oak rain barrels

15 years ago

I would really like to finally get the rain barrels that I have been dreaming of for a few years. Currently we use the ole bucket system. LOL I would really like to get 3 recycled oak whiskey or wine barrels. Mostly for aesthetic reasons. I love natural materials and am not incredibly keen on the plastic ones. But the cost online of the oak barrels is outrageous! Most places want in excess of $200 a piece. Does anybody have any idea where I could find 3 barrels locally? I am completely willing to modify into a rain barrel myself if I can just get a hold of the actual barrel. I read on a gardening blog not too long ago that somebody had found some at one of the big box stores. I've never seen them there.

Any great tips would be appreciated! :-)

Naomi

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Comments (10)

gatormomx2
15 years ago
I use 65 gallon , heavy duty white plastic barrels from the water treatment plant . All four of my barrels are full from this storm .
One nice advantage to the plastic is that you can see exactly how much water is inside . They are easy to move around when empty . There is no plastic smell or taste . AND - they will never rot like wood .
Best of all ... the barrels were free .
Good luck on your search for oak barrels .
wanda662
15 years ago
I believe the ones they sell at the Big Box stores are half barrels to put plants in.
Good luck finding full empty barrels!
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What specs would a pump need to drip irrigate a 10 x 20 hillside community garden plot from a storage barrel on the plot? What lift/head, etc do I need to look for in a pump? I will power it with batteries, and use a timer to cycle it off and on. It need not move much waterÃ¯Â¿Â½Ã¯Â¿Â½"as little as 1 to 2 gallons per minute would be o.k. Worst dry and hot conditions scenario, the maximum amount or water that the pump would need to move would be perhaps 26 to 40 gallons of water per day. This is a guess, of course. The barrel must be placed no closer than 2 feet from the top of the plot, or from any of the boarders around the plot, and it cannot exceed five feet. This rules out gravity drip, which needs to be elevated 3 feet (according to a Chapin Living Waters person that I contacted), which would cause the barrel and pedestal to exceed the community garden's height limitations.) We're in a drought, the climate is dry and the soil is sandy, and I want to save water.
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I also have a plastic one with a flat back on it, overflow and hose attachment. It sounds just like jroot's barrel but I don't believe mine is as big as a 55 gallon drum. I got mine at Canadian Tire but beware, they never mark them down around here and it was around 80 bucks.. yikes! I got this one because it is close to the front of the house and being brown it blends in and doesn't look so obvious. The ones I have around the wood shed, barn etc. are large barrels, grey and white that we have converted into rain barrels, they are not as attractive looking but nobody sees them where they are.
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Actually, the more I think about it, it definitely is a siphoning effect. The water level always drops to around 1/3 when this happens, and I have 3 rain barrels all connected together. Too much of a coincidence for it to ALWAYS drop to 1/3, with me having 3 rain barrels. I have my overflow pipe coming up from the bottom of the middle barrel in the configuration, with a hose connected at the bottom and running into the yard. Ideally, as the water level rises, it hits the upper level of that pipe (inside the barrel) and starts draining out the overflow right down the center of the barrel and into the yard. HOWEVER, my center barrel also happens to be a closed system. Other than the overflow pipe, there is no outlet to exchange air for the water coming into the barrel (the outside barrels both are vented - one with downspout entry, the other with a nail-sized hole on the top). So, when that middle barrel completely fills up (like it does in a downpour), it then completely fills up the overflow pipe and siphoning effect occurs. It then siphons ALL the water out of the outside 2 barrels, until enough water is siphoned out so that the level drops to the top of the overflow pipe in the middle barrel. It then slowly levels out the water from that 1 full barrel to all 3 barrels. That's why it's always roughly 1/3 full after this phenomenon occurs. To fix this, I need to get some air exchange happening in that middle barrel. To do so, I have to eliminate the "closed system" aspect of my middle barrel. I can do that by simply putting a nail-sized hole in the top like I did in the other. I think I'll try that first. Oh, and the reason I didn't see this happen when I tested this before, is that I didn't let the water completely fill high enough and long enough for the siphoning effect to start. It would have been a period of time AFTER the barrels all appeared full. I obviously didn't wait long enough. I think that makes sense to me. Make sense to anybody else?
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Wooden barrels must be kept wet, or the staves shrink and the hoops fall off. The tap has to be properly mounted with a washer or gasket inside and out to prevent leaking. I'd use a plastic barrel and place the staves of the wooden one around it for disguise.
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chrisd_fl
15 years ago
Although I must agree that the wooden barrels are more aesthetically pleasing than plastic, the short life expectancy of such a product (due to termites and high humidity) might make it a less-than-economical choice in Florida. I do not know of any direct sources for oak barrels but have had much success finding other uncommon items via Craigslist wanted ads. If you try the Craigslist route, you will likely find something.
goldenpond
15 years ago
Why not paint the plastic rain barrel to look like oak?They make a wonderful tool that puts woodgrain through your paint.Ask the bIg store s for it and you will see.Sorry I can't help with the wood,maybe the next trip to a whiskey factory would yield thre real thing but personally Ill opt for painted plastic.

