I gave it four stars because the seller gave me great service. When the product arrived it was broken. The axle the wheels are on had popped out of the tank and it was not possible to put the axle back in. The box was damaged enough in shipping that it was barely holding things together. Fortunately I don't think any parts got out.

Also there were quite a few unexplained gouges in the plastic tank. I did not see anything sharp in the box that could have made these gouges so I'm guessing that they were done at the factory. They don't appear to compromise the tank so I didn't say anything but I do like things that I buy new to actually be new. This had never been used for sewage so it was new in that regard but it looks beat up and used the moment I saw it.

I called for assistance and I was advised that I'd need to take one wheel off to put the wheels back on. Unfortunately they use caps that don't unscrew. She advised me that I'd probably destroy the cap I removed. I objected to that but decided to give it a try.

I was able to remove one of the caps and preserve it for reuse by using the weight of the two wheels on the axle by repeatedly dropping the two wheels the length of the shaft so that they slammed into the cap a few times. Six or seven tries using the weight of both wheels and dropping them the length of the axle onto the cap -- it eventually popped off and the cap still in good enough condition to use again.

Filling the tank I had sewage leaking from the place where the gator connector attaches to the tank. I tightened the gator connectors as well as possible but they don't really work very well. They are not the identical form factor of the typical "gator" connector -- that locks in place with a bit of a snap. It was like I could never fully get the gator connector to "lock" in and therefore had liquid sewage filling the well where the hose connects to the tank and running onto the ground. The woman agreed that they knew about this issue.

But she had no solution except to send new caps that also don't have the "gator" style lock capability. If they were to fix the caps that would go a long ways to preventing leaks. When she told me they knew about the issue she offered no solution but mostly indicated that they know about the problem -- the implication was that I'll have to live with it because they don't fix that problem.

I suppose I'll have to go and buy real gator connectors, but considering the price of this tank you'd think they'd spring for the extra 1.00 or so that Real Gator connectors would resolve. (not sure they'd even cost more).

I have looked at their biggest competitors and this tank appears to be better than the other brands. I may never know. The pneumatic tires are essential for this much weight. The unit towed behind my truck over a gravel road without problems. I went no more than about 3mph and may have driven faster if the distance were significant.

I'd like a ramp and winch so I could load it on my truck and drive to a sani-station instead of taking screws out of the sewer drain in the alley. However I'd be scared that the non-locking "not gator" fittings might pop off and dump sewage all over my truck bed and onto the street while winching it up the ramp.

Without the locking feature I'd say this unit is to be treated with extreme caution while discovering these failed connectors. How anyone in the RV manufacturing business, especially for handling sewage, would not use the industry standard connectors and opt for something that's almost like them but lacking the "peace of mind" factor of locking connectors. THEIRS DO NOT LOCK PROPERLY.

Another thing that is troublesome is that the tank is higher off the ground than my sewage outet on my trailer. I have a recent model 39' Escalade 5th wheel and so would have not expected that I'd have sort of hand pump the black water by dropping the hose to the ground, letting it fill, then lifting up the end closest to the trailer and hand trucking through the pipe. Processing more than 40 gallons of sewage this way is very time consuming, very labor intensive, and probably unnecessary had they designed it about 3" lower and maybe a little wider, longer, or something to allow the sewage to flow downhill instead of hand pumping it, without a real pump, for an entire 46 gallon fill. I guarantee you that you'll get your exercise hand pumping this puppy.

If I could buy a reasonably priced 4" maceration pump, that will handle sewage, I'd probably add that to the equation. However if I used a pump to send the sewage to the the Tote tank I'm guessing that the added pressure would spew even more sewage out that leaky connector that goes into the tank. Regardless I've used it once and it only took about an hour to complete the task. It would have been more like 10 minutes If I did not need to do all the hand pumping of the hose.

Time passes ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's a week later and I just did my second dump with this product. This time it did NOT leak and the dump went so well, was so quick and easy, that I had to stop by and add another star to my review. I really like this tote as it was super easy. I was done from start to finish in about 5 minutes. One thing I like is the fact that I can keep this tote parked under my rig and dump into the tote when it's convenient -- but I don't have to go dump the tote immediately. Sometimes you need to make room in the tank but there's a reason why dumping at the same time would be a hassle. So I dumped into the tank last night which took all of two minutes to hook up, pull the release, and fill the tote.

