tool box. The motor wasnt needed and it won't be needed on the toolbox. It's just a concept project.(it was $5 at a yard sale)

Any kids battery 'barbie jeep' will adapt in minutes. Remove Barbie body, install tank. Many come with a remote wired control and speed selects.


I bet a 'wanted' post on Facebook will find you all the components you need.

Overkill(the game I play daily);
A gear box from a washing machine(no real need other than incredible torque) and an electric bike kit (cheap on Amazon and eBay)will also work.


Easy peasy;
Buy the barbie jeep and strap a tank on.
Remove tank and now it hauls anything.
Done.

.

[paulwadley]

Welcome to the forum and that is a great idea. Thanks for sharing your idea and pictures. Those totes get heavy and that is why you see people hooking them up to their cars to go to the dump station. That would eliminate the need to use the car/truck.


Paul

[DavidEM]

Filling that portable tank, walking it over to the dump site (and where i camp that can be as far as a half mile, none closer than 200 yards) and then dumping it is faster than unhooking your RV, driving it over to the dump site, dumping it, driving back and hooking it up again?

And what about capacity. My Axis has 40 gallons of grey and 30 gallons of black. That portable container looks like it holds half of that.

And of course it only works with sites that have fresh water but no sewer. None of the places I camp have that.

Finally, where do you store it on your RV?

So it looks like an unpractical gimmick to me but a clever project none the less

David

[UsedChateauGuy]

Thanks for all the comments and the good questions.

It looks like some of the commercially available driving modules could be significantly larger than the module I built. I store the "Cruiser" in my rear cargo bay as shown in the attached pic. It's quite small and doesn't take up much space. I agree that there are lots of good options for sourcing the drive elements if someone wanted to build their own. Thanks for the suggestions.

My black water tank is only 28 gallons, which is the same size at the Camco Portable tank I bought so that works fine for me. I can see how Motorhomes with larger tanks would have less of a need for something like this.

In terms of the hassle of using a portable tank vs driving the RV to the dump station, lots of folks where we camp use the portable tanks (pulled by a vehicle) so some folks must find that to be less hassle. We certainly think so, and I don't mind walking so for me that's not an issue, even if the dump station is not close by.

Lastly, given the comments about the cost to build and make a profit on something like this, I agree that there probably is not a big enough market to motivate a company like Camco to make one. Oh well, I had fun building mine and just thought I'd share the idea!

[ducksface]

the
Fun build
Aspect
Is the best part of something like this.

I have the absolutely silliest things here at the ranchette and on my vehicles due to a fun project bias.
Some of you have seen a few of them.

Edit;
Add a bayonet Macerator and a garden hose since you have 12v now....

[16ACE27]

Originally Posted by DavidEM

Filling that portable tank, walking it over to the dump site (and where i camp that can be as far as a half mile, none closer than 200 yards) and then dumping it is faster than unhooking your RV, driving it over to the dump site, dumping it, driving back and hooking it up again?

And what about capacity. My Axis has 40 gallons of grey and 30 gallons of black. That portable container looks like it holds half of that.

And of course it only works with sites that have fresh water but no sewer. None of the places I camp have that.

Finally, where do you store it on your RV?

So it looks like an unpractical gimmick to me but a clever project none the less

David

Really? You never camp at a WE (water/Electric) site? Or in National Parks water only (if you're close enough) sites?

[ducksface]

Some here on this forum don't use their toilets for some reason they never adequately explained.
I don't even question any more when some things are said.

I'll say that most/all of the state/county/municipal places we stay at have dump stations only.
And many of those turn the individual water faucets off in the winter.

[DavidEM]

Originally Posted by 16ACE27

Really? You never camp at a WE (water/Electric) site? Or in National Parks water only (if you're close enough) sites?

Nope! We live in NW Connecticut and camp at state parks in NY, Ma and Vt. None have any hookups. One doesn’t even have a dump station, Tolland State Forest Campground in Ma, so we have to use a Ct campgrounds dump station on the way home. I don’t think that sewage carrier would work very well in that case.

