Have a 02 Featherlite that I've put a weekend package in over the last winter. I've been using a portable tank or a hose (depending on location) to drain the grey water. Would like to go ahead now and put a 27 gal. holding tank under the trailer. The cross braces are on 12" centers, the tank is aound 21" across, a little nervous about cutting the cross member out. No problem doing it just wanted feed back from some that has already done this or the pro's out there Thanks for any and all responses. This site as been a great place to find info over the past winter while I was working on it, thanks again.

CF  

We cut and removed a joist on an Exiss a while back. It had a 4" I beam. We used a sawzall on each end to make the vertical cuts, and  a 4 1/2' angle grinder with a metal cutting blade to cut the long horizontal web. The whole thing took about 20 minutes, with another ten or so to smooth things out.

The top part of the horizontal beam was left in place, as it was individually welded to each of the floor planking system, and provided additional stiffness to the floor. Just the bottom plate and the vertical web were removed.

Gard

On my trailers, that installation would put the bottom of the pipe six inches lower than the trailers' frames. The addition of a dump valve and hose adapter, would effectively make the final installation even lower.

With a long trailer on uneven terrain, this may result in the plumbing being damaged. I would try to keep the tanks and plumbing even with, or as close to the bottom of the frame as possible.

Gard

I'm to the point of having to consider installing a gray water holding tank and a black water tank for my weekend project. The PVC pipe idea interest me. I only have 7" between the beams on my Hart, and 4.5 inches deep.

From another post:

A cylindrical shape that has a diameter of 10 inches and a depth of 18 feet has a volume of:

Almost 73 1/2 gallons now multiply that by 8.345 (weight per gallon) thats 613 pounds on the roof of the trailer. I think thats a little to much weight to add to the roof.

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I don't need 73 gallons of holding tank, but a smaller pipe would be alot cheaper than a grey water tank. I wonder if it would be a problem with the black water. Seems like grey water would not be a problem at all with this set up. Thoughts? -Betty

Thanks for the suggestions.

Gard what kind of tank did you use and where did you get it?

I've posted pics if anyone cares to take a look. DYI Featherlite 2001

I don't know from where the owner's wife sourced each of the many items we installed, other than most were from the Internet. We did not use a polypropylene tank because of its difficulty to modify and repair if necessary.

We chose an ABS tank, because regular fittings and glues, that are commonly available from many local sources, can be used in the installation. This included the gate type of dump valve and bayonet adapter for the dump hose. If these were damaged, they could be easily replaced.

Upon the advice of professionals, we did use the grommet and slip joint in the top of the tank, for the down tube from the flange adapter for the toilet. We also used this type of joint for the stack vent, There is also a threaded version that works, but if you want to drop the tank, the toilet and flange have to be first removed to do so.

Here's one source of holding tanks. There are many available, shop for price, and especially shipping charges.

http://www.bigdiscountrv.com/plumbing/holding-tank-abs.htm

BOL  Gard