55 gal plastic barrels

[Darren]

Is there a source for reasonably priced used 55 gal plastic barrels in SE PA. WV or MD?

[tamsam]

I don't know what you want to store in them but you may try some of the cola places. Also some chemical places or large cleaning places get stuff in them. Good luck finding them. Where bouts in WV are you? we are 5 miles north of Salem. Sam

[homebirtha]

Originally Posted by Darren

Is there a source for reasonably priced used 55 gal plastic barrels in SE PA. WV or MD?

McCutcheon's in Frederick, Md., sells them for $15.
http://www.mccutcheons.com/index.php

I have also heard that there is a pepsi or coke place in Hyattsville, but that's a pretty long drive.

[Walt K. in SW PA]

We were able to get some thru a local dairy bottling plant, also what the previous poster said about cola bottlers is good. My father in law was a dry cleaner and got the plastic drums in his plant, those had chemicals in them though.

[MELOC]

knouse foods maybe? they are a fruit packer for orchards and such.

[Darren]

I'm about an hour south of Salem. I've tried soft drink distributors. That's all they do .... distribute already bottled, canned stuff. As far as I can find out there are no more bottlers left in WV. I need the barrels for flotation.

[quadcam79]

I've been looking for some here in Florida too... Maybe I can try the Budweiser plant or the Pepsi Plant...or Bacardi.

[MELOC]

how many do you need? i know a guy who may be able to get them for me. i think i need at least 4 or 5. i need them clean, but i know stuff like strong flavorings or juices can make them hard to clean, so i may end up with some i cannot use.

now that i think about it, i think i know another guy who sells them privately. he probably has a source from a food factory somewhere. i think they were $10 each last time i saw the sign as i drove by. chances are good you have a "guy" in your area who sells from his yard or advertises in the paper or free advertisement publications.

[quadcam79]

I could use about 4-5..needs a couple to split for some aquaponics and maybe a rainbarrel or two. I'm in Northeast Florida, just north of Jacksonville

[Elizabeth]

Darren, is there a Tropicana plant in Jacksonville? check it out. My neighbor used to get really nice plastic barrels with lids from the plant that his son worked at, down near Tampa. He got them for free and was always trying to give them to me- at the time I had no use for them, but wish I had a bunch of them now!

[agmantoo]

Ask any dairy farmer. The barrels are the containers for the materials(something like betadine) used to wash cow udders.

[CIW]

Large bakeries will get thier cooking oils in plastic barrels.

Around here (Gainesville, Florida area) most of the farm supplies and feed stores carry plastic drums. The most useful ones are the open head types that you can wash out and store feed in. The closed head types have two bungs that you can remove to fill them with water, but other than cutting the top off can't really be used for storage.

Every one that I've ever bought formerly contained pickles of some type, peppers usually. Smells strong enough to make your eyes water, but they clean up well. Go to a car wash and use the hot water/soap only option for the first cleaning. The couple of bucks it costs saves much more in scrubbing.

I bought a pair of drums a couple of weeks ago. Cost me eighteen bucks apiece.

.....Alan.

[Bearfootfarm]

Car washes sometimes have them. They get their soaps and waxes in blue barrels around here.

[PineRidge]

Darren there is always someone advertising in my local buyers/traders guide that has barrels. This is for the middle of the state. I can pm you the phone numbers and let you know where the local exchange is to see how far they are from you.

[fishhead]

Good idea about the car wash!

The only barrels I've found in my area are the ones used by spray insulation but I haven't looked too hard.

[Jena]

I got some at Rural King. About $10-15 I think.

[Darren]

I haven't calculated how many. My guess is from 20 to 40.

[Oldcountryboy]

Try your local hospitals and nursing homes that have do thier own laundering and have boiler systems. They get water softners, chlorine, and detergents in 15, 30, and 50 gallon plastic barrels.

[Jerry in MN]

I bought dozens of plastic barrels for $5-$6 each from a guy who brought them home from a dairy plant where he worked. And I was told by someone else to NOT reuse barrels that had quaternary ammonia, as that's supposed to be some bad stuff, maybe carcinogenic? Seems that quat is used as a boiler cleaner or something.