How To Use a Honey Wagon (Portable and Service) Helpful Guide
It is not as the name suggests. It is one of those major plays on words that take place in English and other languages. Do not expect to get sweet treats when you enlist the services of this business. It does not smell as sweet as honey either.
The honey wagon is a service many RV campsites provide when they do not have sewer connections. This is a truck that goes around to all camping spots to clean out your black water tanks. It is doubtful that it is a free service.
To learn more about the honey wagon and what it is and does, just continue to read our article. It has the information you want to know about so you can enlist their aid when you camp at a sewer connection-less campsite. It may not smell nice but it provides a good service to all RVers.
Using a Honey Wagon
What is An RV Honey Wagon?
First off, get the images of honey and sweet, good-tasting things from your mind. This honey wagon is the exact opposite of what the name implies. It is a sewer service that many campsites engage to help their customers clean out their black water tanks.
Usually, this service is used by those campgrounds that have no sewer connections or dump stations. It is for the convenience of their customers that this service is allowed to operate.
Secondly, you may have to pay for this service unless it is folded into the charges you pay at the time of registration. It is not going to be free. The name honey wagon seems to be a holdover from the old days when horse-drawn wagons use to go around different cities and collect the sewage from the homes and businesses.
To make it clear, if your campground offers a sewer connection, you may never hear of the term honey wagon. Or if you do it may be mentioned by a fellow RVer who has stayed at those campgrounds that do not offer that convenience.
What is Honey Wagon Service?
The honey wagon service is one that makes camping a little easier for you. This is a truck with a long hose and a powerful suction motor that connects to your black water drain valve.
Once connected and the valve is opened, it uses its sucking power to remove all the waste in your black water tank. This is a simple straight forward operation that should not take a lot of time.
What it does do is save you the time and effort of using a portable waste tank and walking it over to the campground’s dump station. This service can make your stay at those non-sewer campgrounds more pleasant. Someone else is doing the dirty work for you.
The one drawback is that you may not have time to flush your black water tank. These services are in a hurry and work fast. But that is okay as you can usually flush your tank at the local dump station when you leave the campground.
The reason many campgrounds do not have sewer hook ups for their customers is that installing them is a hassle and can be quite expensive. Especially when there are over 50 campsites to hook up to the new system
How To Use a Honey Wagon
The hardest part of this system is for you to sign up at the campground’s office. The service is not usually offered every day and all you have to do to be a part of that clean up service is to give the campground manager your campsite number.
Unless they have a few more requirements like payment etc. After that, you do not have to do anything else and you can go enjoy the day when the service is scheduled to arrive.
What that means is that the honey wagon personnel only need access to your sewer drain valve and they do the rest of the work. You do not need to be there when they are scheduled to arrive.
The honey wagon workers simply hook up their hose to your sewer drain and turn on their motor that operates the giant vacuum. Once your tank is empty, they unhook the hose, close the valve and go to their next stop.
This is not going to be rocket science where every step has a million of details to be followed before everything works.
RV Honey Wagon Service
This service may not be offered every day at your campground. That is why you will need to sign up at the office. That way the manager can give the list of campsites that are needing the service that scheduled day.
The cost, if you have to pay, is somewhere between $5 and $20 depending on the campground. If you are lucky, it is an added amenity by the campground owners to entice more RVers to stay with them.
The biggest duty you have when it comes to this service is to make sure you sign up, remove anything that blocks access to your sewer valve, and pay any fee that may be charged.
You do not have to get your hands dirty or smell that foul odor at any time. The workers do it all for you so you can remain clean and presentable when guests arrive.
Generally, these trucks are big enough to handle your black tank contents as well as many more black tanks in the campground. You do not have to worry if there is room or not unless you are the last RV or trailer the wagon will stop at.
This service should make your stay at these campgrounds more enjoyable and help you relax more as you have one less duty to perform.
How Big is a Honey Wagon?
Unless you are going into this type of business for some side money during retirement, this is not a problem you have to worry about. But many people want to know the size of the tanks anyways.
