Need suggestions for using white 55 gallon drums with lids.

[VT-Chicklit]

I have an oppertunity to get some white or blue 55 gallon plastic drums with lids from a farmer that advertised on Craigs List. He has hundreds of them that contained either teat dip, detergent or iodine. They are not free and they need to be cleaned, but they are relatively inexpensive, $10 for the 55 gallon ones and $7 for the 15 gallon ones. I want several to use to hold water, in the case of an emergency. I also thought that one of the 15 gallon would be good to make manuer tea in for the garden. Does anyone know if these would be good to store grains, chicken feed or flour in. They are suposedly food grade.
Any one have suggestions for other uses for these drums.

 

[Beekissed]

I've seen some nifty uses for them when cut in half....like feeders for goats/sheep/horses, waterers for the same, planters, worm bins, small yard pond/liners.

I've seen some great designs for turning the whole barrels into compost turners, soil mixers, rain barrels for watering the garden, burying them and using them as seep tanks for gray water disposal, painted black they can become a solar water heater(this is how we rigged up a shower in my off grid days).

I really need one right now to turn into a feeder and one to store rain water.

 

[Big Daddy]

You can use them to grow potatoes in using the layer system. You can also use the as a root cellar if you stack hay around them.

 

[Dixiedoodle]

Place in the greenhouse, fill with water. It will heat up during the day and release the heat when it gets cooler...Solar heating at it's best..

 

[nightshade]

clean them out and use them for rain barrels, Hobby farms last month had a plan for a lamb warming shack made out of half a 55 gal plastic drum. If they have the ends on them cut them in half length wise and use them for water troughs or if they don't have solid tops in them cut them in half height wise and use them for waters or feeders.

edited to add: I have one I made into a compost roller works great! It is still blue I would suggest painting it black so it worked faster and got hotter inside.

 

[ams3651]

im going to be using some as rain barrels. At anyplace that sells farm chemicals you can get a cleaner for them, just to be sure they are clean. Search the internet for make rain barrels and you will find lots of instructions basically all you need is some screen, spigot and downspout. They also make good air tight storage for feeds and even bulk foods.

 

[VT-Chicklit]

Big Daddy do you, or anyone else know the stepsfor using these barrels to grow potatoes?

 

[lorihadams]

I would be careful about using them for water barrels if they ever had chemicals in them...just a thought.

 

[Big Daddy]

I would be careful about using them for water barrels if they ever had chemicals in them...just a thought.

That's true. Plastic is more porous than metal and may hold some of the chemical contamination.

 

[ams3651]

I would be careful about using them for water barrels if they ever had chemicals in them...just a thought.

That's true. Plastic is more porous than metal and may hold some of the chemical contamination.

You can get a special cleaner for them but i still wouldnt use one depending on what was in it. Detergent is one thing, Round up is another.