David

[Mikmal]

From your title, I thought you were building an RV from an old septic tank pump-out truck! Ewwww!

[NordicVetMBA]

Originally Posted by UsedChateauGuy

We purchased our 2018 Thor Chateau Motorhome about year ago. Our first trip was to a State Park with only electrical and water hook-ups and we noticed that the folks that either towed a vehicle behind their Motorhome or had trailer-RVs would periodically use their vehicle to pull a portable sewage tank to the dump station.

When it came time for us to empty our tanks, we had to disconnect our water and electrical lines, retract our slide, retract our leveling jacks, move our leveling blocks and furniture out of the way, and then drive our Motorhome over to the dump station. Then redo all the above stuff when we got back to our site.

After that experience, we decided to buy a portable sewage tank and I built a small, battery powered drive module that we can use to "drive" the tank over to the dump station. I purchased most of the components and aluminum stock off Amazon and it's controlled using a wired remote module while walking along side the tank.

My wife and I named it the "Sewage Cruiser". We've used it lots of times and it works great, so I thought I'd share the idea. I have a short video that shows it in action, but apparently we can't post videos here so I hope the pictures are sufficient to explain the idea. If anyone wants more details on what I built, please let me know.

Not everyone pulls a TOAD so I'd think there might be a market for something like this if an RV company decided to manufacture one. What do folks think?

Cool idea.

I'll stick with the toad and our 150 gallons of grey & black that the diesel has. We just skip using the washer & dryer when boondocking, LOL. Great idea though.

Have you thought about just using a hitch for an eBike? I think I would rather just tow the thing behind my Heybike instead of walking along with a remote control.

[UsedChateauGuy]

Originally Posted by NordicVetMBA

Cool idea.

I'll stick with the toad and our 150 gallons of grey & black that the diesel has. We just skip using the washer & dryer when boondocking, LOL. Great idea though.

Have you thought about just using a hitch for an eBike? I think I would rather just tow the thing behind my Heybike instead of walking along with a remote control.

Thanks for the comments. With 150 gallons of grey & black water you are all set! I never realized that some coaches has so much capacity.

For those of us who may need to dump during our stay, your eBike hitch is a great idea. We don't own an eBike right now and my wife and I both like taking walks so this little module worked out well for us. But if someone already has an eBike, or even an eScooter with good torque, that's an interesting option to consider.

Originally Posted by Mikmal

From your title, I thought you were building an RV from an old septic tank pump-out truck! Ewwww!

I laughed out loud at this!

[NordicVetMBA]

Originally Posted by UsedChateauGuy

Thanks for the comments. With 150 gallons of grey & black water you are all set! I never realized that some coaches has so much capacity.

For those of us who may need to dump during our stay, your eBike hitch is a great idea. We don't own an eBike right now and my wife and I both like taking walks so this little module worked out well for us. But if someone already has an eBike, or even an eScooter with good torque, that's an interesting option to consider. .

If you haven't tried an eBike, they (basically) pick up the slack of variable effort when riding a bike over terrain, etc. For example, I have to "peddle" mine, but it feels like riding a stationary bike at a moderate level of resistance. That doesn't really matter if it is on flat land, going up a steep hill, etc.. whatever the difference is, it uses the lithium battery to cover the variable level of effort.

That would make one perfect for towing some cargo, with the added benefit of a slight breeze to leave the stink behind. If you had a 20-gallon honey wagon that would weigh something north of 160 lbs, or kind of like carrying a second small adult on the back of the bike - yet the rider wouldn't notice the difference doing so. Most (as mine does) have low-pressure ATV-style tires on them as well - like 20 PSI / big-knobbies for unimproved surfaces and the battery handles that added resistance with ease as well.

The range on mine is something like 45 miles and is pretty typical for eBikes. It seems like it would be perfect.