Re-inventing the Stool Bus

When you are boondocking out in the desert, you have two options for waste removal. Number one being, hook up your rig and drag it over to the dump station. Number two is having some kind of waste tank and fill it and then haul it to the dump station.

Our first year here we had our fifthwheel.

It has larger waste tanks so we opted to just bring it over to the dump station once a week. Once you hook up and unhook a camper as much as we do it really is no problem to do that. Plus we only stayed a month last time, meaning we would only have to do that 4 times.

However this trip, we brought our pickup camper. (aka the Hobbit House)

It has smaller waste tanks and unhooking and hooking up to it is a little more challenging. So we opted to purchase a portable waste tank(also called blue boys) that you then fill and bring it over to the dump station without having to move your RV.

Planning this trip I researched the different types.

This type seems to be the most popular. They are small and lightweight and easily transportable. Because they are small, multiple trips may be required. Also they are so low to the ground. Many of these blue boys are meant to be drug short distances over smooth surfaces. Here in the desert the ground is rough and like I said in my last blog we have seen the ground wear a hole through the bottom and then having it spill its precious cargo all over the ground. Even since we have been here this trip we have already seen one leaker and as we went by him it stunk pretty bad. 

So as I researched blueboys I found this one.

I liked the large wheels for traveling over rougher ground. Ours is a 26 gallon capacity so it can get very heavy when filled so I try not to do that. The problem I see with this model is actually the wheels themselves. They are held on by a little button cap and I have heard that they come off quite often. So what I thought was a good item, it may turn out to be another hindrance. So I have been trying not to fill it completely full so that I can put it in the back of the Ranger. That works many times and is the easiest way to dump. Just as long as it doesn't leak in the back of the Ranger, which it has. Eww. I know.

So on my many trips back and forth from the pool, I have noticed some homemade carts. Some guys have used a two wheeler to haul them around on and I thought that was a great idea. Pneumatic tires for the rough ground. So to town we went in search of a two wheeler. We found one and then I just had to improvise a method of attaching it to the Ranger.

I don't have a welder and didn't want to find a welder to make a hitch. So I put on my thinking cap and decided to use a length of chain. I then wrapped it just so, so that it would support the weight and keep the front end out of the dirt. Genius strikes again!

Lisa took a picture of me test driving it. You want to make sure things are working properly before the day you load it up with the nasty stuff.

After some trial and error I filled the tank with grey water and strapped it down to the Stool Bus. It is sitting backwards because the first time I put it on there the wheels kept interfering with the other wheels. Ever so slowly I traveled to the dumper and without incident I made it and had a successful first run. There is still some tweaking to do but I feel confident with each trip it will get better.

The stool bus waiting in line.

It's funny how our lives have changed so drastically. When we had jobs, homes and families, our worries were, am I going to get fired? Will I make that deadline? Who is picking Johnie up from school? Is the wife still mad at me? Will the car start? Now I worry about how to get my poop across the desert. 

On a more personal note. We have installed our attic on top of the camper to help with some of the storage issues we are having in this Hobbit House. It is a Thule carrier that I found on Facebook Marketplace just before we left Minnesota. $50 dollars. What a deal. We didn't have time to put it up on the roof at home so I just threw it in our trailer and waited for warmer weather.

The Marketplace is great. We laugh and shake our heads at what people put on there and think to ourselves, "Are they serious?"