There is a company called Waste Corp that makes honey wagons in all different sizes. This is good information for those non-sewer campgrounds to know in case they are interested in using their own tanks and trucks to help their customers.
The sizes that the company makes range between 25 gallons and 5000 gallons. Some are portable and easy to pull while others are attached to trailers and need a vehicle to pull them.
Also, some are designed with skids to be attached to larger truck beds. Most likely, the size of the honey wagon servicing your campground will be in the neighborhood of 5000 gallons or more.
The service size will depend on the company the business owner bought it from. If you are interested in the smaller versions for when you do not have access to either a sewer connection or a honey wagon, there are plenty of companies that make the smaller versions that store nice and easily in your RV.
You just pick the size that fits your needs and you are good to go.
RV Honey Wagon Hose
The hose is going to be rated to handle sewer contents. When used by the commercial honey wagon companies, these hoses should be very heavy-duty due to their constant use.
If you are looking for a hose to attach to your black water valve and your smaller, personal honey wagon, then you can get a good one through Amazon or Camco. They are rated for this type of work although they may not be as heavy-duty as the commercial options.
The hoses are flexible and come with the connectors to fit your valve and your honey wagon. If those connectors do not fit your black tank valve, then there are companies that make and sell adapters.
Those adapters are available just about anywhere and should be budget-friendly. Then the question of why you should own your own portable honey wagon comes up often.
Here are 3 good reasons for having one on hand:
- It makes removing waste easy and efficient.
- You never know when you will need one.
- They’re great to have in case the RV park doesn’t have sewage hookups.
Or they come in handy when the campground you stay at does not have sewer hook ups or a honey wagon service.
How do You Empty an RV Honey Wagon?
Of course, you never have to worry about emptying a honey wagon when it is a service that comes around to your campground every other day or so. That job is already taken care of for you.
But when you buy a portable honey wagon, emptying it is not as hard as you may think. Just as you connect the hose from your black water tank to the portable honey water tank, you connect it to the dump station valve.
Then open that valve and then your honey wagon valve, and pour out the contents. There is no vacuum system for this situation to help you. You may have to lift up your honey wagon to make sure all the contents left it.
The good thing about most honey wagon options you buy is that they are usually constructed out of heavy-duty materials. The wheels can handle the weight, the handle is strong and tough. It should not break on you when the tank is full and so on.
Just do not forget to clean out your portable honey wagon when you are finished emptying it. Having a left over odor is never any fun around the campsite.
Finding a Used RV Honey Wagon For Sale
If you want to get into the business of helping other RVers empty their black tanks, then you can check the classified ads to see if anyone is selling their trucks and getting out of the business.
Or you can check the appropriate discussion forums and their classified ads. It is much easier to find new trucks than used ones for this business purposes. Finding a used portable model may be simple but again your options are limited.
For example, the classified ads or the buy and sell threads on the many RV discussion forums will be your best source. You can try those used stores or parts outlets that sell used items.
In this case, it is easier to find new than it is to find used. Amazon has a fine selection of new honey wagons available. You just need to scan their pages to find the best one for your camping needs.
Or you can try the big box stores or those RV outlets that specialize in RV accessories. They should have a fine selection as well. The biggest factor will be the cost of these portable tools.
The same applies to the larger trucks. They may not be for sale at Amazon or at the big box outlets, etc., but there are many companies that make and sell these rigs. The cost new may be a bit out of most people’s price range.
How Big Of a Honey Wagon Should I Buy?
This is an important question as you do not want to buy too small and you do not want to buy too big. The size of your black water tank should be the final determining factor when you go to purchase one.
If your black water tank is 40 gallons, then buy a 40-gallon honey wagon. If it is 25 gallons, then buy a 25-gallon honey wagon. You can go a couple of gallons larger if you want to make sure you have enough room.
Some Final Words
No matter where you camp, you can drain your black water tank when it gets full. Either you do it yourself with your personal and portable honey wagon or you can sign up for the convenient service.
Or you can just use the local dump stations. You have numerous options that may range from free to a few extra bucks.