www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=howTo&p=Improve/W... - 73k -
ginibee
15 years ago
Where do you live? My Ace hardware had the oak barrel already fitted with a brass spigot for $139. It's been awhile since I have been there so I can't say for sure they still have any, but it's worth checking with your Ace. I don't know if this is something local or through their vendor.

Ginny
michaelz9
15 years ago
You could always check with LakeRidge Winery out on 27 to see if they have any barrels that they don't use anymore. Couldnt hurt to ask.
naomilovesflipflops
Original Author
15 years ago
Well I am really second guessing my yen for the old barrels now- thanks a lot guys! Obviously kidding- there is much wisdom found here and I appreciate the caveats. Not sure what I am going to end up with but my goodness I don't need to worry about it this week! I wouldn't be accessing a rainbarrel for some time after all this RAIN. Would be nice if it were filling up more than our slim 5 Pound buckets though.

I may give Lakeridge a call just to see if they have any dirt cheap or throwaways. You never know. Thank you for all the responses!

Naomi
abendwolke
15 years ago
I don't think Lakeridge is still doing wooden barrels ;-) ...
but really, the wooden barrels are ok as long as you keep them filled/wet at all times. they dry out and that will make them crack. This would not be a problem in the rainy season, but the rest of the year, it may not be so easy to keep them wet.

There are other neat ideas to be found on the net on how to turn the barrels into yard art. Here is one of mine:

Evelyn

Here is a link that might be useful: my rainwater barrels
rstanny
15 years ago
If you search Ebay for "oak rain barrel" you will find three wine barrels available right now, in two separate ads, for $48 plus $75 shipping each. I wonder if you could solve the drying problem discussed by abendwolke, were you to encounter it, by coating the interior with a clear elastomeric paint or a flexible epoxy resin. Either approach, of course, would run up the price and might fail utterly (and you'd still have the expense of plumbing the things to consider). Dunno if it would be feasible and effective to just seal the seams between the staves with tar or elastomeric caulk or something like that.

How nasty do these barrels get after two or three years?
garyfla_gw
15 years ago
Hi
I built a 5x10 x3 deep made of stacked 4x4's lined with a fiberglass tarp. Holds 1000 gallons for around 300 bucks .
The problem has been that I couldn't resist planting it so now it's actually a water garden complete with fish . Obviosly this means I can't use all the water ,lol
When I gave up my Marine aquarium I decided to use the tank for rainwater .150 gallons in a space 18x72. Same problem . Added plants and fish so can't use the water lol.
Wasn't sure I could keep an aquarium outdoors but it's actually been easier than keeping one indoors. Have even been able to keep it warm through winter with a simple aquarium heater. with a boost from some styrofoam insulation on cold nights.
I now use the aquarium as a reservoir for the waterfall.
Guess what? I planted the entire face of that too lol
What I need is some place to store rainwater for the terrestrial plants ?? lol gary

oak rain barrels

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oak rain barrels

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