When dumping my black water into a standard hookup I've always just pulled the lever all the way out and let it rip. No issues there. However when using the tote I recommend you use the release valve gently and in stages so that you can observe when the tank is getting close to the top. The first time I tried it I just opened the valve like I would on a standard hookup and that was just too much flow -- which I think contributed to the leak I had on the first try. I should think that if this company printed a manual with some "best practices" in it that it would be very helpful. Also maybe some videos illustrating these best practices.

All in all I think the design is good and the product works well once you adjust how you fill it. Emptying is almost too easy. I don't have a ball hitch on my truck but I found the metal loop that you tow the tote with was perfect for the job. I just dropped a small hammer into the handle/loop with the head upwards and let it just dangle through one of the holes by the license plate. It works perfect. I could have used just about anything that would serve as a hitch pin.

Once again they have problems with the rear axle not attached when it comes out of the box. I ignored the negative reviews and am now paying the price for ordering this product. They have a MAJOR problem if the axle simply comes off during shipping. Imagine what is going to happen when when you have 300 lbs of weight on that axle and the plastic fittings flex. Would be a fine product, but they keep producing these with this major flaw. They have made changes in the past with design flaws, but insist on not changing this flaw. Why? It would be one of the best on the market if the would not have a cheap plastic C clamp holding the rear axle. Come on guys, who is running this company?

Used this tank 4 times towing about 150 yards one way. The 4th time both rear wheels fell off, the bolts came out and were lost on both wheels. Fortunately I was only 8 feet from the dump with only a half tank. Any further away and it would have been a trip to the hardware store. Worse than that if a dump site was a half mile away and you wouldn't know you lost a tire, a hole would have wore through the tank and it would empty out. Other than that it is a very sturdy tank and easy to use, just check all fasteners before you use. Would have 5 stars if it would leave the factory as it should, ready to use.

Well built but two problems cost two stars. First, the tank does not drain fully. There is a lip where the dump valve attaches to the tank which means there will always be a couple cups of fluid left after draining the tank. Doesn't matter how you turn or tip the tank, it remains. Second, this thing needs a handle on the small wheel end of the tank to make it easier to handle. Once the two handle is removed, there is no place to grab the tank to load it. I emailed Barker about the lack of a handle but got no response. I will have to make my own I guess.

I will be testing this out in "real life" soon but I wanted to point out an engineering problem that the company needs to look in to. The back axle is fitted with two thick black plastic washers on either side. The axle, with these washers installed, is too short to fit into the groove. While I was testing the unit with water to see if the valve works, etc., the axle popped off of the tank. It had been attached under only one tab when I got it. I got it to go back in under the same tab but could NOT get the axle to slip under the tab on the other side. After much hammering, lubricating, heating the tab area with a hair dryer, etc., I finally figured out that the black plastic washer on the side that wouldn't slip under the tab was actually BLOCKING the axle from popping back into the groove. Pushing on the axle on the far side, I moved the axle over as much as possible so that the washer could be out of the groove, but it was still blocking it. I tried pushing the washer over closer to the wheel but it was as close as it was going to go. I finally removed the washer with a dremmel tool and the axle popped in to the groove under its tab with a bit of pressure. I don't see how the axle could have fit with the two washers on - that's probably why it arrived with the axle under only one tab. The manufacturers apparently couldn't get it to fit either, but shipped it to me anyway. Barker needs to make the black plastic washers thinner or their axles longer, one of the two. And fire someone in Quality Control.
As far as attaching the flexible hose on to the connecting ends, I had a very easy time doing so when I put the hose end in hot water, then worked the hose up over the connecting end with a butter knife. The hose does expand when heated. The instructions suggest using a hair dryer - that would work as well.
I did see some loose blue plastic left over from the manufacturing process come out with the rinse water but it didn't seem to be enough to cause a major blockage.
I will update this review after our trip.
After the trip:
The tank performed very well. The hose and the valve did not leak. One of the wheels was a little wobbly from my attempts to insert the axle, but I was able to roll the tank over to the dump station without any trouble. It emptied out with a little leaning but if I didn't lean it, there would not have been that much left inside. The rinse hose hooked up and rinsed it adequately. Considering the pounding that the tank took during the axle debacle, it held up quite nicely.