Used IBC totes, sorted by size, type and last contents

How to shop for a used tote here

Start with the next job, not the size. A tote that will hold rainwater for a garden can be a rinsed bottle. A tote that will hold drinking water through a storm has to be a food-grade bottle with a history, or a new one. The same steel cage and the same pallet hide very different bottles.

Then read the last contents. It is on the label or the safety data sheet, and it decides the grade. A bottle that held a food ingredient is one conversation. A bottle that held a pesticide or a fuel additive is another, and it never goes near drinking water.

Last, check the UN plate on the cage. It shows the design code, the month and year of manufacture, and the date of the last leakproofness test. If the tote is going back into hazmat service, that retest date has to be current.

What the sizes mean in a South Florida yard

Both sizes stand on a 48 by 40 inch pallet base, about 13.3 square feet. The 275 gallon tote is 46 inches tall and the 330 is 53. Either one clears a standard gate and fits a pallet jack, which matters on a Redland nursery bench or a Doral dock.

What we do not post

We do not post prices, minimums, stock counts or delivery times. There is no cart. You tell us the size, the grade, how many and where, and we answer by email with what fits. Hurricane season (June 1 to November 30) is the busiest time to ask, so ask early and never count on a delivery before a storm.

How a request is read

A request is read in three steps: what job, what size and what grade. The job tells us the grade, the size tells us the cage, and the grade tells us whether a match exists. If it does not, the reply says so and suggests the nearest grade.

Questions to settle first

Price, delivery, stacking and returns all depend on the tote and the agreement, so this site posts none of them. Stacking depends on the plate. The quote form is the place to say what you need, and the reply is by email, with the grade, the plate details we can read from your description and what we still need to know. Photographs of the plate and the cage speed that up considerably, as does the name of the street.

Browse by use or by size

If you know the job, begin with the grade pages for food contact, general use or water. If you know the size, open the 275 or 330 page for the cage, the fittings and the weight. If you know neither, describe the job in the form and we will point you to one of these pages in the reply.

Reading a listing

When you read any listing for a used tote, whether here or elsewhere, look for the plate, the date of manufacture, the valve type and the last contents. A seller that cannot name the last contents has given you a reason to ask more. The grades on this site exist to give those facts a common vocabulary, so use them in your own request.