Let's Get Tanked

Alright, so you're diving into the glorious world of stock tank hot tubs! Excellent choice. You're about to transform a humble livestock watering trough into your own personal oasis. But before you're soaking your troubles away, there's the crucial matter of size. Choosing the right stock tank is like picking the perfect hat: too small, and you're cramped; too big, and you're swimming in a vast, lukewarm sea. So, let's wade into the important details of stock tank sizing.

First things first. Compliance Check

Check if your town & or HOA have any restrictions on the size or type of tank. You don't want to have to move or remove this puppy once it's all set up and you're floating. There may also be placement, fence and depth regulations.

WWCD Reco: 8 foot plastic if you are ALL about maintenance reduction. 8 foot metal for tradition and extra waterage. If we were building one today - we'd still opt for the heavy metal pool life - and not paint the inside - or do a blue bed-liner spray to get the benefits of plastic with a bluetastic look! Read on little tadpoles.

A few key decisions here.

• How many are in your party?

• Paper or plastic? Oops, Metal or plastic?

• Heated or au naturel?

• Wood wrap or factory color?

Are you a lone wolf or like to run with a pack?

An 8 footer is the standard for a reason. It fits four nicely, you can cram in a bunch more if you're all "friendly". A 6' 2" tall person can still float on a pool raft in the 8 foot metal & spin in the current.

Material.

Plastic is like the Ronco Showtime Rotisserie. Set it and forget it! Metal requires some annual work - unless you decide to keep it silver shiny. It's nice - but some just love the blues.

Price.

• Metal? Currently $499. Plastic? Currently $4.99.

Here's the down low on metal -

• We've tried epoxy paint (Pond Shield). Lots of work but looked Sweet. Dude. Sweet! Dude! And then. Well, then within a year it was peeling off in sheets and the bottom of the tank was like a glitter bomb of disappointment.

• We're now using a plastic liner. Looks nice, but not smooth - there are creases that just can't go away. Not a deal breaker, but..

• Next stop will be blue bed-liner. Unfortunately, that will require a good sandblasting to remove the rest of the epoxy coating. Ugh. Learn from our mistakes grasshopper. If you don't have the time to do it right the first time, when will you have the time to do it again, and again, and again?

Shape and gallonage.

• The plastic tanks hold 625 gallons vs. 700 for the metal. Our calcumaltor says that's like a 12% difference. They are both 8' wide & 24" tall so what's the story morning glory? The difference is the sloped sides. Hmm. Choices.

• Straight sides make for very easy attachment of the wood side planks. Landscape adhesive adheres nicely to metal. We've never attempted one in plastic. But, plastic + inconsistent shape + ridges look like plastic will be a marathon, not a sprint. Up front work for eternal payoff seems fair - but we're still leaning towards metal with bed-liner.

Okay. We said we'd make this easy. Time to move on.

Time to transport.

Good choice (whatever it is). Now it's time to get the beast home. You really have 4 choices here:

1. Roll it home.

2. Get a pick up truck and strap it down. Metal tanks win over truck paint, so you've been warned.

3. Rent-a-trailer from Homie Depot.

4. Hire a dude.

Chillantix is all about DIY so option 3 was the clear winner. A set of Harbor Freight straps kept it secure.You do know about Harbor Freight, right?